Key points
- Galloway calls the midterms a political earthquake, saying America rejected Trump and MAGA in the biggest electoral rout since 1974.
- Young men swung 36 points toward Democrats in two years, more than any other cohort.
- Galloway proposes redshirting boys, recruiting more male teachers, and expanding vocational training and mentorship.
America is losing its young men
Young men are politically homeless and in crisis, and the midterms showed it. They swung 36 points to Democrats in two years, loyal to a feeling that the system is broken. Scott Galloway's essay argues the postwar middle class was built by deliberate public investment, and that the same commitment is needed now for boys, or an ageing country will lose productivity and creditworthiness.
Takeaways
- Galloway calls midterms a political earthquake. He says America rejected Donald Trump and MAGA in the biggest electoral rout since 1974. Young men swung 36 points toward Democrats in two years, voting for a feeling rather than a party.
- Boys fall behind from school to work. Boys start school less prepared than girls and are less likely to graduate. One in seven men reports no friends, three of four deaths of despair are men, and by 27 dropouts are four times more likely to be arrested or addicted.
- Misogynist voices fill a void of dialogue. Galloway blames a lack of open conversation for boys turning to figures such as Andrew Tate, whom he calls an accused trafficker and rapist who calls himself a pimp. Boys lacking male exemplars of strength and kindness look elsewhere for models.
- Solutions start with redshirting boys and mentors. Galloway credits Richard Reeves for redshirting boys. He wants more male teachers, now fewer than one in four, and cites mentoring programs. Mentored kids are 81% more likely to play sports and 78% more likely to volunteer.
- Family instability and money stress hit boys hard. Births to unmarried mothers rose from 5% in 1960 to 40% today, and children living without a parent from 15% in 1975 to 30% in 2020. Money is the biggest stress, and 35-year-olds have half the wealth of 1989 while 75-year-olds are twice as rich.
- Ageing America will lose relevance and credit. With one in six Americans over 65, 7% of GDP goes to seniors against 0.5% to children. Galloway warns half of national credit ratings are predicted to be junk within forty years, since the ratio of young to old drives productivity.
- Nation's purpose is deep relationships. Of $8tn of stocks and bonds traded each year, only $300bn is true investment. Galloway says student debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and that a nation's purpose is to create a context for deep relationships.
The postwar model
- In 1945, 40% of GDP went to the war effort, against 3% today. After the war 10m left military service and thirty years brought record low unemployment and growth.
- The GI Bill sent 2m soldiers to college, and Truman expanded housing finance.
- Eisenhower built the national highways at over $500bn in today's dollars.