Weekly Digest: American Gerontocracy
America's elderly elite, evangelical man shaming, mentoring, and the heroic feminine
Welcome to my weekly digest for November 3, 2023, with the best articles from around the web and a roundup of my recent writings and appearances.
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What I’ve been reading: Long Live the Post Horn! and Is Mother Dead? by Vigdis Hjorth.
More Evangelical Man Shaming
Somebody tweeted this video of Mark Driscoll berating men in their 30s who aren’t married as “very selfish and self-indulgent human beings.” The video apparently came from Driscoll’s own Instagram account.
Let’s be honest: Driscoll is certainly right about some men. And if you are in your mid-30s and not married yet, with no potential marriage on the horizon, you should do a gut check and for most people probably make some adjustments in what you are doing in life.
But this is just classic name calling of the type Mark Driscoll has long done and which evangelicals are infamous for. When I say that evangelicals need to stop the man shaming, I’m not making this up. It’s what too many of them actually do.
Any man with even a modicum of self-respect wouldn’t put up with this - and rightly not.
Best of the Web
Financial Times: Morgan Stanley makes its choice: how Ted Pick won the CEO succession race - This piece hits once again the theme I’ve written about of the necessity for mentoring and coaching to make it to the top.
He cut staff in fixed income by 25 per cent and still increased revenues, a revival that left a big impression on the bank’s board of directors. Each quarter, the trading floor would stop to listen when Pick used the speaker to run briskly through what they had got right or wrong. When it became clear that he had a chance at the top job, Pick began working with a coach to tone down his language and improve his softer skills. He also made a visible effort to engage with geopolitics. He is seen as an intense and exacting manager by people who have worked with him but also someone who generates deep loyalty. [emphasis added]
People have asked me what to do if you can’t find a mentor. One alternative (or supplement) is professional coaching. Unfortunately, this does not come cheap, so is not a realistic option for many either. I will keep working on ideas!
NY Post: Prince Harry is ‘dependent on Meghan Markle for his social life’ after burning bridges: royal expert - Meghan encouraged Harry in separating himself from his family, geographically separated him from his home and friend network, and is now apparently the controller of his social life. Were the genders reversed, this would be treated as abusive.
WSJ: Are Joint Bank Accounts the Secret to a Happy Marriage? - It seems weird to me, but my understanding is that most people who get married today never merge their finances.
Financial Times: How older women defy evolutionary logic - An interesting column speculating on why humans are one of only two, maybe three species where women experience menopause. It reminded me to repost newsletter #65 by guest writer Kennaquhair on how post-menopausal women function as a “store of knowledge and bulwark against disaster.”
WaPo: Older Americans are dominating like never before, but what comes next? - American gerontocracy
As the nation heads into an election year, American politics can look much like a gerontocracy, with the most likely presidential nominees being two men who would be octogenarians in the White House (President Biden is 80 already; former president and leading Republican candidate Donald Trump is 77). Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is 81; Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) is 90; and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is 82. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) died at 90 last month, following a visibly diminished capacity that prompted widespread discussion of the role that the oldest politicians are playing at the highest levels of government.
Yet even beyond Washington, a geriatric elite also controls many other aspects of an aging society, to such an extent that in some professions there are deep concerns about how those roles will be filled in decades to come. In medicine, big business, farming, construction trades, and across much of the American economy, the workforce is getting older and older. In the leadership ranks, the elderly are increasingly staying in command, well past traditional retirement age, which can sometimes limit the positions available to younger workers from a wider variety of backgrounds.
Stephen Wolfe: What is Christian nationalism? - A definition and defense
New Content and Media Mentions
This week I got mentions from Instapundit and Doug Wilson. I was also a guest on the Gottesdienst, a Lutheran podcast, with an interesting discussion of men’s issues.
This week on my podcast, I had a very special guest, Andrew Brunson, the Presbyterian pastor who was unjustly imprisoned in Turkey for two years in what became a major international diplomatic incident. Note: There are some network issues with this recording.
Unfortunately I did not get a transcript for this.
You can subscribe to my podcast on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.
New contents and media mentions:
My article in the American Mind about why I don’t support Christian nationalism
A follow-up post here on the Christian nationalism topic.
Other Conservatisms - A look at two conservatisms that are different from the postwar American conservative variety.
That’s crazy because I saw this exact Mark Driscoll video after last weeks man-shaming article from Blake and both pieces really remind me how the world has changed.
Much of what I think below has been said in this newsletter before, but it bears repeating.
I think a lot of older men and pastors mean well, but I think like a lot of things, the world has changed and older Americans just simply don’t/won’t/can’t comprehend. Millennials and Gen Z will list likely meet many milestones that previous generations will, but it is harder and may look different.
We know that housing, education, and healthcare costs have exploded for my generation (I’m 27) and cost wildly more than it did for boomers. I think dating has changed too.
The internet has exploded and now everyone has so much choice no one really tries to date anymore. If it’s not working after 20 minutes, I have the illusion I can meet another person because there’s an endless cycle of people. For boomers, the dating pool was significantly smaller.
Somehow, this reality exists with the fact that meeting in person is more challenging than ever. Movies, concerts, and bars are simply out of my price range so outside of church, it’s hard to form organic ways to meet people. Try meeting through friends? Younger People also have statistically fewer friends then Boomers did in their youth.
This doesn’t mean Boomers are wrong about marriage, why to get married, or etc., but I get the implicit sense that they think “Why don’t you just date/get married like back in my day?” which sounds like other statements made about housing, education, etc.
As someone whose 27, I can promise you there’s a lot more going on here than just fickleness/emotional immaturity. I think this means men and pastors need to change up some strategy, tactics, tone, etc. if they want to reach men in their 20’s.
I will have to listen to that Gottesdienst podcast!
Wanted to comment on this item that I've seen women do this to men relatively shortly before divorcing them: "NY Post: Prince Harry is ‘dependent on Meghan Markle for his social life’ after burning bridges: royal expert - Meghan encouraged Harry in separating himself from his family, geographically separated him from his home and friend network, and is now apparently the controller of his social life. Were the genders reversed, this would be treated as abusive."