Capitalism Hits Home: What's Happening to American Men - Part 1

Help us reach 100,000 subscribers and gain access to more studio time! Please hit the red SUBSCRIBE button above. ^^^
Thank you for supporting Capitalism Hits Home on Patreon! Your support helps us compensate the staff and additional workers it takes to put an episode together. Thank you for being a part of the CHH team!
[S1 E16] What's Happening to American Men - Part 1
American men are in serious trouble. Former standards of masculinity as aggression, power, and stoic denial of emotional vulnerability are now widely considered toxic. The economic dominance that white men had with family wages disappeared when American capitalists mechanized, computerized, and outsourced white men's jobs from the 1970s on. Manhood has changed its demands.
American women had a movement behind us when we changed our roles and poured into the labor force . Men do not have that powerful group support. Is it any wonder that all of America's far too frequent mass shootings are perpetrated by men? I hope this pod cast helps us understand men's confusion and suffering and helps to transform it into new human possibilities.
Follow us ONLINE:
Websites: www.democracya...
www.harrietfra...
Facebook: / democracyatwrk
Twitter: / democracyatwrk
Instagram: / democracyatwrk
Shop our Store: bit.ly/2JkxIfy
Prof. Wolff's latest book "Understanding Marxism" bit.ly/2BH0lkL

[@bmanagement4657]

I dont see my masculinity threatened. I dont base my masculinity on mimicry of others. My masculinity is repressed in the workplace by being disallowed to negotiate wages or conditions, but a woman is also repressed by the same conditions. 'Submission' is the american dream now, where it used to be about rising above adversity as a hero and bringing positive change, america wants its strong to uphold the status quo by submitting to the will of the state and corporate masters. We are made docile cattle through our cultural environment priming. Competition has a totalitarian hold and cooperation is an afterthought if at all. 'The masculine' is not at risk, humanity is at risk.

[@cirithduath7526]

Thank you. As a Midwestern factory toiler this is my existence to a finely calligraphied T. It's hard to get people to work together. To much throat cutting and get ahead at all costs attitudes.

[@mehjones8008]

I think your analysis is much more accurate than hers, Jeff. And i'm a feminist: it's painful for me to watch women fail and misrepresent.

[@JevPrivate]

@@mehjones8008 yea I don't think she mis represented anything her facts are clear and her conclusion is not without cause. I think the top comment on here has his own perspective on an individual level and he brought up other contributing factors but it didn't contradict or negates the videos analysis at all. Capitalism is a factor and different aspects of culture undervalue the working class and undervalue the effect that it has on men in particular. Women have created social and cultural countermeasures that deminish emotional disappointments of the society and economy. Men have to adjust just as the women had to organise and support each other. And stop playing the capitalism individualism game that is screwing them.

[@peternyc]

@Jeff Shoemaker, what you are describing goes back to the turning of popular culture and its values from anti-establishment in the 60's and very early 70's into pro-establishment, which started really with disco music and its return to traditional gender roles. As kids, my friends and I wanted to be like the Beatles. When we became teenagers, the world changed, but we hadn't. It's been downhill ever since.

[@blaqkstar]

This

[@kirstinstrand6292]

To me this speaks to a Sociatal Breakdown. Our nation is in serious trouble.

[@babykosh5415]

because we built a false "masculinity"

[@pandoraboxx2057]

it only represents a societal breakdown if that is how people interpret it. it can also be interpreted as the split second before a greater realization which is so far inconceivable. what it is, we can currently only label with words and concepts from the past. so all our interpretations are too slow to keep up with the change. but if you see through the "traditions of the dead" then you are already smiling at others' realizations finally dawning... unless you don't have a good job, then you aren't smiling. and hardly anyone is smiling. decent jobs would make everyone not mind any of this.

[@rocketsurgeon5758]

The most thought provoking video I have seen in quite a while. The idea of education being a feminine activity hit home for me, my stepdad told me, pejoratively, "you're going to be a teacher just like your mother." (He was a 6'5" contractor alpha male). Thus I was forced, from the age of 14, to do iron work and oil refinery work, to "teach me work ethic" and I was often not paid. All because I liked to read.

[@Troph2]

Meanwhile your dad worked for engineers and architects who all went to college made more money and didnt beat the shit out of their body.

