As the Left has retreated from masculinity and dealing with issues plaguing men, ranging from their material concerns to their role in society, the Right has been all too eager to capitalize and funnel young men into their ideology and in service of their agendas. By validating the frustrations of men, right-leaning podcasters have become the “us” in an us vs them dynamic with liberals. By fueling men’s frustrations they’ve been able to shift the political views of young men in a relatively short period of time.
Disillusionment as Engagement Bait
Over the course of the past few months, UNASB has listened to a number of podcasters who have built significant followings, and media empires, on the backs of disillusioned and isolated young men. There are the more comedic ones who are far less ideological such as Andrew Schulz, Theo Von, and Joe Rogan. And then there’s the Technofeudalist crowd best epitomized by Peter Thiel, who don’t host podcasts but often appear on them to espouse their ideology.
For the sake of this article, I’m going to focus on the Nick Fuentes, Matt Walsh, Charlie Kirk, etc. strain of podcasters.
These podcasters have been able to capture the attention of young men and work them down their funnels by:
Finding common ground
Gaining their trust
Introducing extreme ideas
Common Ground
Finding common ground is a tactic podcasters on the Right have mastered. They know who their audience is and how to speak to them in a way that resonates.
One common thread is disillusionment. In many instances the arguments aren’t too different from what you’d expect to find on the left. Ideas like: elites have rigged the system for themselves, and at the expense of everyone else; the rich keep getting richer, while everyone else finds it harder just to get by. Steve Bannon was one of the first on the Right to tap into and harness this populist rage.
Starting with the financial crisis in 2008, the economy has never rebounded to make certain life milestones attainable. This often comes up while listening to podcasts on the Right, whether it’s Nick Fuentes or Tucker Carlson.
On a venn diagram there’s a lot of overlap between this right-wing strain of anti-establishment, populist angst with that on the Left. However, despite what might be a shared sense of exploitation, the proposed solutions by these podcasters is where things quickly start to diverge.
Gaining Their Trust
Once common ground has been established and the audience feels like they’re in safe space, the podcasters often identify with their listeners on an emotional level. A lot of young men feel as though they’ve lost their sense of place and purpose in society. Many traditionally male roles have been offshored or automated. Organized labor, while having a moment of resurgence, has been on a steady decline along with the wages and benefits associated with these predominantly male-dominated occupations.
Economic circumstances have set the stage for the Right to come in and say, “you’re being exploited, the wealthy elite have played you, and now the left is saying you’re to blame for everything and are too privileged, well I think that’s bullshit.” The Right is able to find common ground and pander to young men’s frustrations, fears, and angst to gain their trust. And once that’s been established they’ve primed them for indoctrination.
Introducing Extreme Ideas
Some podcasters are more nuanced with introducing their more fringe ideas, while others, like Nick Fuentes, douse you in a stream of misogyny and sexism right from the start. The different approaches go back to the first point of finding common ground and knowing who the audience is, and these podcasters adjust their tactics accordingly.
Common ideas you’re likely to hear on these podcasts include:
Men need to stop being subservient to women - a woman’s place is to serve her husband and by letting them think otherwise our society has been descending into decay and immorality.
Men need to exert their dominance - especially within their household where they’ve spent decades ceding too much ground to feminists.
Men need to restore “traditional” values - people (esp women) now are too sexually perverse and permissive, our pluralistic society has undermined our morality, and that we must restore (white Evangelical) Christian values.
Once the real agenda of these podcasters is revealed, then the first two points of finding common ground, and gaining trust must be questioned for their sincerity. There might be overlap between what a progressive might identify as capitalist exploitation and that of the far Right, but the left will then typically go on to provide relevant solutions. Take Bernie Sanders for example, who says the 1% must pay their fair share. There is a very clear: problem <> solution dynamic. Whereas on the Right the “solution” typically has nothing to do with the problem they claimed initially to care about to lure these men in. And once revealed, we see this is nothing more than a long-con, as a way to seduce disillusioned young men and indoctrinate them. The right is using empathy to gain the trust of young men and then radicalize them into believing sexist, and misogynistic things, which ironically enough are devoid of any empathy for the women who they too eagerly other and objectify.
How Can the Left Respond?
There is a clear opening here for a progressive populist to step in and regain the trust of young men. A lot of what we now call the manosphere consists of men who were once derided as Bernie bros. As we face increasingly dire societal threats, threats not just to recently won civil and social rights, but also ones won decades ago, we need to find a way to effectively fight back. I think a good place to start is with empathy. Not the exploitative empathy of the right but a genuine empathy rooted in a sense of shared humanity. Because the truth is that young men are suffering in this new society we’re entering into. And maybe it’s nothing compared to the suffering that others have endured, but that sense of suffering is a good place to begin a conversation, and through the exploration of these feelings of disillusionment then perhaps we can even find a common cause for our suffering and establish a foothold enabling us to unite against our common foes.
Let’s learn from the tactics that have been successful for the right, and funnel people into beliefs and ideas that are going to positively transform our society rather than allow them to be seduced by the ideas that only seek to further fracture and divide us.
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