I haven't thought much about this, so I may make another post when I have.Originally Posted by xerxe
Off the top of my head, I've noticed an increasing number of young people, at least in the States, seem to have difficulty socializing, both men and women. Many of them seem scared to speak up and assert themselves, even to each other. And sure, it's natural to an extent for young and inexperienced people to be more cautious, but I really do think that this is happening to a significantly greater extent. I think behind the incel movement is just a growing number people (or at least men) who just don't know how to talk to anyone. If you look at incel forums and see what they talk about, you don't get the impression that they're going to bars and hitting on women; they're at most having occasional awkward run-ins with women, and are convinced that because these go badly, they're not capable of getting women -- when they aren't even trying to begin with.
If I'm right about this, the cause would be that kids really don't have many social outlets besides video games. In schools, recess time is short and often doesn't exist past elementary school. There's not much opportunity to make many friends unless you're in an extracurricular program of some sort (a major reason why JROTC is so popular, by the way), and even then opportunities are still limited. More importantly though, opportunities outside school have dried up. Even if you live in suburbia, parents don't let their kids wander off by themselves; kids are always, always supervised. Parents also don't interact with their kids; increasingly they just sit their kids in front of a screen and forget about them. And there aren't many communal institutions anymore; however you feel about it, capitalism is destroying organized religion, and social clubs are a thing of the past. Kids are growing up without normal human interaction, and they're affected by its absence.
Reply With Quote