Some of you might have heard of the bizarre social phenomena in Japan known as hikikomori. It began to receive attention as a phenomena in Japan after about 2011, and news readers in white countries viewed it with curiosity as one of those extremely bizarre things that is so peculiar to Japanese culture. Well, now it appears the hikikomori phenomena is appearing in the U.S. too. For those of you who do not know, it is a phenomena afflicting mostly teen to young adult males, where they become recluses and refuse to leave their rooms and interact with the rest of society. They view themselves as failures and can't face the outside world. Economic factors are one of the factors that play a big role. This is not a good sign, and is a very worrying tend for America's future. Why more US men are falling victim to Japan's anti-social hikikomori trend, New York Post, John Mac Ghlionn, June 5, 2023 Hikikomori trend now in the United States, among young men, The Independent News, Jasmine Kaur, June 10, 2023 It appears that Hikikomori has hit the United States shores as well. The Japanese term is used to denote someone who has withdrawn from society. According to British podcaster Chris Williamson who is based in Austin, Texas, in a discussion with political economist Nicholas Eberstadt, seven million people of prime working age are currently without employment and not seeking jobs. These men also spend too much time indoors and are not sociable at all. According to a Kyushu University survey in Japan low testosterone levels is one of the common metabolic signatures of Hikikomori in young social recluses – which is important to note because testosterone levels are plummeting among young American men. In another report in Intelligencer, researcher Alan Teo says that Hikikomori is becoming prevalent in the United States. The American version of people who are not studying, working or training and have simply withdrawn from the world choosing to live in isolation. "We have a large number of people [in the United States] in their early 20s living the basement bedroom. Often times it is younger men. Struggling with work. Struggling with launching. There is some element of still being stuck in an earlier developmental stage, like that of an adolescent, even though their physical age is that of an adult." Though they may be able to manage simple day to day activities like a grocery run or they will rarely want to socialise or do anything more than that. related thread: Employment for young American workers remains low There are job opportunities that exist, but they may not be very good opportunities for those with minimal skills (especially for many young men), and may not pay enough to easily pay for housing costs. Besides economic factors, excessive time spent playing video games and multiplayer interactive computer games are also believed to play a role in many situations. Though it's hard to say which causes the other, they probably both feed into each other in most situations. But I think it's a mistake--and an easy one to make--for society to just lay all the blame on that, and not look at how the economic circumstances have played a role in shaping this phenomena. I maybe see some parallels to drug dependency issues here also.
Where is your argument? Or was that the whole of it-- you say so? The OP's attribution to low testosterone, at least makes sense. Or does equity breed low testosterone?
Well, in all fairness to AARguy, it is possible the culture surrounding "equity" breeds low testosterone. (When he refers to "equity" he may mostly be referring to non-economic forms, although there may be overlap) Who knows, it is possible testosterone levels contribute to this in some way, but I personally suspect the factors that lead to low testosterone levels in the first place are the same factors (directly) leading to this hikikomori problem. So rather than being an entire explanation and root cause, I suspect testosterone levels might (at best) be a smaller side factor, like a compounding factor, maybe having a bit of a multiplier effect on the underlying issue (like for example maybe making it 20% worse). Studies in primates have suggested that when a male losses dominance, their testosterone levels fall. A part of this could be a social factor (with also plenty of underlying economic factors contributing to that social factor). Testosterone levels may be as much an indicator of the problem as they are a factor causing the problem itself. (Reality often consists of a complex web of cause and effect going back and forth in all different directions)
I think one of the main issues here is young males cannot earn enough to provide for and attract a female mate. This ends up meaning that, in most cases, young women are attracted to young men by almost entirely non-financial factors. Which might sound good to some, but then you consider how "inequal" that system actually turns out to be, with large number of young women attracted to a very small number of prime men. The concept of commitment has been thrown out the window both due to cultural changes, and because these young men have little to offer financially when it comes to commitment. So it mostly just ends up with lots of hook-up sex and flings, very short-term casual relationships--with the majority of young men being left out. (Of course all these women end up screwed later in life when they age, and their romantic desirability to the other sex goes down, but that's another discussion) And if someone is lucky enough to be one of these prime men, with so many female options, what does one have to gain from commitment? There are rough anecdotal numbers out there, something like 70-75% of young women are going after 8% of young men. This of course leads to a gender imbalance, and a lack of motivation and discouragement on the part of many young men. (And that doesn't even include the amount of young women taken by older men, so the numbers are even worse than that. There is evidence that during economic downturns, a higher percentage of young women enter relationships with older men, who can financially provide for them or have housing. Like the percentage may increase by around 6 to 14 percent.)
More female equality in job opportunities (young women are now 13% more likely to have a college degree than young men) has also meant that when it comes to a potential romantic pairing, the women are often earning more money than the man. So there is less financial reason for women to want to be in a relationship. This is going to have an effect on young men, when we consider what one of the main motivations are for men to go out there and work and earn money. (Trying to attract a female, and get sex)
Here in the US when young men do that they just become homeless because the majority of them don't have parents that would be willing to see someone just hibernate in their room and put up with it forever
So, I think a lot of our society is broken. People can't actually survive in the economy today. Some want a permanent lower blue-collar class to serve them. This work arrangement could be possible back when things were more affordable or when welfare benefits were more generous, but Democrats and Republicans both took that away from us. Now, the only thing keeping the economy above water and the newest generations alive is Mommy and Daddy Boomer (Granny and Gramps?). This isn't a sustainable solution because how long will the Boomers live? But for now, they enable the Millennials and Gen-Z to live without working. Oh, incidentally, the largest generational wealth transfer is taking place right now, and the luckiest of the newer generation may not even have to work for a living at all if they're careful with their finances. This may permanently change the work dynamic for a generation. Republicans can't just put work requirements on welfare to chase these people back to work, but Democrats might have the answer with a wealth tax to drain those funds and put people back into a vulnerable position. Our system works on inequality, but circumstances have temporarily hobbled that.
It could also be the effects of long-term plastic pollution in their bodies. It's only been since the 1980s-1990s that we've begun using plastic containers for everything, including plastic utensils and drinking cups. When they say there are hormone-level problems with the latest generations, you've got to consider the introduction of contaminants in the body that are new to the past few decades.