[@yesilbursa]

I agree with all the observations. I don't think anyone can deny that. But there are new problems that arise as a consequence. Although men and women don't have to be together and are perfectly fine operating/living on their own, they work, live, and feel better as a unit together. There is the camaraderie aspect of a life long relationship, although sometimes abused, was what gave life a meaning by sharing a life together. I think the narrator suffers from over-generalizing and fails to address the fact that some men have been as giving as others. Going back to my point, women in the last 20 years have started to become solitary creatures that lack meaning and purpose in their lives. We live at a time in which the term, "dog mom/cat mom" is invented. Women as the narrator mentions don't always find emotional support anymore, which was probably the case when most women were suffering from abuse in their relationships. Now women tend to abuse their relationships among each other as much as men would. Support is a phenomenon that exists when needed. The stronger, independent women have accomplished many things but are now suffering from the same self-imposed expectations of toughness that men did 50 years ago. They have become cold and distant, not only to others around them but also to their emotions and needs. I write these as a 36 year old man who was born in Turkey, and spent better half of his life abroad. I was raised by secular parents who are still together to this day. I went to a Catholic school while living in a Buddhist country, Japan. And I've been living in the West Coast of Canada, probably one of the most progressive places in North America, for the last 13 years. I've also got a college education. These are my observations after dating and living with independent career driven women for the last decade. I hope this provides enough context to give more meaning to what I've said above. I'd like to finish by saying, power corrupts most people. It's not a battle between sexes. The problem is the capitalist paradigm's concept of hierarchy and values. We can't be all equal in capitalism, not men, not women, not whites, not blacks, not Asians, not the rich or the poor. We can only be equal when we're all treated as just a person.

[@Camcolito]

I couldn't imagine dating a Western woman anymore.

[@marshallsweatherhiking1820]

This is interesting. I agree with most of your points. People in the west, especially the US are just way too ego driven. Everything is a struggle for power. Capitalist “empowerment” philosophy hijacked feminism and made the goal all about self reliance at the expense of emotional wellness. Both men and women feel insulted if they don’t make as much money as their partner. It’s gross.

[@ASMRyouVEGANyet]

Women have become cold an distant? Or maybe that's just how some women are. Not all women are nurturing and sweet. This is a sexist stereotype. Some women are loners. There are men loners, men who stay bachelors until their last days who no one thinks twice about. Yet, when a woman decides to be alone and a loner, someone has to point out a flaw in her lifestyle. Just accept that not all women want to be married and tied down to a man.

[@ASMRyouVEGANyet]

@circa blonk we didn't get anything. Wtf are you talking about? Women are still objectified and exploited in our society. Just look at the Epstein case. Women are still seen as objects to own.

[@MsAppassionata]

circa blonk You’re full of shit! Women were not happy with the situation as it existed before. We were just not allowed to express that opinion. Men like you simply cannot accept the fact that the world has changed and yet you blame women for the instability in society instead of your own antiquated mentality. If society has become more dysfunctional than before it is, in part, due to your inability and unwillingness to move forward. The rosy picture that you paint of the past was never the case. Women could not vote, own property, had no rights whatsoever in the legal system, were subject to beatings, rape, etc. by men in positions of power over them, with no recourse at all. You’re delusional if you think those women were happy. Maybe that’s the type of society you’d like to go back to but, in no way do I, or most other women, want a return to those repressive times. I refuse to “submit” to any of that bullshit, so go and take a long walk off of a short pier, asshole.

[@ktucker147]

That was an astounding post in just 16 minutes.

[@sponge6415]

I finally found a good job with good benefits...and it only took me 20 years to find it.

[@produceman13]

This woman is very smart. Most of my male friends are dead from overdose, suicide and gang violence. Our culture tells men to become effeminate and emotional, yet as soon as we express ourselves; society tell us to "man up". So now you have taught me to self erase and not feel. Why is the summit of masculinity a robot that cannot feel? I suppose its so we men can be used as disposable utilities. By the way; feminism telling men to become more like a woman totally destroyed my sex life as women like masculinity and are not attracted to weak beta male men. When I became more effeminate, women lost interest in me completely, even woke leftist women.

[@ASMRyouVEGANyet]

So, just blame women.... typical. Basic. Dude, you sound like you're probably a teenager.

[@MsAppassionata]

produceman13 You can show feeling and not be a crybaby. You have to learn how to strike a balance. Sure, women prefer strong, confident men but that does not mean that you have to become like a robot.

[@BuhodePiedra]

As a young American man who maybe isn’t so young anymore, I find this to be very good medicine. ❤. Very thoughtful and succinct.

