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The Man Crisis

Feb 7, 20235 min read





I grew up in an age when masculine role models were James Bond and Dirty Harry. These were men who perspired confidence, could get any woman they wanted, were good with their hands and no one ever fucked with them. These role models existed before dating apps in a time when men had to be brave enough to approach strange women and master the art of flirting and seduction. The brave men that stormed the beaches of Normandy did so in the face of overwhelming odds because it was their duty. Today, men spend more time on their couches than in the gym, and more time scrolling through potential matches on Tinder than meeting women in bars and restaurants. Five things are happening to men today that are a source of concern.


1) They are Growing Up Fatherless

The rise of feminism has had some unintended consequences. The empowerment of women has given them more options in their careers and in their relationships. Gone are the days of having to rely on a man for their survival. After having children, they are no longer tied to the father. Family law in most countries favours the woman. Divorce courts will look after the mother (for obvious reasons) and this has increased the number of single mothers and uninvolved fathers. Boys have lost their male role models in the home, and given the majority of teachers are women, neither can they find these role models at school. Their formative years have become feminine. You can see this in the proliferation of participation trophies. Kids are being awarded trophies for mediocre performance. They are being taught that there is nothing wrong with being mediocre and this is killing any competitive spirit that leads to growth, fulfillment, and purpose.


2) Testosterone Levels are Falling

Studies indicate that male testosterone levels have been declining by one percent per annum since the 1980s. This means that a 25 year today has the same t-levels as a 50-year-old man had in the 1990s. There are numerous reasons for this. One is a less active lifestyle. Kids in the 80s used to spend their days outdoors climbing trees, riding bikes and wrestling on the playground. Today they are addicted to their cell phones and video games - they don't want to go outside because the graphics aren't good enough. Secondly, man's role in society has changed. In the 1980s, boys had a clever roadmap for their lives - they would get educated, get a job, get married, have kids, and provide for their families. Today’s roadmap is less clear. More women are pursuing their careers into their 40s and are less likely to get married in their twenties. They are also more successful, and therefore see fewer men as attractive mates. Women are hypergamous - they look for men on the same socioeconomic level and above. As their level goes up, more men are relegated to the ranks of being “undatable”. This lowers their confidence and increases their resentment, which in turn reduces t-levels. Finally, as men become more marginalized, their lifestyles change. They are less likely to go out, more inclined to eat junk food, do drugs, and withdraw into the world of online porn which enhances their feeling of inadequacy and kills more testosterone. Lower testosterone leads to depression, anxiety, fatigue, increased body fat, affected memory, and low blood counts. The bottom line is that affects a man's ability to function optimally.


3) Suicide Rates are Rising

Men in their twenties are four times more likely to commit suicide than women. There are several reasons for this. The first is that men have always been taught their lives are dispensable. Whenever there is a war, who gets sent off to the front lines? Who cleans the sewers, works on the deep sea oil rigs, and builds the high-rise buildings? The majority are men. Secondly, men are not adept at expressing their emotions. They tend to keep their emotions bottled up and buy into the modern paradigms that men don't cry. This bottling up of emotions leads to a higher probability of a man putting a gun into his mouth and pulling the trigger. Finally, men are facing a crisis of relevance. As robots take over many traditional blue-collar jobs, and the labour market pivots more to feminine-dominated white-collar jobs in services, more men are being displaced from the workforce. Self driving trucks is going to put millions of men out of work in the next ten years.


4) Men are Having Less Sex

Young men between the ages of 18 and 30 in the US are abstaining from sex. Ten years ago, the percentage of men in this demographic that had not had sex in the past year was 10%. Today, this number has spiked to almost 30%. There are several reasons for this sex drought. Young men are withdrawing into the online world and are consuming more pornography. They are also living longer with their parents, which is a real boner killer. But possibly the strongest reason is that women are becoming more selective about who they drop their panties for. They are focusing more on their careers, and delaying marriage plans or canceling them altogether. As women progress in their careers and start to unlock their economic potential, they also see how their sexual market value increases. Women are hypergamous by nature – they only want to hook up with people on the same socio-economic level or higher. Given that men are in a throes of a crisis, this pool of dateable/fuckable men is declining. This means that a smaller number of alpha-type men are having more sex. The Pareto principle of 80/20 is very much in play – 20% of men are having 80% of the sex.


5) Men are Getting Less Educated

Young men now account for only about 40% of recent university graduates. Likewise, boys drop out of high school at nearly double the rate of girls. Traditional boyhood pursuits have been curtailed in schools, with a significant decline in activities such as physical education, sports, woodwork, metalwork, and break times. This prevents boys from letting off steam and expending natural energy, leading to inattention in the classroom. In addition, the vast majority of teachers in high school are women, again creating an environment void of male role models. As men get less educated, so to does their market value in the workplace decline. They are less likely to find well-paying jobs, and the velocity of their downward spiral accelerates.


So what is the solution to all this mayhem? The first step is admitting there is a crisis. The second step is building a community that is obsessed with finding solutions, and not with wallowing in self-pity and self-destruction. The Million Man Project aims to create a million high-value men. We want to reverse this trend of masculine decay, and through coaching, mentorship, and community help young men lead meaningful and valuable lives.


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