AI transcript
0:00:01 (upbeat music)
0:00:04 – Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere,
0:00:06 and you’re making content that no one sees,
0:00:09 and it takes forever to build a campaign?
0:00:12 Well, that’s why we built HubSpot.
0:00:13 It’s an AI-powered customer platform
0:00:15 that builds campaigns for you,
0:00:17 tells you which leads are worth knowing,
0:00:20 and makes writing blogs, creating videos,
0:00:22 and posting on social a breeze.
0:00:25 So now, it’s easier than ever to be a marketer.
0:00:28 Get started at hubspot.com/marketers.
0:00:30 (upbeat music)
0:00:33 Support for this podcast comes from Anthropic.
0:00:36 It’s not always easy to harness the power
0:00:38 and potential of AI.
0:00:40 For all the talk around its revolutionary potential,
0:00:42 a lot of AI systems feel like they’re designed
0:00:46 for specific tasks performed by a select few.
0:00:50 Well, Claude, by Anthropic, is AI for everyone.
0:00:52 The latest model, Claude 3.5 Sonnet,
0:00:56 offers groundbreaking intelligence at an everyday price.
0:00:59 Claude Sonnet can generate code, help with writing,
0:01:00 and reason through hard problems
0:01:02 better than any model before.
0:01:05 You can discover how Claude can transform your business
0:01:08 at Anthropic.com/Claude.
0:01:15 Support for this show comes from Constant Contact.
0:01:18 If you struggle just to get your customers to notice you,
0:01:22 Constant Contact has what you need to grab their attention.
0:01:25 Constant Contact’s award-winning marketing platform
0:01:29 offers all the automation, integration, and reporting tools
0:01:31 that get your marketing running seamlessly,
0:01:34 all backed by their expert live customer support.
0:01:37 It’s time to get going and growing
0:01:39 with Constant Contact today.
0:01:41 Ready, set, grow.
0:01:46 Go to ConstantContact.ca and start your free trial today.
0:01:50 Go to ConstantContact.ca for your free trial.
0:01:52 ConstantContact.ca.
0:01:59 I’m Scott Galloway, and this is No Mercy, No Malice.
0:02:01 Young people were the epicenter
0:02:03 of the political earthquake last week.
0:02:07 The fall line, masculinity.
0:02:11 The testosterone election, as read by George Hahn.
0:02:20 I believe the more interesting conversation
0:02:23 than why she lost is how he won.
0:02:26 We on the left tried to comfort each other
0:02:29 with the cold, i.e. freezing comfort of,
0:02:32 he barely won the popular vote,
0:02:36 or Wisconsin was decided by just 30,000 people.
0:02:42 But the reality is Donald Trump destroyed Kamala Harris.
0:02:46 Trump, for the first time, won the popular vote
0:02:48 and took all seven swing states.
0:02:50 It was a political earthquake
0:02:53 that rendered legacy media and knocking on doors
0:02:56 as 20th century relics.
0:02:59 The aftershocks will be felt for the next four years
0:03:04 and beyond, but we know where the epicenter was.
0:03:08 Despite a 51-48 split in the popular vote,
0:03:12 three-quarters of Americans agree on one thing.
0:03:15 We are on the wrong track.
0:03:16 That’s been the political reality
0:03:19 for most of this century.
0:03:21 High levels of dissatisfaction
0:03:25 resulting in a series of change elections.
0:03:27 The reason?
0:03:29 Voters recognize that millennials and Zoomers
0:03:33 aren’t as prosperous as their boomer and Gen X parents.
0:03:34 One example?
0:03:39 In 1981, the median age of a homebuyer was 38.
0:03:42 Today, it’s 54.
0:03:45 The epicenter of the 2024 political election
0:03:47 and the 2024 political earthquake
0:03:52 wasn’t immigration, bodily autonomy, or democracy.
0:03:57 It was the social contract between America and its citizens.
0:03:59 The contract is straightforward.
0:04:01 Work hard and play by the rules,
0:04:04 and your children will have a better life than you did.
0:04:07 For the first time in 250 years,
0:04:10 that contract has not held.
0:04:16 In an earthquake, solid ground is an illusion.
0:04:18 I learned this in 1971
0:04:21 when the Silmar Quake devastated Los Angeles.
0:04:23 The movement of tectonic plates,
0:04:26 usually just a few centimeters per year,
0:04:29 goes unnoticed until they slip,
0:04:33 releasing enough energy to rip apart the ground beneath your feet.
0:04:36 Tectonic plates meet, pressure builds,
0:04:40 and ultimately breaks apart at the fault line.
0:04:41 If the epicenter of this election
0:04:44 was America’s social contract,
0:04:48 the fault line was masculinity.
