It is common to see reports bemoaning the lack of student achievement in the US, and the fact that US students are falling farther behind other countries in math and science. Corporate executives insist that there are not enough scientists, programmers and engineers to fill the jobs they have, and there are frequent appeals to Americans to study subjects that could prepare them for jobs in these fields.
There will always be a subset of boys who are fascinated by these subjects, and perhaps a few girls, but they are apparently not enough for economic progress. I’m not sure whether to entirely believe the companies that are complaining about a lack of talent, because it seems to me that they would prefer to cut costs by importing cheaper foreign workers on H1B visas rather than develop native resources, but as with most things there is probably a grain of truth in their complaints.
As many have indicated here and elsewhere, boys and men need some motivation to push themselves to strive to succeed. Traditionally, this motivation has come in the form of a (putatively) loving wife and family, which gave men something to strive for. Take that away from a significant portion of the population, and it is little wonder that we see boys and men increasingly skeptical about higher education and the dedicated effort it takes to succeed in demanding fields such as engineering and the sciences. It is, after all, much more difficult to cram equations into one’s head than it is to smoke weed and play video games.
Although the old ideal of the responsible young man preparing to raise a family is still held up to young men as motivation, they don’t seem to take that quite as seriously any longer. How could they, after all? When around half of them have grown up without their father at home, they must know that there’s a good chance they will end up in the same boat as so many of the earlier casualties of easy divorce. Additionally, as they see the attractive – and even not-so-attractive – young women “hook up” with a train of hard-partying, careless guys who would never stoop to cracking a physics text, they must have serious second thoughts about the value of the young women they are preparing to support.
So our bright young man of modest means – the perfect entry-level worker for corporations – is presented with the prospect of living the life of a monk for four years after high school, devoting himself to study and deprivation as slackers and badboys rotate through dozens of the attractive young females all around him on campus. Some may keep a stiff upper lip and power through, but many of these young guys are going to take a look at that and have none of it. A middle-class kid who is facing at least a decade of hard work and virtual celibacy, without any guarantee that he will ever find a quality woman, may well just decide to forego all that effort. Or else he might decide to emulate the players and badboys who are having so much success. In any event, there’s a good chance he’s simply going to say “forget it.”
Now contrast this to the ambitious young man of Bangalore or Hangzhou. Although his country may be inching toward Western decadence and dysfunction, he’s still a shoe-in for a virgin bride if he gets a higher degree and a good tech job. His wife will cook and clean for him, bear his children and stand by her man without complaint. She has no motivation to divorce her husband, because her status at home will fall into the toilet, and she won’t get the house or kids. In fact, she’ll be proud and happy to have a responsible, dedicated and intelligent husband. Her pride and his status will also make him more attractive in her eyes, and the fact that she hasn’t had a string of casual sex partners will cement his feelings of love and loyalty for his wife.
Sadly, things are changing for the worse in the developing world as well, but the fact that the opportunity to succeed and have a rewarding marriage is quite realistic for intelligent Asian students tilts the balance in their favor. For Americans, this is all but gone, and virtually guarantees international decline as our young men watch the American dream hacked to pieces and devoured by selfish women and their avaricious attorneys.
As long as there is no reward for ordinary men to strive for success and excellence, there will be few who do, and the Anglosphere will slide from the height of power into mediocrity and civilizational decay.
