Driven to the Edge: How capitalism pushes people to political extremes, and how we might save it while rebuilding the center

LacklustreFriend · 2020-03-03T14:24:13+00:00

Just some brief comments:

This author really only seems to have a superficial understanding what he's talking about. Right of the bat he alleges that MGTOW is the largest of the "manosphere" groups, which is a red flag for two reasons - firstly, while numbers are hard to quantify, it seems by an large MGTOW is not the largest, and secondly, I am immediately wary of any author using the term "manosphere" as it tends precede a conflation and misunderstanding of the various men's groups.

The author seems to really overestimate the size/influence of MGTOW, implying it's some mass cultural movement. Perhaps the author incorrectly thinks MGTOW includes all social disenfranchisement of young men. He also states "MGTOWs willingly cede power to what they call the “gynocentric state" which seems to be a gross misunderstanding of MGTOW, they're not willingly cede power, they're begrudging removing themselves from society, like a strike against the system, because they believe there is no other form of recourse. The rest of the commentary on MGTOWs seems off.

The economic and social commentary seems incomplete too. For example:

Over time, capitalism upset this fine balance. After the sexual revolution, when sex became a plentiful consumption good, men could satisfy their sexual urge outside of marriage.

But the decline in the various sexual/social trends only really began in the 90s, which is suspicious absent from the author's commentary. The author doesn't really answer why it's happening now in particular, as opposted for the ~150 years industrial capitalism has been around. Nor the does the author reconcile how the sexual revolution has actually led to a decline in sex today (how if sex is a "plentiful consumption" then why is no one consuming it?)

The commentary on feminism and women also seems to be flawed. The author says:

Many women have suffered through an explosion of sexual harassment.

Has it, or has the perception of what is harassment changed/expanded? Because the implication of what the author is saying is that society has become more sexist since, say, the 1950s.

The plan is untenable, as women find themselves at loggerheads with MGTOW ideology.

Right, so apparently the only thing actually stopping women is the evil men with MGTOW sentiments! Nothing to do with the traditional social rules/contracts being broken down and nothing to replace them! The author makes a point later that raising children gives life purpose, but fails substantially link to the decline of marriage, family and relationships with the breakdown of traditional gender roles and the division of labour.

I would go on but it's just more of the same. The author says a few good things but misses the point. Ultimately the author's centrist outlook shows its clear limitations, and offers really no solutions or advise, basically just suggesting a tepid partial college loan forgiveness scheme that doesn't address the symptom (this social phenomenon is even happening in countries with free or cheap education), and an adjustment to Social Security that makes no sense with how the system currently runs (basically wanting a poor centrists' substitution for socialism).

J-Unleashed · 2020-03-03T16:14:20+00:00

It's ironic that this title is saying that capitalism pushes people to political extremes when it is the far left socialists who are going out and beating the shit out of people with blunt objects. This is what propaganda looks like.

Capitalism has raised more people out of poverty than socialism or communism.

serpentineeyelash · 2020-03-03T14:30:34+00:00

Interesting article. I'm not sure what to make of some of its assertions.

For example many of the ideologies he's talking about are, I would argue, concerned with real issues, so I'm not sure I would dismiss them as "alienation". Obviously I think there are issues facing men, I suppose some of it could be described in terms of alienation, but a more obvious example is environmentalism. A lot of what environmentalists are saying is based in scientific facts, rather than some hatred of humanity.

I'm also not all that interested in the political center (though many others here are). I'm not sure there is no alternative to capitalism - for example what about the idea of democraticizing workplaces?

Title	Driven to the Edge: How capitalism pushes people to political extremes, and how we might save it while rebuilding the center
Author	adlerchen
Upvotes	5
Comments	10
Date	March 3, 2020 12:36 PM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/fctxvd/driven_to_the_edge_how_capitalism_pushes_people/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/driven-to-the-edge-how-capitalism-pushes-people-to.1063917 https://theredarchive.com/post/1063917

Comments