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I I always find it so funny when I hear people talk about being “addicted” to porn or video games, because let's be honest, it's a miracle that we aren't all addicted to porn or video games.
We all walk around with a little computer in our pocket. It's free, on demand, rain or shine, and it shows us naked people and catches Pokemon. Why would we do anything else? People make a point of how many hours we waste watching porn, but when I think about it, I think I deserve a medal for the hours I'm not watching porn. Where's my parade?
But not everyone seems to think so. Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride has argued that pornography and video games are contributing to a mental health crisis in young men and causing them to leave the workplace. Speaking to the Work and Pensions Select Committee, Stride said that while women's mental health is more affected by unrealistic beauty standards set by the use of social media, “for boys… things like games and, of course, pornography are a more common contributing factor.”
Stride's comments came after the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, for the period January to March 2024, showed that 900,000 young people aged 16 to 24 were classed as “NEET” (not in education, employment or training), an increase of around 88,000 from the previous year.
To be clear, this is the same demographic that spent their prime years dealing with a global pandemic, a faltering economy, and a job market modeled after it. hunger gameTo be fair to Stride, he acknowledged that lockdown was a clear factor in the NEET phenomenon, but to be fair he also blamed MILFs and call of duty It is a social disease bigger than the disease that has taken the lives of 200,000 people.
This is nothing new. People in positions of power are always trying to blame the problems of young people on “those damn computers,” while completely ignoring the fact that these same young people live in a world that seems increasingly hostile towards them and trying to deny them any chance of success and personal fulfillment.
Usually this coincides with an equally pernicious phenomenon that seeks to take away what little enjoyment there is in life from those who already have it – the idea that working class people shouldn't waste their money on alcohol and cigarettes, which are their only means of getting through each miserable day.
Don't get me wrong. There are many things in the world. Fortnite Young people in lobbying should spend more time updating their resumes. However, one in seven young people said:Celebrity names The argument that people need to work because they “have to work below minimum wage,” rather than because they have to compete with 150 coworkers for a minimum wage retail job, is a complete denial of reality.
The thing is, Stride should be well aware that there are no easy solutions to this problem. It would require a holistic approach to the economy and health care and, frankly, probably a new government, and he can't do that. So, like so many politicians before him, he attacks the usual suspects. What is this, the '90s? He blamed video games and porn for Columbine, but surely by now they'd had time to come up with a more compelling moral panic. Next, he'll be arguing about whether Dungeons & Dragons is Satanic.
If anyone is to blame for the mental health crisis in this country, it's people like Stride, who are paid more than most NEETs make in their 20s, yet draw stupid conclusions about real problems in society. I'm not sure which is more pathetic – whether Stride is just telling people what he thinks they want to hear, or whether he actually believes what he's saying, but either scenario will surely result in the same thing: a generation of kids who are without jobs or options, depressed, disillusioned and desperate.
This isn't just a Stride issue: There's an entire online ecosystem dedicated to convincing young men that their lives will magically improve if they just put down their controller and close all their open tabs. It's a feel-good fantasy, but like porn, it doesn't accurately reflect how things actually work in the real world.
So if you're a man in your 20s who's struggling to find a job and feeling guilty about the methods you're using to cheer yourself up, don't worry: porn and video games probably won't help, but they won't make the situation worse either.