[@B.Wildered]

I am touched by your dedication. My deepest gratitude.

[@B.Wildered]

Brian Willard here, three years later it is still 100% relevant.

[@titebuoy]

You can blame race, capitalism, or sex but it’s simple; Women don’t want to date downward, it’s hard to date up if you’re more educated, make more money, and socially connected than most men that you meet. How about dating downward, but woman don’t want to date an adult child.

[@leftykeys6944]

Dr. Fraad, I was a big fan even BEFORE I knew you are married to one of my favorite socialist economists!

[@10-AMPM-01]

She's the anti-Ayn Rand.

[@unclejoe1769]

the hero we need

[@eottoe2001]

Talking to the younger men, they are doing okay. They are much more social than we boomers were. They are much smarter about marriage and relationship than we were. The don't seem to have the romance to marriage or having to be in a relationships that we had. The one thing a friend nephew told him was: "I don't need the drama." They are more careful in their choosing to get and be married. They have to have clear reasons for it like raising children. They don't want abusive partners. Economically and legally there isn't a lot to recommend for marriage. Not being married and breaking up certainly simplifies things. They get that. (The Gordon Peterson stuff I don't get, however.)

[@douglasphillips5870]

Back in the 60s and 70s the left broke down the traditional social norms, but didn't replace them with anything. Since the 80s the right has been trying to reassert the earlier norms, while the left has been floundering about trying to figure out what the new norms should be. Each generation the right gets more frustrated by the loss of traditions, while the left finds more flaws with the traditions without a plan to replace them. Masculinity is just one of these norms. So thank you for addressing the issue.

[@samaval9920]

In 60s & 70s there were right & left wings of self labelled mens movement factions. The left version of as smaller?

[@samaval9920]

Perhaps one can study men in n various l ftist societies & movements to see how they d+ mens rol s- surely need t so disintegrated as in W empires.

[@kingdang855]

This is hard for me to watch

[@DanielCastillo-cn3pp]

This is pretty interesting 🤔 🤔

[@d.c.monday4153]

Besides all you have said above, men are also being beaten from all sides by women and the law. When a man is divorced, he not only loses his partner, he also loses his house and half his possessions. In my case, I lost the house and have never been eligigible to buy another one. My ex married twice more and now owns two houses and an alpaca farm. Women are alright after a divorce, men are broke and broken. And you wonder what is happenoing? We are being beaten unmercifully by women. You have Womens Lib, we have nothing. Why do men commit suicide more than ever? Read the above. We are being forced from our place in society and given no new place. We are mocked on adverts as the bumbling idiot whose wife has to coddle us or we fall to pieces. Men used to be important and have a place in the home and in society, now we are not important, women are. We have no role in society except a subservient role to the domination of women, as a cash cow for women to milk when a relationship ends. This is why we are angry. If women continue to be so adamant and unforgiving, there could be a backlash, and I sincerely hope there isn't. You will probably ignore this and poo poo my concerne, because after all, I am only a man.

[@ASMRyouVEGANyet]

And up until recently it was women who were left with nothing. Call it karma.

[@MsAppassionata]

David Monday Then why are there so many divorced women with children on welfare? Since you appear to believe that women fare so much better after a divorce, the following article may disabuse you of that notion: www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/the-divorce-gap/480333/

[@redbluebae4397]

Lol what a joke you’re a perfect example of what’s wrong with men today, this is y’all fault we live in a patriarchy maybe it’s about time you gave us the reigns

[@mehjones8008]

This woman speaks for the range of experience from A to B ( to borrow a metaphor from Dorothy Parker) "Women have wages for the first time" she summarily dismisses. oh hell--poor women have always worked. And she missed an entire generation of women, of all classes, who stopped babying men into thinking they needed to possess human tokens of their success. Her work represents The Few. Dr. Wolff, you need a social scientist who represents all of us, not someone stuck in the mentality of the 1950s who has studied some social science yet bases her analysis of gender on two children: her own. That's not a representative sample of at least 20, randomly selected. I'm sure she's a wonderful counselor for her family and friends but it's embarrassing for you to keep letting her try to speak for any beyond that very limited realm.

[@bumblebee9337]

Without financial independence, women would still be subservient to men.