0:04:52 Before the election, I predicted the outcome would be decided
0:04:57 by whoever presented a more aspirational vision of masculinity.
0:04:59 The reasoning was correct.
0:05:02 The call was wrong.
0:05:05 Instead of seeing men as providers and protectors,
0:05:10 voters embraced crypto, the UFC, and Hulk Hogan.
0:05:14 Tesla, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin
0:05:23 are up 29%, 25%, 24%, and 106%, respectively.
0:05:28 Note the S&P is up nearly 4% over the same period.
0:05:31 And we Democrats were stood up,
0:05:34 left bereft by voters motivated by bodily autonomy,
0:05:38 who didn’t show up.
0:05:40 Trump was able to distance himself
0:05:42 from the bodily autonomy issue.
0:05:46 Five of the seven states that voted for pro-choice amendments
0:05:49 split the ticket on the issue,
0:05:52 polling the lever for the former president.
0:05:54 America elected President T.
0:06:01 Only the T doesn’t stand for Trump, but testosterone.
0:06:03 How Americans vote should be taken seriously
0:06:05 regarding the direction of the country,
0:06:07 but much of the rhetoric has been ugly
0:06:11 and should not be normalized.
0:06:14 I receive a lot of emails from worried parents,
0:06:16 particularly mothers, along these lines,
0:06:19 quote, “I have a daughter who lives in Chicago
0:06:23 and works in PR and another daughter who’s at Penn.
0:06:27 My son lives in our basement, vapes, and plays video games,”
0:06:29 unquote.
0:06:31 Young American men are in a crisis
0:06:35 of under-employment and under-socialization.
0:06:38 Soaring college costs affect people regardless of gender,
0:06:41 but since 2011, the percentage of young men enrolled
0:06:47 in college has dropped from 47% to 42%.
0:06:50 Manufacturing jobs, once a ticket to the middle class
0:06:54 for men without college degrees, have been off-shored.
0:06:56 Housing is increasingly unaffordable.
0:07:01 Nearly 60% of men aged 18 to 24 live with their parents,
0:07:06 and one in five still live with their parents at 30.
0:07:09 Many men are stuck, isolated, despairing,
0:07:12 and unproductive, prone to obesity, drug addiction,
0:07:15 and suicide, susceptible to misogyny, conspiracy theories,
0:07:18 and radicalization.
0:07:24 They make inadequate mates, employees, and citizens.
0:07:28 An African proverb states, quote, “The child
0:07:30 who is not embraced by the village
0:07:35 will burn it down to feel its warmth,” unquote.
0:07:39 When young men are struggling, they and their parents
0:07:43 vote based on an attribute versus an issue.
0:07:47 That attribute, this cycle, was disruption.
0:07:49 These voters didn’t vote for the party that
0:07:51 believes the solution for young men
0:07:55 is to act more like women or even traditional Republicans.
0:07:57 They opted for whoever would disrupt
0:08:01 an America that’s broken its most basic contract.
0:08:06 As Cersei Lannister said, “I choose violence.”
0:08:10 The electorate chose chaos.
0:08:12 When parents see their kids hurting,
0:08:14 they become single-issue voters.
0:08:19 From 2020 to 2024, Trump gained 15 points
0:08:22 among 18 to 29-year-old men.
0:08:26 The mothers of young voters, women ages 45 to 64,
0:08:30 voted for Trump more than any other age group of women,
0:08:33 including women over 65.
0:08:37 Their fathers, men ages 45 to 64,
0:08:40 voted for Trump at a higher rate than any other male age
0:08:44 group, except for men over 65, who supported him
0:08:46 by one percentage point more.
0:08:50 The boys burned down the village to feel its warmth,
0:08:55 and their parents gave them the matches.
0:08:59 In April, I gave a TED Talk about America’s war on the young.
0:09:02 The war is being waged on nearly every front,
0:09:05 but one especially revealing battleground
0:09:08 is our social safety net.
0:09:10 If it seems like we care more about senior citizens
0:09:14 than our children, trust your instincts.
0:09:18 Recall that we let the child tax credit expansion expire
0:09:20 post-pandemic.
0:09:22 Meanwhile, Social Security remains
0:09:25 the third rail of American politics,
0:09:27 with old people electing older people who
0:09:29 vote themselves more money.
0:09:31 To paraphrase Warren Buffett, there
0:09:36 is a generational war in America, and my generation is winning.
0:09:42 After a campaign where most of the oxygen was consumed
0:09:45 by performative pandering over culture war issues,
0:09:52 voters reminded us that their number one issue is the economy.
0:09:55 America is a platform that provides two things–
0:09:58 the defense of our shores and citizens,
0:10:01 and economic opportunity.
