Bill over at Apocalypse Cometh was encouraged by the anger and planning of a young person who e-mailed him.
So, I thought I’d give him a bit more encouragement.
The rage that person expresses is not that uncommon among young men in their late teens and twenties. Our generation has inherited a world of shattered families, smashed gender relations, eroded civic virtue, and decayed social institutions. Our education system is a broken mess of deceit, mental oppression, psychological castration, and exploitative larceny. When we finally graduate university, we face economic stagnation, unemployment, and hopeless economic prospects.
Rage is not uncommon. As an well-known example, advise him to check out /b/ on 4chan. (The link goes to Wikipedia. I am not linking to the site as it is very much NSFW. Do not visit it if you are prone to being offended by, well, anything). I’m not sure if Bill would know of it or not, it’s not something older folks are generally aware of.
The site is populated by, primarily, young adult males, mostly of the beta and omega male varieties. It is massive; it currently stands at about the 1,000 busiest website in the world (about 500-600th in the US), with about 18 million users a month (about 6% of the US population). As the origin point for almost every popular internet meme you may have encountered, it has huge cultural power.
Out of any place you can check, it is probably the best indicator of the attitudes of current generation of what young adult beta males. The anonymity of the site frees to talk as they wish without the confines of societal pressure.
So what are thoughts of the beta males on this site?
Rage, pain, and cultural nihilism.
It is infested with every kind of racism, violence, gore, misogyny, pornography, and the like you can imagine (and many you never would). There are no taboos about anything: everything from suicide to religion to the handicapped is mocked and profaned. Those who don’t partake or object are mocked as “moralfags” (everybody on 4chan is labelled a ****fag).
Nihilism, anger, hatred, and sadistic glee permeate the site, but even underneath all that, it is hard to judge them for it. Because underneath all the rage is a sense of bitterness, pain, alienation, and unquenchable loneliness.
They are hurting; they are despairing. They are stuck in a society that is destroying them and are lashing out in the only way they know how.
Check out this comic which explains how many of them see themselves and their site. I’d embed it, but it becomes unreadable.
****
This is the new generation of young males and it’s frightening.
There are 18 million young males spending good chunks of their time on this site. They feel betrayed, hurt, and angry and they are desensitizing themselves to the normal moral prescriptions that hold society together.
When we talk about the decline and the destruction of our youth, this is what we are talking about. When we talk about the economic and cultural hopelessness among our youth, this is it. When we talk of the beta males being ground down, this is what we’re talking about. When idiots talk about man-children or Peter Pan boys who refuse to grow up, this is what they don’t know they are referring to.
All the theory, all the hypothesizing: this is where it exists in reality.
Bill may find “Someone” encouraging, but I’m not so sure. He’s only the small tip.
Most of these people are probably outcasts sitting alone in their basements who will never take action on their own, but out of the millions, there are probably at least a few thousand that are leaders, some that are organizing something.
Even if there isn’t, how can a society continue for long when such a large portion of its young adult males are this disengaged, this nihilistic, this bitter about their society.
What happens when these millions of young adult males bring this bitterness and rage beyond the internet? A few protests from Anonymous (as they call themselves) at Occupy and elsewhere have been largely ineffective so far, but how long will that last?
I don’t know, but when there is this much unfocused rage and pain, among this many of the coming generation, it can’t be good.
What happens when the unfocused rage becomes focused?
Maybe this isn’t encouragement for Bill, maybe it is, but I don’t think the consequences will be anything anybody likes.
You asked the defining question: What happens when the unfocused rage becomes focused? It’s too early for a clear answer to present itself, but young men can choose between many end goals. Many people here plan on destruction, on burning everything and starting over, others would rather ignore the injustices until they go away, some kill themselves, some want to restore many of the Greatest Generations values and culture, and many are a mix of one of these.
Until one path takes hold of the world’s anger, young men will be pulling each other in too many different directions to do any serious turning-point-in-Western-history work. But when one does, the force will be unstoppable.
I hope that men wiser than myself will guide our minds into an intelligent, principled fighting force. Few pages of history are darker than those of a noble anger turned to ignoble ends. Few pages are brighter than that same anger turned to honorable ends. I hope I live to see the latter, or better yet, die trying.
This anger will be exploited by ambitious men to gain power. I guarantee it. However I do allow the possibility that it will be focused into good ends.
Thanks much for the linkage and that cartoon was spot on. Yeah, I’ve perused /b/ for about the past year and a half and though a lot of it might be a bit more nihilistic than I am, this type of anger among young men is nothing to me but encouraging. Remember, I was raised during a time where all you heard was that you should “Get in touch with your feelings” Well, anger was never one of those feelings that you were encouraged to get in touch with.
@ Bill: I know, they always seem very selective about which feelings to get in touch with. No hate, no anger, no lust; none of the dangerous emotions; only the gentle ones.
“What happens when these millions of young adult males bring this bitterness and rage beyond the internet? ***
I don’t know, but when there is this much unfocused rage and pain, among this many of the coming generation, it can’t be good.
What happens when the unfocused rage becomes focused?”
I’ll tell you what happens. Third Reich Germany, circa 1933. That’s what happens.
What did post WW I Germany have? A population devastated by war, defeated and humiliated, but with a determination never, ever to let that happen again. A subset of that population becoming increasing agitated, with no stake in the current situation and with nothing to lose by trying something different. An economy in the toilet and showing no signs of improving.
What does American society have now? A male population devastated by a feminist war that has raged full force for going on three generations now, leaving men utterly defeated and humilated, and with a growing determination not to marry again (or at all) and releasing their increasingly feral children on society. A subset of that population (the manosphere, 4chan) becoming increasingly agitated, with no stake in today’s society and having nothing to lose. An economy that has been in the toilet for 4 straight years and showing no signs of improving.
deti,
I’ll throw one more log on that fire. What did post WWI Europe have? A lot of families without dads, economic recession/depression, rise and propagation of fascism throughout the West (including the US), and millions of young men who couldn’t gain a sense of purpose through the narrative they were sold.
RTP:
And one more.
What do you think will happen to a society in which a large number of its men have no sex, no women, no jobs, no money, and no legally or socially sanctioned way to get any of them?
4chan.
Men in their 30s living at home with Mom and Dad, working at Wal-Mart and playing PS3 or Xbox in their spare time.
Men living off SSI.
Men living off welfare.
Criminals. Thugs,
I noticed the same about 5 yrs ago on the craigslist discussion boards, specifically rants & raves. I attribute it more to the fact that it is anonymous communication where people can explore, process & vent there darkest feelings & thoughts. I don’t see any sinister underbelly of society brewing in rage- I just see men needing a little outlet, a place where they can communicate freely. If anything, this is actually healthy for society.
But perhaps you are right, I dunno. And if you are, what worries me more is the timing between this generation and the political climate where I do see a true underbelly of rage, talk of revolution, 3%, etc. And meanwhile the federal govn fans the flames, grows in power, militarizes all its agencies and seeks to disarm the populace. All his combined with the current psychological state of you men and perhaps the storm clouds are really gathering…