[@redbluebae4397]

Shes allowed to speak on her experience we understand one day there will be the chosen one a black lesbian single mom

[@user-qv4rj3fo9b]

Are you an historian, a researcher? You pointed out a lot of data and I feel you're correct. However, I think you're stating the obvious. Unless my attention was diverted for a critical and crucial moment, I didn't hear any recommendations about how to fix the problem our country, our government, our society has created. People know there's a problem but give them the steps to begin correcting the problem. If that's not your area of expertise, include someone on your show that does have that ability.

[@SirAndrewII]

People don't have the words to describe the problem and she found them in just 16 minutes. What you are doing is taking her work for granted and not realizing the importance in articulating the problem before jumping to solving it. We all need to solve it together and no 1 person has the answers.

[@10-AMPM-01]

Your boy at NYU business school screwed up with that "woke" advertising nonsense. That commercial was being trashed as pandering from day one. It's about as genuine as they can be using formulas and committees, survey data and purchasing histories.

[@Owl350]

Most are from other countries and didn't come here to use Science !

[@WackyConundrum]

Ummm... So what exactly is the message of this video? I mean, how capitalism fits into this narrative of manliness being in danger? And wtf was that with the ad of a razor corporation? Quite a lot was said about women themselves. Is it a suggestion that some of the blame is put on women?

[@gianttigerfilms]

Conundrum she essentially said that women don’t have to be house wives anymore and can be independent via strong social bonds. Men lack social bonds with emotional connections and have a harder time being without a mate. Also inflation has made getting a well paying job impossible without education so blue collar men will need a second income. So they’ll get over worked or their wives will have to work. It hurts their sense of pride that they can’t solely provide and need help. Women didn’t cause this, we get screwed too. Some would love to be provided for and focus on family but that’s not how the world works anymore. You need two incomes to raise a family by average means :( So men are depressed

[@WackyConundrum]

@@gianttigerfilms Thanks for the summary. Still, I'm unsure how a less capitalistic system would dramatically change this situation.

[@MsAppassionata]

Mike Gilardino You sound like a broken record man. Even though I agree with you to a very large extent enough is enough. You don’t have to keep bludgeoning us with the same comment no matter what the point that’s being made by each person.

[@unitednationsofearth1317]

I can't relate to anything she says about women. Her view on children is much more dangerous though. To begin with I have never seen a young boy shamed for crying. But I've seen kids with 1 working mother - never home to be that shoulder their son can cry on. Always comin home tired and irritated, yelling and demeaning their sons for not finishing their homework, but never home to help him with it. The fact that parents would rather put a children on amphetamines than dedicate the time and attention to figure out what's actually wrong/how to help the kid channel his energy etc. How their schools won't let them play, recesses are being removed entirely, can't leave the school yard at lunch, stuck in some after school program - probably sitting still, at a desk, rather than playing in the park with their friends, without adults (esp their parents) watching over them like hawks, always there to get them out of all their problems. And then boys grow up to be men who never had to assume responsibility for exerting themselves on the world. If anything, parents are way too indulging. For most falls, cuts and scrapes, as soon as kids realize crying isn't getting your attention, they go back to playing. Build resilience.

[@MsAppassionata]

anime avatar You’ve never seen a boy shamed for crying? Well, it happens all the time, especially at school. And you mention single mothers being too tired and irritable and unable to provide a shoulder for their sons to cry on but you don’t mention where the fathers are. Don’t they bear as much responsibility for the raising of their sons as the women?

[@farhiyaa4880]

This is about white men and white women. Correction on video - she said Women dont want to get married...actually its Men who want the benefits of marriage without any of the work - Men are refusing to get married..think MGTOW (men who go there own way).

[@1LaOriental]

👏🏻👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾👏👏🏿

[@DavidSanchez-vx4bv]

Now, some critics about your hypothesis Dr: it is true that in non urban and lower education states and towns, these two tokes, as you said, have a woman and have a well paid job, was the indication of a successful man, but there are some variants here. Those communities needed that kind of man, the one that provides and protects his family, meanwhile the woman was dedicated to home. The woman may assure the continuation of the family name and a well paid job was needed to provide the family. The men has been taught to be strong because society can't relay in woman strength to protect a family... and no emotions were needed, because was useful is a Soldier that cries?? The real victims of the Society have ben the men, not the women... And when were the men (again not the women) who gave additional rights to woman (like voting) then Society has changed and once more, the men were left... Now the women, instead to help their partners as they were helped, make this situation even worse, promoting awful family laws that destroy men life. Not wondering why lot of divorced men commit suicide, not only for being alone.. but forgotten for the Society that once they helped to build

[@marshallsweatherhiking1820]

David Sanchez It’s funny that you mention that soldiers shouldn’t cry. You would then admit that traditional culture grooms men for war. Well, the corporate hunger games we have today are nothing like war. You don’t have true camaraderie in the corporate setting. You are alone, and in most cases the people above you in management are in reality adversaries... trying to profit as much as possible from your labor while paying you as little as they can get away with. In a war you kill your adversary. In the corporate world you’re supposed to pretend they’re your friends when in reality they couldn’t care less about you.