0:10:04 Everything else comes in a distant third.
0:10:08 In a capitalist society, the fastest path
0:10:12 to expanding and protecting rights is simple–
0:10:15 give people more money.
0:10:18 When you put expanding rights ahead of increasing
0:10:22 economic opportunity, you’re treating the symptom,
0:10:25 not the disease.
0:10:28 In America, and this has not always been the case
0:10:31 and should be celebrated, your opportunities
0:10:33 are more a function of your economic weight
0:10:36 class than your identity.
0:10:38 Demographics are no longer destiny.
0:10:41 Today in America, you’d rather be born non-white or gay
0:10:43 than poor.
0:10:48 Our spending priorities, like entitlements, tax policies,
0:10:52 like capital gains and mortgage interest deductions,
0:10:56 and fiscal policies, like bailouts of incumbents,
0:11:01 are nothing but a transfer of wealth from young to old.
0:11:04 Compared to 40 years ago, the average 70-plus year old
0:11:09 is 72% wealthier, and the average person under 40
0:11:13 is 24% less wealthy.
0:11:15 In addition, social media notifications
0:11:21 remind them 210 times a day that everyone else is killing it.
0:11:24 The most noxious emission in America
0:11:27 is not carbon, but shame.
0:11:30 The disease is simple to diagnose.
0:11:33 Young people don’t have enough money.
0:11:37 We should treat the disease, not with leeches like tariffs
0:11:40 and cocaine like tax cuts for the wealthy,
0:11:44 but treatments that are proven to work.
0:11:47 A few suggestions.
0:11:49 Do the minimum.
0:11:54 70% of minimum wage workers are between 16 and 34.
0:11:57 The fastest way to put more money in their hands
0:11:59 is to give them a raise.
0:12:01 I believe the federal minimum wage
0:12:05 should be $25 per hour.
0:12:09 Ask what you can do for your country.
0:12:13 Only 18% of 18 to 34-year-olds say
0:12:16 they’re proud to be an American.
0:12:20 We should require or encourage one or two years of paid service
0:12:22 for young people.
0:12:25 Service builds grit, camaraderie, connections,
0:12:27 and social conscience.
0:12:31 It heals political divisions and restores faith in the country.
0:12:35 The left will cry fascism, the right communism.
0:12:39 Angering both extremes is a tell for good policy,
0:12:43 which generally appeals to the center rather than the fringes.
0:12:46 Note, when the extremes agree,
0:12:50 it’s usually centered on reckless spending or antisemitism.
0:12:53 Get fit.
0:12:57 JFK challenged Americans to improve their physical fitness.
0:13:01 The president’s physical fitness test emphasized performance,
0:13:04 but it was replaced by the presidential youth fitness
0:13:07 program, which emphasized health.
0:13:10 We should do both, as some studies
0:13:15 have shown that physical strength and exercise are 1.5 times
0:13:21 as effective as antidepressants at battling depression.
0:13:24 Build, baby, build.
0:13:26 We have a shortage of affordable housing.
0:13:28 One conservative estimate suggests
0:13:32 we need to build 3 million housing units.
0:13:34 This isn’t rocket science.
0:13:37 Building housing at that scale would create more than a million
0:13:41 jobs and generate billions in tax revenue.
0:13:44 The private sector responds to incentives.
0:13:50 This should likely be done via a tax credit versus regulation.
0:13:52 Nuclear option.
0:13:55 FDR’s New Deal put millions to work,
0:13:58 building the Hoover Dam and LaGuardia Airport
0:14:01 and bringing electricity to the south.
0:14:03 Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System,
0:14:07 a project of immeasurable benefit for jobs and commerce,
0:14:11 continues to pay dividends 70 years later.
0:14:15 Today, we need carbon-free energy to combat climate change
0:14:18 and fuel the AI revolution.
0:14:22 Nuclear accounts for 20% of our total power output
0:14:25 and half our clean energy.
0:14:30 Increasing our nuclear output 3x would likely
0:14:33 create 1.5 million jobs.
0:14:37 Nuclear energy feels more masculine than wind and solar.
0:14:40 I’m hopeful Trump will embrace it.
0:14:42 IRS Yovam.
0:14:45 We should take a page from Portugal
0:14:49 and grant a tax holiday for 18 to 35-year-olds
0:14:53 as a means of staunching generational wealth transfer.
0:14:55 The Portuguese government recognized
0:14:59 the most talented young Portuguese had one thing in common.
0:15:02 They’d left the country.
0:15:05 The new tax benefits extend over 10 years,
0:15:08 including no taxation for the first year.
0:15:10 The program is meant to help retain
0:15:13 and attract young professionals.
