Creating Chaos

A very important article in The Guardian analyses the rise of hyper-masculinity and the phenomenon of Angry White Men.  "Sociologist Michael Kimmel is one of the world’s foremost experts on the phenomenon. - His recent research has looked at topics including spree killers (who are overwhelmingly male and white), as well as the relationship between masculinity and political extremism."

In the article there is a report on a study on testosterone where 5 monkeys are observed. The one who rises to the top beats up number 2 and number 2 beats up number 3 - and so it goes down to number 5. 

"So the experiment is: he takes monkey three out of the cage and he shoots him up with testosterone, off the scale, and puts him back in. What do you think happens? When I tell this story my students always guess that he immediately becomes number-one monkey. But that’s not true. What happens is that when he goes back in the cage he still avoids monkeys number one and two – but he beats the shit out of numbers four and five." 

The article indicates that the men who are most likely supporters of racist movements, who are ready to form gangs of thugs to threaten women, Blacks, Jews, Moslems, and LGBTQ communities - have known what it's like to be "monkeys 4 and 5". Males who were humiliated as children, who didn't do well in school, who were victimized by poverty and who have been discarded by neoliberal policies  who have not found a community where they belong. The message they have absorbed is the hyper-masculine in entertainment, the kind of virile-speak that Trump emulates. However there is a masculine example that is sacred, that takes more energy, strength and courage than being a troll.

Is it just an accident that trends have led to this or have the trends brought about an opportunity for those who benefit by social chaos and structural violence.