The Pilgrim, January 20, 2023*This year began on a clearly
explosive note. With the arrest of pre-eminent and world-famous online
influencer Andrew Tate, we’ve a clear case of “not all that glitters is gold,”
or that “things are not always what they seem to be.”
Andrew, including his brother
Tristan, probably need no introduction to the Millennial generation or any
social-media savvy person.
Based in the little-known
country of Romania, Andrew portrayed himself across the social media landscape as a man’s man, who could guide a
disenchanted mass of young people on how to become rich, famous, and
sexually attractive. Guess what happened? Thousands followed him, even more as
he backed up his machismo with an outrageous life of luxury.
But the self-styled icon of
male dominance and wisdom has been detained in Romania over allegations of rape
and human trafficking. The influencer’s house of cards appears to tumble down,
and his gullible followers are beginning to see through his baloney. They might
wonder, why would an “iconic” figure, who claims to do honest hard work, end up
charged with organized crime?
I’m not the prosecution, so I
won’t comment on the former kick boxer’s court case. But suffice to say that Andrew’s
high-end range of vehicles and designer watches have been seized, and could be
auctioned at the court’s approval, according to officials in Romania.
What I want to do is to look
at Andrew’s influence more closely and point out why it’s dangerous for characters
like him to hold sway over young people.
Andrew emerged within a
nihilistic context to provide answers to disillusioned young people teetering
on the brink of adulthood, who have a disregard for morality and religion in
the belief that life is meaningless.
The son of American chess
genius Emory Tate, Andrew diagnosed such disillusion among young men as a pathological
condition that could be cured if only a young man rose to the occasion
and tapped into his manliness.
Toxic Masculinity
Andrew played up the supposed
masculine traits of physical fitness, aggression, courage, stoicism, and hard
work as formulas for success. What that produces eventually is a punishing
cancer called toxic masculinity.
Any person with real life
experience will tell you that masculine traits don’t solve a man’s problem.
According to Andrew’s own 41
Tenets, “…men are personally responsible for their actions and the results they
achieve in their lives.”
He adds, “I believe it is
incumbent upon me to ruthlessly identify my own weaknesses and limitations and
I eagerly work to overcome them and become more capable in all realms.”
Following Andrew’s logic,
therefore, it’s a manly thing to be serious with your life and it determines
whether you fail or succeed in any realm of human endeavor.
These are the most toxic
messages you can ever tell a man, especially if he is poor.
It reflects the same toxicity
and insensitiveness exhibited by the words of Ghanian business magnate Daniel
McKorley, who recently said his country isn’t developing because today’s youth
“sleep too much,” they’re not serious. Absurd!
In my own disillusionment with
life, I found Andrew very convincing, but I became depressed the more I
followed his teachings.
You see, these philosophies
are warped because they blatantly neglect a cardinal principle about life,
which is the fact that multiple factors combine to decide a person’s success or
failure.
For this reason, it would be
very easy to kill a poor man by telling him to simply work hard, instead of
providing him with an income.
The prevalence of any social
ill such as poverty, homelessness, immigration stress, gender inequality or
racial discrimination merely reflects the injustice of society, rather than the
presence or absence of masculine traits. It demonstrates the disproportionate
distribution of power.
On a much deeper scientific
level, we would have to embrace the idea of intersectionality, which
essentially argues that for an individual to make it in life, they need to have
a lot going for them in terms of race, gender, sexuality, and class. An entire
range of social and political identities must combine to determine a person’s
success or failure.
As an example, this means that
no matter what Andrew says, you’re more likely to fail in life if you’re black,
gay, male, and poor, living in an oppressive and racist society. No questions
about that. You can be stoic, lift weights and run all you want in the morning,
but that won’t take you anywhere.
Indeed, John F. Kennedy—as an extremely rich, heterosexual white male with a
Harvard education—didn’t have to worry much about becoming president of the
United States.
It’s intersectionality, and
not hard work or any other masculine traits, that explains why rich men like
Donald Trump become politicians and presidents, or why attractive women become
flight attendants.
It’s also intersectionality,
and not hard work or any other masculine traits, that explains why poor black
children, compared to their white counterparts, are underrepresented in
swimming and equestrian sports in Africa.
You see, once you’ve money, you
can pretend to be more generous and hard-working than any person on earth.
Think of Elon Musk. But if you’re poor, everybody will think you’re evil,
selfish, and lazy. You can even become an incel, which is to say you’re
involuntarily celibate.
We live in an unjust and
punishing society, which preserves its disproportionate distribution of power
with a dichotomy between wealth and poverty.
If we cannot create an equal
society, Andrew’s toxic masculinity won’t change the status quo. If anything,
it will create a bitter mass of men and women who will eventually exterminate
each other.
We don’t need another Andrew
to tell us what we already know. We need influencers who will advocate for a
more equitable and just society. This mentality, and not masculinity hot air,
will solve many of the world’s problems. If we don’t want to go that route,
then we should probably stop having children.
*This column is published every Friday in Zambia's leading newspaper, the Zambia Daily Mail
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