0:15:15 In the US, we have the most anxious
0:15:18 and depressed younger generation in history.
0:15:21 The incumbents will plead complexity
0:15:23 as a misdirect from a simple solution,
0:15:26 more prosperity, i.e. money.
0:15:29 The program would not be that expensive
0:15:32 as it requires no increase in the administrative state
0:15:34 and young people don’t generate much tax revenue
0:15:36 to begin with.
0:15:40 Make education affordable again.
0:15:45 Nothing says we believe in you like education.
0:15:47 Some public universities offer free admission
0:15:51 to students who meet minimum academic requirements.
0:15:54 This should be the rule, not the exception.
0:15:59 Any university that has an endowment over a billion
0:16:01 that’s not expanding its freshman class faster
0:16:06 than population growth should lose its tax-free status.
0:16:08 It’s no longer a public servant,
0:16:10 but a hedge fund offering classes.
0:16:14 Also, we should bulk up on vocational training
0:16:18 and paid apprenticeships as many people, especially men,
0:16:21 thrive in careers that require strength,
0:16:23 sweat, and technical skill.
0:16:27 These are good-paying jobs shamed by the zeitgeist
0:16:30 in our society, which says if you’re one of the two-thirds
0:16:33 of families whose kid doesn’t graduate from college,
0:16:36 you and your kid have fucked up.
0:16:39 See above, shame.
0:16:44 Make dating great again.
0:16:46 Young people are having less sex.
0:16:50 This contributes to a delay in unlocking adult milestones,
0:16:54 marriage, kids, and sets up a demographic time bomb.
0:16:57 Without the prospect of a romantic relationship,
0:17:01 women pour energy into other relationships and work.
0:17:05 Men into addiction and resentment.
0:17:08 Remote work is a disaster for young people.
0:17:11 A quarter of all couples meet at work.
0:17:14 We need to get more young people into an office,
0:17:16 classroom, or some other environment
0:17:18 where they’re serving in the agency
0:17:19 of something bigger than themselves.
0:17:22 See above, national service.
0:17:25 Today’s venue for connection, or lack thereof,
0:17:27 is online dating.
0:17:30 But like every other sector that’s being digitized,
0:17:33 it’s become a winner-take-most arena.
0:17:36 A small number of men garner all the attention,
0:17:38 leaving a man of average attractiveness
0:17:39 totally shut out of the market,
0:17:43 which validates his sense of worthlessness.
0:17:45 And the top decile of men are given license
0:17:48 to engage in Porsche polygamy,
0:17:49 which doesn’t encourage the formation
0:17:52 of long-term relationships and issues a hall pass
0:17:54 for bad behavior.
0:17:58 Who wants more economically and emotionally viable men?
0:18:00 A, women.
0:18:03 How do we get young people pairing?
0:18:06 A, make more men more attractive
0:18:09 by leveling up young people economically.
0:18:17 AI, GDP, S&P, innovation, shareholder growth,
0:18:20 these things are all means.
0:18:23 The ends are deep and meaningful relationships.
0:18:26 They are everything.
0:18:28 And the center of literally everything
0:18:31 is the well-being of your kids.
0:18:32 When they’re not doing well,
0:18:35 they and their mothers become the mother
0:18:37 of single-issue voters.
0:18:40 Change, disruption.
0:18:44 So, how did Trump win?
0:18:48 A, his campaign determined the best way to win over young men
0:18:53 and their parents was to act like a young bro himself.
0:18:54 Think about it.
0:18:58 Rockets, crypto, Rogan, course language, offensive jokes.
0:19:01 This election was supposed to be a referendum
0:19:03 on women’s rights.
0:19:05 It wasn’t.
0:19:09 It was a cold plunge into testosterone.
0:19:15 Life is so rich.
0:19:18 How do you feel about your campaign?
0:19:21 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:23 And you’re making content that no one sees,
0:19:26 and it takes forever to build a campaign?
0:19:29 Well, that’s why we built HubSpot.
0:19:31 It’s an AI-powered customer platform
0:19:33 that builds campaigns for you,
0:19:35 tells you which leads are worth knowing,
0:19:37 and makes writing blogs, creating videos,
0:19:39 and so on.
0:19:41 So, how do you feel about your campaign?
0:19:44 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:47 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:49 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:52 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:54 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:57 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:59 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:01 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:03 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:05 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:08 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:10 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:13 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:15 Ladies Gaga, Tyler the Creator,
0:20:17 and along the way to return, the cure.
0:20:21 Listen to the musicology of freaky songs
0:20:23 on Switched On Pop, presented by Nissan.
