Todd Rado ’26
Opinions Editor
Most everyone reading this knows that guy. The one who thinks talking to women is an advanced game of ghosting and manipulation, and the one who throws around slurs like it’s the 1950’s, but then says it’s “just a joke.” The one who watches one of the 97 white male podcasts that say sexism isn’t real. It was known that this flavor of male was on the rise, but not to such a degree that they would win one of America’s most repugnant candidates an entire election. To this end, perhaps the most frustrating part of the new age of Fascism we find ourselves in is the fact that those who will usher it in do not take the weight of their actions or words particularly seriously. In Donald Trump’s acceptance rally, many were shocked to hear the likes of Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and Adin Ross — the man who literally sniffed Andrew Tate’s chair-print — honorably mentioned for their instrumental role in Trump’s election. And most recently, Trump made the announcement that Elon Musk, scandalous billionaire, and Vivek Ramaswamy, equally scandalous (and antisemitic) billionaire, will together co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE, for short. Yes, Doge, as in the pump and dump cryptocurrency meme dog, which will now be the king of budget cuts to America’s few essential services. This all seems to show that the right’s political power comes not from their passion, but rather, their irreverence. How did we get here? America has always been evil (see my previous, evidently controversial article for more info), but why now does it seem to have such a severe crisis of authenticity? And most importantly, why is it so damn appealing?
The answer starts with addressing the state of the American superstructure. In short, this is absolutely nothing new, only the exacerbation of an already existing flaw. This is the leftover of centuries of social conditioning. America, due to the nature of capitalism, is not simply an individualist culture, it is the individualist culture, and people are suffering under it. Studies show this repeatedly. A culture of competition that pits everyone against everyone, and encourages working only for yourself, simply reflects the nature of the capitalist economy. This is further reflected in how many on the Podcasting Right communicate, encouraging many to “break out of the matrix/rat-race” of soulless, corporate grind — not through resistance, unity, or revolution, rather through leaning into that isolation, and joining the slavers. People are lonely. If you are with the majority of Americans, there is an utter chasm between you, and the people around you. That’s a crushing feeling, and one many need relief from immediately. And thus, capitalists and the right, who naturally have dumbed-down, quick-fix scapegoat answers to more nuanced problems, have inherently more easily marketable ideas. Establishment democrats, clinging to ideological neoliberalism, refuse to offer any real solutions. So, when someone addresses that need, irrespective of who they are, they create appeal, especially when the manner in which that message is delivered is aligned with one’s socialization. Through ostentatious displays of money, power, and women, they elaborate on that message by showing “look at all these things I have. I made it, I’m the patriarch, and this is why you listen to me.” Through trends like the “winter arc”, men are encouraged to stay alone, and build up their own strongman persona for themselves. And by that point, one becomes fully captured by the irreverent right. With that established, there is no question on why the podcasting right exploded in appeal — and why it worked — when America is faced with a right-wing that embraces figures of disillusionment and frustration, and a center-”left” which rejects them unilaterally.Perhaps, then, this crisis of authenticity can simply be explained by the fact that many simply find themselves naturally aligning with the right, socialized into a culture that treats apathy like a virtue. Or, perhaps, many American men are looking for people who reflect an air of casual, irreverent hatred, that reject humanity in the same way they feel humanity rejected them. If you are one of these men, the most important takeaway is that you will never feel whole by voting and advocating for the oppression of other people, and bidding your humanization on the dehumanization of others. The movement of right-wing capitalism is not one built for your benefit, it’s built to useyou. You will find more in unity than you ever did alone. There are confidential, clinical psychological services here on campus that did a lot for me, and serves as a healthy outlet and a path to healing (and, if you are one of the men who are just racist for the hell of it, you also need this anyways). The brain is an organ, not a transcendental wellspring of strength – it has always been okay to seek help. If you are one of the many bystanders to this, the most I can say is to check on the people in your life. Apathy, Isolation, and Fascism take hold in silence. Ask how they’re really doing. You don’t know what it could mean. The only antidote to the plague of American individualism is to organize, organize, organize. In the words of the late Pete Seeger, “and by union what we will, can be accomplished still.”
Featured image courtesy of Google Images
Web Edited by Zexuan Qu ’28
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