[@DavidSanchez-vx4bv]

@@marshallsweatherhiking1820 I agree thatt corporativism is still worse than war... My point here is that don't forget the real men, those are also victims from Capitalism.. and not just focus on women

[@marshallsweatherhiking1820]

@@DavidSanchez-vx4bv I think it's comparing apples and oranges. War is awful in it's own way, but the corporate capitalist world leads to spiritual death because the people no longer have a common goal that requires working together. That men and women no longer want to be together for fear the other will take advantage of them is sad. There's a crisis of trust.

[@DavidSanchez-vx4bv]

@@marshallsweatherhiking1820 Yes and not... Oranges and Apples both are fruits.. and War and Capitalism both are awful and have to be erased IF Humanity wants to have a future, a prosper future

[@MsAppassionata]

David Sanchez So, men just gave the right to vote to women? Bullshit!!! Women had to fight long and hard to achieve whatever rights we have managed to obtain. You have a very distorted view of history (or, perhaps I should say herstory). And it might interest you to know that women are less well off financially than men after a divorce. That’s why there are so many divorced women with children on welfare.

[@merkleyperformance]

Women entering the work force in large numbers over the last 40 years, what do you think that caused ? I'll wait...

[@bumblebee9337]

War, video games and sex robots. Happy times ahead for men of the future.

[@daanthijssen7512]

We don't need anything lady, it's you who needs to ''man up''

[@jean-francoisgarcia9534]

What a scrap!

[@josiahsuarez]

:(

[@humanrightsadvocate]

Historically speaking a woman only needed a man because life was hard. Because humans have the longest childhood in the animal kingdom, women selectively mated with men that would "stick around" until the kids were old enough to help out with survival. Men selectively mated with women that looked capable of... not dying in childbirth and be able to breastfeed children - wide hips and big breasts. What happened was a sort of... evolution guided by this... artificial selection - kind of like we breed dogs. Women became more beautiful and men became more hard working and needy. But humans have big brains. And big brains put to work develop technology. Technology makes life easier. But women don't need men when life is easy. So here we are today. A woman is only interested in a man as a source of sperm. There are already sperm banks, so only tradition makes some women get the sperm, the old-fashioned way. Men created a world where life is so easy that women don't need them anymore. Already men are creating gynoids. At the moment gynoids look laughable - kind of like when the first chess programs. But in the future, gynoids will be the most beautiful women. Never getting sick, never getting old, never saying: - I'm tired... - I'm on my period. - I have to wake up early tomorrow morning. - I'm not in the mood. - Again?? For a man, a personalized gynoid will look like the woman of his dreams. She will fulfill every sexual fantasy. She will even engage in conversation on topics that you're interested in. She will be the perfect partner. As a result, the population of developed countries will drop, while the population of undeveloped countries will continue to grow. And the state will realize that immigrants are a solution to this declining population problem. The more immigrants flood the country, the easier will be for states to destroy civil liberties - especially freedom of expression. In the future, immigrants will outnumber natives and laws will change to accommodate them. Because in democracy, the majority rules. Imagine Muslims being a majority in your country... And all because Western women are incapable of love...

[@titebuoy]

Alexandru Popescu except that whites are only the natives in Europe and northern Asia, they invaded the America’s creating some of the very oppressive problems that the State has to rectify mostly because they wanted unfettered access to European women

[@IronWarrior4Ever]

Talk about one long stream of misguided thought patterns. i.e. woman can't love=Muslim majority country, riiiight...

[@MsAppassionata]

Alexandru Popescu I don’t know where you live but life is not so easy for everyone in the West. You also say that women only want men as sperm donors. How romantic of you. Did it ever occur to you that a lot of women want men who are good and interesting companions?

[@fkujakedmyname]

women have not lead labor movements and joined their brothers sense mother jones was walking in picket lines with her brothers

[@MsAppassionata]

fkujakedmyname Liar!