0:20:26 (upbeat music)
0:00:04 – Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere,
0:00:06 and you’re making content that no one sees,
0:00:09 and it takes forever to build a campaign?
0:00:12 Well, that’s why we built HubSpot.
0:00:13 It’s an AI-powered customer platform
0:00:15 that builds campaigns for you,
0:00:17 tells you which leads are worth knowing,
0:00:20 and makes writing blogs, creating videos,
0:00:22 and posting on social a breeze.
0:00:25 So now, it’s easier than ever to be a marketer.
0:00:28 Get started at hubspot.com/marketers.
0:00:30 (upbeat music)
0:00:33 Support for this podcast comes from Anthropic.
0:00:36 It’s not always easy to harness the power
0:00:38 and potential of AI.
0:00:40 For all the talk around its revolutionary potential,
0:00:42 a lot of AI systems feel like they’re designed
0:00:46 for specific tasks performed by a select few.
0:00:50 Well, Claude, by Anthropic, is AI for everyone.
0:00:52 The latest model, Claude 3.5 Sonnet,
0:00:56 offers groundbreaking intelligence at an everyday price.
0:00:59 Claude Sonnet can generate code, help with writing,
0:01:00 and reason through hard problems
0:01:02 better than any model before.
0:01:05 You can discover how Claude can transform your business
0:01:08 at Anthropic.com/Claude.
0:01:15 Support for this show comes from Constant Contact.
0:01:18 If you struggle just to get your customers to notice you,
0:01:22 Constant Contact has what you need to grab their attention.
0:01:25 Constant Contact’s award-winning marketing platform
0:01:29 offers all the automation, integration, and reporting tools
0:01:31 that get your marketing running seamlessly,
0:01:34 all backed by their expert live customer support.
0:01:37 It’s time to get going and growing
0:01:39 with Constant Contact today.
0:01:41 Ready, set, grow.
0:01:46 Go to ConstantContact.ca and start your free trial today.
0:01:50 Go to ConstantContact.ca for your free trial.
0:01:52 ConstantContact.ca.
0:01:59 I’m Scott Galloway, and this is No Mercy, No Malice.
0:02:01 Young people were the epicenter
0:02:03 of the political earthquake last week.
0:02:07 The fall line, masculinity.
0:02:11 The testosterone election, as read by George Hahn.
0:02:20 I believe the more interesting conversation
0:02:23 than why she lost is how he won.
0:02:26 We on the left tried to comfort each other
0:02:29 with the cold, i.e. freezing comfort of,
0:02:32 he barely won the popular vote,
0:02:36 or Wisconsin was decided by just 30,000 people.
0:02:42 But the reality is Donald Trump destroyed Kamala Harris.
0:02:46 Trump, for the first time, won the popular vote
0:02:48 and took all seven swing states.
0:02:50 It was a political earthquake
0:02:53 that rendered legacy media and knocking on doors
0:02:56 as 20th century relics.
0:02:59 The aftershocks will be felt for the next four years
0:03:04 and beyond, but we know where the epicenter was.
0:03:08 Despite a 51-48 split in the popular vote,
0:03:12 three-quarters of Americans agree on one thing.
0:03:15 We are on the wrong track.
0:03:16 That’s been the political reality
0:03:19 for most of this century.
0:03:21 High levels of dissatisfaction
0:03:25 resulting in a series of change elections.
0:03:27 The reason?
0:03:29 Voters recognize that millennials and Zoomers
0:03:33 aren’t as prosperous as their boomer and Gen X parents.
0:03:34 One example?
0:03:39 In 1981, the median age of a homebuyer was 38.
0:03:42 Today, it’s 54.
0:03:45 The epicenter of the 2024 political election
0:03:47 and the 2024 political earthquake
0:03:52 wasn’t immigration, bodily autonomy, or democracy.
0:03:57 It was the social contract between America and its citizens.
0:03:59 The contract is straightforward.
0:04:01 Work hard and play by the rules,
0:04:04 and your children will have a better life than you did.
0:04:07 For the first time in 250 years,
0:04:10 that contract has not held.
0:04:16 In an earthquake, solid ground is an illusion.
0:04:18 I learned this in 1971
0:04:21 when the Silmar Quake devastated Los Angeles.
0:04:23 The movement of tectonic plates,
0:04:26 usually just a few centimeters per year,
0:04:29 goes unnoticed until they slip,
0:04:33 releasing enough energy to rip apart the ground beneath your feet.
0:04:36 Tectonic plates meet, pressure builds,
0:04:40 and ultimately breaks apart at the fault line.
0:04:41 If the epicenter of this election
0:04:44 was America’s social contract,
0:04:48 the fault line was masculinity.
0:04:52 Before the election, I predicted the outcome would be decided
0:04:57 by whoever presented a more aspirational vision of masculinity.
0:04:59 The reasoning was correct.
0:05:02 The call was wrong.
0:05:05 Instead of seeing men as providers and protectors,
0:05:10 voters embraced crypto, the UFC, and Hulk Hogan.
0:05:14 Tesla, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin
0:05:23 are up 29%, 25%, 24%, and 106%, respectively.
0:05:28 Note the S&P is up nearly 4% over the same period.
0:05:31 And we Democrats were stood up,
0:05:34 left bereft by voters motivated by bodily autonomy,
0:05:38 who didn’t show up.
0:05:40 Trump was able to distance himself
0:05:42 from the bodily autonomy issue.
0:05:46 Five of the seven states that voted for pro-choice amendments
0:05:49 split the ticket on the issue,
0:05:52 polling the lever for the former president.
0:05:54 America elected President T.
0:06:01 Only the T doesn’t stand for Trump, but testosterone.
0:06:03 How Americans vote should be taken seriously
0:06:05 regarding the direction of the country,
0:06:07 but much of the rhetoric has been ugly
0:06:11 and should not be normalized.
0:06:14 I receive a lot of emails from worried parents,
0:06:16 particularly mothers, along these lines,
0:06:19 quote, “I have a daughter who lives in Chicago
0:06:23 and works in PR and another daughter who’s at Penn.
0:06:27 My son lives in our basement, vapes, and plays video games,”
0:06:29 unquote.
0:06:31 Young American men are in a crisis
0:06:35 of under-employment and under-socialization.
0:06:38 Soaring college costs affect people regardless of gender,
0:06:41 but since 2011, the percentage of young men enrolled
0:06:47 in college has dropped from 47% to 42%.
0:06:50 Manufacturing jobs, once a ticket to the middle class
0:06:54 for men without college degrees, have been off-shored.
0:06:56 Housing is increasingly unaffordable.
0:07:01 Nearly 60% of men aged 18 to 24 live with their parents,
0:07:06 and one in five still live with their parents at 30.
0:07:09 Many men are stuck, isolated, despairing,
0:07:12 and unproductive, prone to obesity, drug addiction,
0:07:15 and suicide, susceptible to misogyny, conspiracy theories,
0:07:18 and radicalization.
0:07:24 They make inadequate mates, employees, and citizens.
0:07:28 An African proverb states, quote, “The child
0:07:30 who is not embraced by the village
0:07:35 will burn it down to feel its warmth,” unquote.
0:07:39 When young men are struggling, they and their parents
0:07:43 vote based on an attribute versus an issue.
0:07:47 That attribute, this cycle, was disruption.
0:07:49 These voters didn’t vote for the party that
0:07:51 believes the solution for young men
0:07:55 is to act more like women or even traditional Republicans.
0:07:57 They opted for whoever would disrupt
0:08:01 an America that’s broken its most basic contract.
0:08:06 As Cersei Lannister said, “I choose violence.”
0:08:10 The electorate chose chaos.
0:08:12 When parents see their kids hurting,
0:08:14 they become single-issue voters.
0:08:19 From 2020 to 2024, Trump gained 15 points
0:08:22 among 18 to 29-year-old men.
0:08:26 The mothers of young voters, women ages 45 to 64,
0:08:30 voted for Trump more than any other age group of women,
0:08:33 including women over 65.
0:08:37 Their fathers, men ages 45 to 64,
0:08:40 voted for Trump at a higher rate than any other male age
0:08:44 group, except for men over 65, who supported him
0:08:46 by one percentage point more.
0:08:50 The boys burned down the village to feel its warmth,
0:08:55 and their parents gave them the matches.
0:08:59 In April, I gave a TED Talk about America’s war on the young.
0:09:02 The war is being waged on nearly every front,
0:09:05 but one especially revealing battleground
0:09:08 is our social safety net.
0:09:10 If it seems like we care more about senior citizens
0:09:14 than our children, trust your instincts.
0:09:18 Recall that we let the child tax credit expansion expire
0:09:20 post-pandemic.
0:09:22 Meanwhile, Social Security remains
0:09:25 the third rail of American politics,
0:09:27 with old people electing older people who
0:09:29 vote themselves more money.
0:09:31 To paraphrase Warren Buffett, there
0:09:36 is a generational war in America, and my generation is winning.
0:09:42 After a campaign where most of the oxygen was consumed
0:09:45 by performative pandering over culture war issues,
0:09:52 voters reminded us that their number one issue is the economy.
0:09:55 America is a platform that provides two things–
0:09:58 the defense of our shores and citizens,
0:10:01 and economic opportunity.
0:10:04 Everything else comes in a distant third.
0:10:08 In a capitalist society, the fastest path
0:10:12 to expanding and protecting rights is simple–
0:10:15 give people more money.
0:10:18 When you put expanding rights ahead of increasing
0:10:22 economic opportunity, you’re treating the symptom,
0:10:25 not the disease.
0:10:28 In America, and this has not always been the case
0:10:31 and should be celebrated, your opportunities
0:10:33 are more a function of your economic weight
0:10:36 class than your identity.
0:10:38 Demographics are no longer destiny.
0:10:41 Today in America, you’d rather be born non-white or gay
0:10:43 than poor.
0:10:48 Our spending priorities, like entitlements, tax policies,
0:10:52 like capital gains and mortgage interest deductions,
0:10:56 and fiscal policies, like bailouts of incumbents,
0:11:01 are nothing but a transfer of wealth from young to old.
0:11:04 Compared to 40 years ago, the average 70-plus year old
0:11:09 is 72% wealthier, and the average person under 40
0:11:13 is 24% less wealthy.
0:11:15 In addition, social media notifications
0:11:21 remind them 210 times a day that everyone else is killing it.
0:11:24 The most noxious emission in America
0:11:27 is not carbon, but shame.
0:11:30 The disease is simple to diagnose.
0:11:33 Young people don’t have enough money.
0:11:37 We should treat the disease, not with leeches like tariffs
0:11:40 and cocaine like tax cuts for the wealthy,
0:11:44 but treatments that are proven to work.
0:11:47 A few suggestions.
0:11:49 Do the minimum.
0:11:54 70% of minimum wage workers are between 16 and 34.
0:11:57 The fastest way to put more money in their hands
0:11:59 is to give them a raise.
0:12:01 I believe the federal minimum wage
0:12:05 should be $25 per hour.
0:12:09 Ask what you can do for your country.
0:12:13 Only 18% of 18 to 34-year-olds say
0:12:16 they’re proud to be an American.
0:12:20 We should require or encourage one or two years of paid service
0:12:22 for young people.
0:12:25 Service builds grit, camaraderie, connections,
0:12:27 and social conscience.
0:12:31 It heals political divisions and restores faith in the country.
0:12:35 The left will cry fascism, the right communism.
0:12:39 Angering both extremes is a tell for good policy,
0:12:43 which generally appeals to the center rather than the fringes.
0:12:46 Note, when the extremes agree,
0:12:50 it’s usually centered on reckless spending or antisemitism.
0:12:53 Get fit.
0:12:57 JFK challenged Americans to improve their physical fitness.
0:13:01 The president’s physical fitness test emphasized performance,
0:13:04 but it was replaced by the presidential youth fitness
0:13:07 program, which emphasized health.
0:13:10 We should do both, as some studies
0:13:15 have shown that physical strength and exercise are 1.5 times
0:13:21 as effective as antidepressants at battling depression.
0:13:24 Build, baby, build.
0:13:26 We have a shortage of affordable housing.
0:13:28 One conservative estimate suggests
0:13:32 we need to build 3 million housing units.
0:13:34 This isn’t rocket science.
0:13:37 Building housing at that scale would create more than a million
0:13:41 jobs and generate billions in tax revenue.
0:13:44 The private sector responds to incentives.
0:13:50 This should likely be done via a tax credit versus regulation.
0:13:52 Nuclear option.
0:13:55 FDR’s New Deal put millions to work,
0:13:58 building the Hoover Dam and LaGuardia Airport
0:14:01 and bringing electricity to the south.
0:14:03 Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System,
0:14:07 a project of immeasurable benefit for jobs and commerce,
0:14:11 continues to pay dividends 70 years later.
0:14:15 Today, we need carbon-free energy to combat climate change
0:14:18 and fuel the AI revolution.
0:14:22 Nuclear accounts for 20% of our total power output
0:14:25 and half our clean energy.
0:14:30 Increasing our nuclear output 3x would likely
0:14:33 create 1.5 million jobs.
0:14:37 Nuclear energy feels more masculine than wind and solar.
0:14:40 I’m hopeful Trump will embrace it.
0:14:42 IRS Yovam.
0:14:45 We should take a page from Portugal
0:14:49 and grant a tax holiday for 18 to 35-year-olds
0:14:53 as a means of staunching generational wealth transfer.
0:14:55 The Portuguese government recognized
0:14:59 the most talented young Portuguese had one thing in common.
0:15:02 They’d left the country.
0:15:05 The new tax benefits extend over 10 years,
0:15:08 including no taxation for the first year.
0:15:10 The program is meant to help retain
0:15:13 and attract young professionals.
0:15:15 In the US, we have the most anxious
0:15:18 and depressed younger generation in history.
0:15:21 The incumbents will plead complexity
0:15:23 as a misdirect from a simple solution,
0:15:26 more prosperity, i.e. money.
0:15:29 The program would not be that expensive
0:15:32 as it requires no increase in the administrative state
0:15:34 and young people don’t generate much tax revenue
0:15:36 to begin with.
0:15:40 Make education affordable again.
0:15:45 Nothing says we believe in you like education.
0:15:47 Some public universities offer free admission
0:15:51 to students who meet minimum academic requirements.
0:15:54 This should be the rule, not the exception.
0:15:59 Any university that has an endowment over a billion
0:16:01 that’s not expanding its freshman class faster
0:16:06 than population growth should lose its tax-free status.
0:16:08 It’s no longer a public servant,
0:16:10 but a hedge fund offering classes.
0:16:14 Also, we should bulk up on vocational training
0:16:18 and paid apprenticeships as many people, especially men,
0:16:21 thrive in careers that require strength,
0:16:23 sweat, and technical skill.
0:16:27 These are good-paying jobs shamed by the zeitgeist
0:16:30 in our society, which says if you’re one of the two-thirds
0:16:33 of families whose kid doesn’t graduate from college,
0:16:36 you and your kid have fucked up.
0:16:39 See above, shame.
0:16:44 Make dating great again.
0:16:46 Young people are having less sex.
0:16:50 This contributes to a delay in unlocking adult milestones,
0:16:54 marriage, kids, and sets up a demographic time bomb.
0:16:57 Without the prospect of a romantic relationship,
0:17:01 women pour energy into other relationships and work.
0:17:05 Men into addiction and resentment.
0:17:08 Remote work is a disaster for young people.
0:17:11 A quarter of all couples meet at work.
0:17:14 We need to get more young people into an office,
0:17:16 classroom, or some other environment
0:17:18 where they’re serving in the agency
0:17:19 of something bigger than themselves.
0:17:22 See above, national service.
0:17:25 Today’s venue for connection, or lack thereof,
0:17:27 is online dating.
0:17:30 But like every other sector that’s being digitized,
0:17:33 it’s become a winner-take-most arena.
0:17:36 A small number of men garner all the attention,
0:17:38 leaving a man of average attractiveness
0:17:39 totally shut out of the market,
0:17:43 which validates his sense of worthlessness.
0:17:45 And the top decile of men are given license
0:17:48 to engage in Porsche polygamy,
0:17:49 which doesn’t encourage the formation
0:17:52 of long-term relationships and issues a hall pass
0:17:54 for bad behavior.
0:17:58 Who wants more economically and emotionally viable men?
0:18:00 A, women.
0:18:03 How do we get young people pairing?
0:18:06 A, make more men more attractive
0:18:09 by leveling up young people economically.
0:18:17 AI, GDP, S&P, innovation, shareholder growth,
0:18:20 these things are all means.
0:18:23 The ends are deep and meaningful relationships.
0:18:26 They are everything.
0:18:28 And the center of literally everything
0:18:31 is the well-being of your kids.
0:18:32 When they’re not doing well,
0:18:35 they and their mothers become the mother
0:18:37 of single-issue voters.
0:18:40 Change, disruption.
0:18:44 So, how did Trump win?
0:18:48 A, his campaign determined the best way to win over young men
0:18:53 and their parents was to act like a young bro himself.
0:18:54 Think about it.
0:18:58 Rockets, crypto, Rogan, course language, offensive jokes.
0:19:01 This election was supposed to be a referendum
0:19:03 on women’s rights.
0:19:05 It wasn’t.
0:19:09 It was a cold plunge into testosterone.
0:19:15 Life is so rich.
0:19:18 How do you feel about your campaign?
0:19:21 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:23 And you’re making content that no one sees,
0:19:26 and it takes forever to build a campaign?
0:19:29 Well, that’s why we built HubSpot.
0:19:31 It’s an AI-powered customer platform
0:19:33 that builds campaigns for you,
0:19:35 tells you which leads are worth knowing,
0:19:37 and makes writing blogs, creating videos,
0:19:39 and so on.
0:19:41 So, how do you feel about your campaign?
0:19:44 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:47 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:49 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:52 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:54 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:57 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:19:59 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:01 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:03 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:05 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:08 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:10 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:13 Do you feel like your leads never lead anywhere?
0:20:15 Ladies Gaga, Tyler the Creator,
0:20:17 and along the way to return, the cure.
0:20:21 Listen to the musicology of freaky songs
0:20:23 on Switched On Pop, presented by Nissan.
0:20:26 (upbeat music)
As read by George Hahn.
The Testosterone Election
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