Interview, Roundtable
Can Trump's UFC fight restore his popularity among men? | The Economist
- Young American men are expected to increasingly oppose Donald Trump in polls, indicating his masculinity-based political appeal is fluid rather than fixed.
- Time constraints are anticipated to limit Trump's ability to fulfill his 2016 campaign promise of bringing jobs back without delivery, as the 2016 election cycle is already in the past.
- The trade war with China is projected to fail in generating a manufacturing renaissance, as Chinese retaliation against tariffs is expected to suppress job creation.
- Immigration crackdowns are predicted not to generate significant job surges, based on the premise that Americans are unwilling to fill the roles currently occupied by immigrants.
- Promoting violent conflict as a prerequisite for masculinity is viewed as unproductive for developing the skills necessary for the 21st-century economy.
- Potential demographic and lifestyle shifts within the MAGA movement may redefine traditional "daddy" and "mommy" political roles, though this outcome is explicitly noted as uncertain.
- The perceived crisis of American men may be rooted in deeper structural economic and societal issues rather than a crisis of masculine identity alone.
- A recurring societal "perma-neurosis" regarding masculinity is expected to persist, mirroring historical discussions from 1899 and 1958.
- The administration's strategy of blaming external actors like China and immigrants for internal issues is identified as creating a fundamental tension between complaint and action.
- The historical sentiment that supporting Trump enhances masculinity, observed in post-2016 surveys, is contrasted with the current decline in this appeal.