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In reply to the discussion: Young Men Face a Crisis [View all]

meadowlander

(5,171 posts)
9. I'm sure I'll take flak, but I will say basically all the young men I know spend 8+ hours a day playing video games.
Sat Aug 16, 2025, 04:24 AM
Aug 2025

I like video games too but it's not exactly a recipe for self-esteem to answer "what did you do on the weekend?" on Monday morning at work with "I barely managed to feed, sleep or wash myself because I was glued to a computer monitor for 56 hours straight".

The attention economy is making us all a bit stupider and fatter and sadder but it has hit a number of the men I know the hardest. And the more disconnected they feel from other people, the more they retreat into a 24/7 fantasy world for the constant low level dopamine hit whether it's movies or TV shows or video games or porn or some combination. Why try to make friends or get a date when you can get 40% of the happiness for 0% of the effort by just plugging into your preferred method of electronic escapism?

And while I feel some sympathy, it's also really hard not to get exasperated by stories like this when they crop up (let's be honest) pretty regularly. If "nobody cares about mens' suffering" it's surprising how much it is discussed everywhere all the time and has been for the last 30 years.

And the solution is kind of painfully straightforward. Get away from your screens, go for a walk, get a hobby that requires interacting with other people, crack a book, plant something, do something in service to someone else. Stop listening to the dipshits trying to convince you you aren't "Alpha" enough so they can sell you something.

We all know what makes us feel better when we feel lonely and depressed. Go do those things instead of moaning about how mean society is to you because more women are getting college degrees now, statistically they live longer, and nobody wants to date you. Your attitudes and thoughts and choices are what are creating this reality for you, not feminism or woke people or DEI or immigrants.

You know what is making you sad? Capitalism finally getting around to treating you 1/10th as badly as it has been treating women for the past 250 years. But the secret is you can choose not to let it. So go do that instead of picking at the same scab over and over again because it's easier to blame others than to solve your own problems.

Recommendations

8 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Young Men Face a Crisis [View all] applegrove Aug 2025 OP
1+ Norrrm Aug 2025 #1
For over a generation females attending two or four years schools exceeded men...the hidden stem economy was lost t JT45242 Aug 2025 #2
Yes. Trans kids have it the worst but the solution applegrove Aug 2025 #4
I concur with your comment re: sports being prioritized Raven123 Aug 2025 #8
I'm sure I'll take flak, but I will say basically all the young men I know spend 8+ hours a day playing video games. meadowlander Aug 2025 #9
Your post sums up a lot of my thoughts Johnny2X2X Aug 2025 #17
Mostly correct, but not #1 RandomNumbers Aug 2025 #18
I read the NYTimes article. Solly Mack Aug 2025 #3
yup Skittles Aug 2025 #11
It's a broken culture. usonian Aug 2025 #5
Blame it on the Stones MrWowWow Aug 2025 #6
I was completely loony-tunes as a young man. hunter Aug 2025 #7
In Japan NEETs: Not in Education, Employment or Training. Hikikomori is the extreme type. betsuni Aug 2025 #10
This issue is not limited by race or nationality Renew Deal Aug 2025 #12
They have plenty of opportunity to become respectable men, but actively choose not to. Incels figured out how to... Lancero Aug 2025 #13
They aren't rushing to the newly available farm and construction jobs? tanyev Aug 2025 #14
One solution for a lonely individual young male is screamingly obvious. JanMichael Aug 2025 #15
"Don't be a creep" has made the world a happier place throughout human history. hunter Aug 2025 #19
I wasn't suggesting university was for everyone. JanMichael Aug 2025 #20
A crisis, eh? MineralMan Aug 2025 #16
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