Quotes are in italics
Feminism can prevent suicide
Pipe Dream
“Suicide among young males is an ever-growing epidemic, but there is a viable solution. Feminism can theoretically decrease the suicide rates of teenage males. “Suicides among young males are four times more common than among young females and they are occurring among ever younger males, some in their early teens.” What is the cause for these drastically different suicide rates? In 2010, Newsweek Magazine attempted to answer this question in its issue, “MAN UP!” According to an article by Andrew Romano and Tony Dokoupil, the concept of masculinity is the fundamental cause for the higher rate of male suicides.”
The author does not go on to cite any evidence. Instead, he shares the speculation of the Newsweek writers that men feel out of place due to the harsh economy and changes in the workforce. But this is absolutely ridiculous. Why would a male in his early teens care about the changes in the economy, let alone be so distraught about said changes that he would end his own life?
Furthermore, the fundamental problem with this article is that it ignores the fairly apparent point that the traditional notion of masculinity has been on the decline for a while. Go watch There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, an entrepreneurial oil man in the 1910’s. When a young man offers to sell him the location of some land with oil beneath it that can be bought cheaply, Plainview accepts the offers, and then utters the line: “If I travel all the way there and I find out that you’re a liar, I’ll find you and I’ll take more than my money back, is that alright with you?” Can you ever imagine the CEO of ExxonMobil saying something like that nowadays?
Social media has made men more narcissistic than ever. Our entire educational system is suffused with feminisms, and boys are brought up listening to its maxims.
The suicide rates among teenage males are rising because young men undergo new academic challenges such as college when they are not yet comfortable in their manhood.
The certainty with which this statement is written is ridiculous. Men entering college have ALWAYS faced these challenges. Personally, I have no idea why male suicide rates are rising. This is a rather serious topic, and demands more research than simply reading a Newsweek article. But the idea that feminism is any sort of panacea to this epidemic is most certainly a spurious claim.
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Expanding the influence of big money in politics has dangerous conseqeuences [sic]
Pipe Dream
They spelled “consequences” incorrectly in the very headline. Good start!
But, the question remains, why do we care? If corporate and wealthy donor interests line up with constituent interests, we may not. However, when private and public interests clash, public officials are charged with upholding the interests of their constituents. When the interests of the wealthy clash with those of the middle and lower class, public officials must find a way to address everyone’s needs.
This all sounds very reasonable, but I have just one question to ask in response: the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law was in force between 2002 and 2009. During that time, we had countless corruption and bribery scandals, Jack Abramoff’s being one among many. So is there any actual evidence that campaign finance laws allow for better public policy?