In a previous post, I discussed the 7+ million working-age American men who are not in the labor force. After I initially wrote the post, I decided to ask a prominent conservative about this topic. Consequently, I submitted my question online to the syndicated radio host and author Dennis Prager.
As the founder of the conservative media platform PragerU, Mr. Prager hosts a weekly video series called Fireside Chats on the PragerU YouTube channel. For most of the show, Mr. Prager answers questions from viewers all over the world. As I was watching Fireside Chat episode 164, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Mr. Prager answer my question.
My question to Mr. Prager consisted of two parts. First off, I asked why does the issue of the 7 million American men out of the labor force receive little media attention. Secondly, I asked if he had any solutions to the problem.
To sum up Mr. Prager’s response, he discussed the political Left’s attack on masculinity in Western culture. This attack has permeated nearly every facet of American society—from entertainment to education and from the news media to politics. Moreover, his solution to my question is to have more strong male role models for young boys. In his youth, Mr. Prager mentioned that he had more strong male role models growing up than most boys do today. Unfortunately, many young men today grow up without their father in the home. What’s more, many boys grow up without male mentors in school, church, and extracurricular activities. A lack of strong male role models hurts all young children—especially young boys.
My favorite part of his two-minute response came from this single observation: “If that’s what boys have to aspire to, watering plants, I don’t think they’re going to work very hard at becoming a man.” For context, Mr. Prager mentioned that a British toymaker stopped producing toy soldiers for boys. Instead, this company decided to make toys that only depicted men doing household chores such as walking the dog and watering plants. I have to agree with Mr. Prager on that observation and pretty much everything else he stated. As a nation, we need more strong men in American society.
However, most conservative writers and pundit neglect to answer why we don’t have as many good, strong men in the United States. Simply put, young men in America are responding to the current incentives and values embedded in modern American society. As a whole, the USA does not value most men’s contributions to society. Why should a man work hard to support a family when society calls you toxic, when many high-paying American jobs are offshored to other countries, and when a family court gives your ex-wife complete custody of your kids? Although I (the editor) consider myself a traditional family man, I do not blame how many young men do not feel inclined to getting married. American society is definitely discouraging men from starting families and becoming strong masculine men. Don’t worry, the rant portion of this post is finally over. Your sigh of relief was duly noted.
In the editor’s partial opinion, Mr. Prager is one of the wisest men in an age of folly. Thus, it was truly a privilege to have him answer my question on his show. For those interested, I highly recommend watching Mr. Prager’s Fireside Chats on the PragerU YouTube channel.
Here’s the link to part of the video where my question gets answered: