Masculine Rage at the End of the World

51 year old divorce raped man who is physically, financially, emotionally, and spiritually broken. Gave everything I had doing a dirty, dangerous, discomfortable industrial construction job only to be thrown out like garbage once she saw better. I thought love was forever but now I see that it was all a lie and I was nothing more than a steppingstone. I can’t help but to feel the best is all behind me and future has nothing as store but heartache and loneliness. Mgtow Brothers I tried to find comfort in this community but I think it’s too late for me. It’s weird I used to be somebody that people looked up to, but now I walk down the street and I can almost sense how people want to distance themselves from me as if I’m contagious of some sort of disease. I used to have friends but now nobody calls me. And it’s as if women can smell my patheticness.

Appearing in the MGTOW subreddit on Reddit, this is the post of a self-described broken man.

MGTOW or Men Going Their Own Way is a community of men, who claim that relationships with women are so toxic they must go ‘their own way’. Men should abstain from sex with women, or have casual sex with women, or with sex workers. Some even advocate that men should disconnect from society entirely – move into the wilderness, go off grid, and live a solo life.

MGTOW are not extreme. Instead, they represent growing mainstream views. According to a recent study of 2,000 men in the UK, 62 percent believed that “women have too many expectations of how men should be in relationships these days”, while 41 per cent believed that having a relationship was “too big a financial commitment”[1]. It’s not just relationships – men are also increasingly opting out of society all together – such as the phenomenon of Hikikomori, a growing problem in Japan where primarily young men withdrawn from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement.

These shifts in behaviours are due, in part, to a growing nihilist sentiment, that is pushing more people to disconnect from society entirely.

The Nihilistic Century

Nihilism is a crisis in faith. The concept emerged in the late 19^th and early 20^th Century, popularised by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche explored nihilism as a social mood responding to the decline of religion. This created a crisis of faith, which grew from “a moment of the deepest self-reflection of humanity”[2]. In this early nihilistic era, this crisis of faith was expressed as a failure to accept the world as it is, “resenting the fact that the world is devoid of a goal, unity or meaning”[3]. Bulent Diken[4] says this nihilism involved “escapist attempts to be able to endure the meaninglessness, the chaos of the world, by trying to endow it with meaning…”

While early nihilistic sentiment was a reaction to the loss of God, however, this did not mean that meaning was lost all together in Western Society. Instead, religious explanations of society were replaced by humanist explanations, which firmly gave meaning to capitalist subjects. Specifically, through privatising domestic work, capitalism enforces a firm distinction between the ‘public’ (masculine) and private (feminine) spheres. This created a clear sense of what it meant to be either a man or a woman – women worked in the home, while men acted in society – whether through politics, war, business etc. In doing so “both” sexes were given a sense of contributing to capitalism, even if such “contributions” were often highly problematic for those involved.

This sense of social meaning was particularly relevant for men. The feminist author Susan Faludi[5] argues that post-war society provided men with a range of promises, which she calls “a mission to manhood”. There were four missions that men were given; (1) the promise of a frontier to be claimed, (2) the promise of a clear and evil enemy to be crushed; (3) the promise of an institution of brotherhood in which anonymous members could share a greater institutional glory, (4) and the promise of a family to provide for and protect. These missions gave men both a sense of how they should act, what their goals were, and what it meant to be a real ‘man’.

With the rise of neoliberalism, however, these missions have been eroded, replaced by what Faludi calls an ‘ornamental culture’ – one “that encourages people to play almost no functional public roles, only decorative or consumer ones.”[6] In ornamental culture people are directed away from participating in social systems such as politics, church, unions, social groups etc, to instead focus almost on our individual selves and family.

This has fundamentally changed how people relate to the world. While extremely problematic, the mission to manhood at least gave men a sense of social purpose – some reason to live and exist. In an ornamental culture, however, such purpose is gone,  with “manhood is defined by appearance, by youth and attractiveness, by money and aggression, by posture and swagger and “props”, by the curled lip and petulant sulk and flexed biceps, by the glamour of the cover boy, and by the market-bartered “individuality” that sets one astronaut or athlete or gangster above another.”[7] Of course this hasn’t just impacted in, with people of all genders losing access to the social communities and structures they used to participate in.

This is having real world impacts. People have exited systems of democracy on mass – people are voting less, joining political parties and organisations such as unions less, and, when they are participating are more likely to vote or engage with the extreme fringes rather than mainstream political parties[8]. In addition, people are socialising less, with young boys having fewer friends than any generation at the same age[9]. People are also having less sex[10], and, as I noted earlier a growing cohort of men have decided that relationships with women are too hard. As Faludi argues:

Ornamental culture has proved the ultimate expression of the American Century, sweeping away institutions in which men felt some sense of belonging and replacing them with visual spectacles that they can only watch and that benefit global commercial forces they cannot fathom.”[11]

This disconnect from society, is not just due to cultural changes, but is also backed by material reality. Social activity has dropped, for example, because people are working more and because social activities cost a lot more. While drops in political engagement are in part due to people losing their sense of purpose, it also represents a growing disapproval of political systems, driven by the hyper-capitalism of neoliberalism. Neoliberalism has promised everyone that if they work hard enough, they can achieve greatness – everyone is just one step away from being a billionaire. Yet, as George Monbiot points out, this is a false promise:

neoliberalism tells us that if we work hard enough, we can all be Number One: a mathematically impossible promise. But it also creates the conditions which ensure that, no matter how hard you work, you are likely to remain subordinate and exploited… neoliberalism simultaneously promises the world and snatches it away.[12]

This gap between promise and fulfillment has fundamentally impacted our collective psyche, creating a breeding ground for frustration, humiliation, a desire for vengeance, and a massive disapproval of political systems and structures[13][14].

Hyper-capitalism has also facilitated real material changes to society. Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor[15] for example point to three shifts that are leading to a growing sense of apocalyptic doom – the climate crisis, Covid-19and the rapid advancement and adoption of AI technologies. Each have created a sense of a world facing the end, whether through environmental collapse, pandemic (which in many places was denied, dismissed, or downplayed), or destruction via technology.

In this context – one of a loss of social purpose and a hyper-capitalistic system – nihilism now represents a loss in faith in the systems that replaced God – whether it be the failure of the American Dream, liberal systems, or, in the case of groups such as the MGTOW, the norms of relationships or love.

Masculine Longing and Masculine Rage

Everybody responds to these societal changes in different ways.

Some, as I explained at the top of this piece, are disconnecting from society. You see this sort of nihilism throughout online men’s rights communities. While MGTOW men remain committed to the idea of relationships with women, wishing and hoping they could occur, they have also given up on them, believing that women are so toxic and dangerous that there is no way to truly exist happily in that world. As Nietzsche[16] argues, the basis of nihilism is a fundamental belief: it is not worth it. The response by men in these groups is underpinned by this sentiment more than any other.

Others are longing for the past, believing in some mystical period before ‘wokeness’ where none of these problems existed for society. This longing is clear in the slogan Make America Great Again, but is also being expressed through an abandoning, or unmooring, of dominant values of Liberalism. Mark Zuckerberg, has, for example, pined for a culture that celebrates aggression, wanting to return to a masculinised era prior to feminist and talk of equality. The recently murdered Charlie Kirk, like many conservatives, railed against the idea of ‘empathy’, claiming it made Western Society week and in turn needed to be abandoned as a concept.

Kirk here played a fascinating game, talking up the principles of liberalism such as free speech, which also constantly trashing such ideas through his actions. This is another form of nihilism, where liberal values are unmoored from their true meaning. As Nietzsche claims, nihilism does not equal the end of values, but instead a world in which “the highest values devaluate themselves”[17]. In her book In the Ruins of Neoliberalism[18],Wendy Brown argues, “these values, which include the Christian virtues along with democracy, equality, truth, reason, and accountability, do not vanish as they lose their foundations, but become fungible and trivial, superficial and easily instrumentalized.”  This is exemplified by when Kirk declared himself a saviour of free speech, while also running a website that targeted American academics for expressing this exact speech. The values of the past are trashed primarily through using them cynically, and in turn making them trivial.

While these examples are extreme enough, at the most worrying end of spectrum, nihilistic sentiment is also exacerbating male rage.

Masculinity is closely linked to extremist violence. Extremist groups target men by promoting ideas of ‘what it is to be a man’, aiming to give men a sense of response, recognition and meaning in their lives. Increasingly, however, this masculine rage is being infused with a dangerous nihilistic sentiment.

In May 2014 a self-described involuntary celibate (incel) Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others in a misogynist rampage in Isla Vista California. Incels believe that because of their physical traits that they are unable to obtain relationships with women, and in turn often become resentful, angry, and at times, extremely violent.

Before committing his killing spree Rodger left a manifesto online. The manifesto runs through a range of standard complaints of incels – that he was ignored by women, that other ‘less deserving’ men were more successful in relationships, and that he was a social pariah. These feelings resulted in spite, rage, and anger. But Rodger also ends up questioning the entire point of life, throwing away any sense of future. He says:

I had nothing to live for but revenge. Women must be punished for their crimes of rejecting such a magnificent gentlemen as myself. All of those popular boys must be punished for enjoying heavenly lives and having sex with all the girls while I had to suffer in lonely virginity.

This not of revenge very common amongst nihilists.  Wendy Brown[19] for example notes that revenge is central to Trump’s Presidency, who sought “revenge without end because there is nothing else”. Fed by resentment, nihilists seek out revenge against the current ‘winners’ of society. For many followers of Trump, for example, it did not matter what policies he pursued, “only that he opposes those they hold responsible for their suffering”[20].

This desire for revenge is extremely strong in Rodger’s manifesto. While he wishes for a better world, he believes strongly it is impossible, and that therefore violence is the only way. This is how Rodger finally describes his rampage. He says:

It is such a shameful pity that my ideal world cannot be created. I realized long ago there is no way I could possibly rise to such a level of power in my lifetime, with the way the world is now. Such a thing will never become a reality for me, but it did give me something to fantasize about as I burned with hatred towards all women for rejecting me throughout the years. This whole viewpoint and ideology of abolishing sex stems from being deprived of it all my life. If I cannot have it, I will everything I can to DESTROY IT.

The rage here is palpable, emphasised by the declaration that he will DESTORY IT. Rodger repeats the idea of destroying things over and over, claiming the rejection he has faced has left him only one option – hatred, rage, and destruction. This ending is an example of what Brown[21] describes as “raw ressentiment”, one that is “stuck in its trapped rancour, unable to “become creative”. It has only revenge, no way out, no futurity.”

This is how modern masculine rage works. It is rage steeped in resentment, but also without purpose. It is rage and violence that has no hope for the future, and in turn sees violence as the only option.

Hope in the End Times

How do we overcome this sentiment? If we want to end the era of masculine rage, and rebuild connections in our society, we cannot do it solely through policing or surveillance, and we certainly cannot achieve it through retreating to our own bunkers, only speaking to those who do not live in this apocalyptic world.

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor offer some assistance[22].

We must start by confronting the reality of our situation and tackle the systems causing this harm in the first place. As they argue, “to move forward with focus, we must first understand this simple fact: we are up against an ideology that has given up not only on the premise and promise of liberal democracy but on the liveability of our shared world – on its beauty, on its people, on our children, on other species.” We must recognise these systems are hurting all people (except the billionaires) and that in turn there are real opportunities to create solidarity amongst everyone, as long we work hard to do so. We must not give up on those who have entered the realms of nihilism but instead seek ways to bring them back from the grip.

We can achieve this, through telling far better stories than those who promote this nihilistic fever dream, one that sells how we can “survive the hard times ahead without leaving anyone behind”[23]. If our modern world is dominated by a sentiment of nihilistic nothingness, we must counteract that with hope. If all people can see is nothingness and death, then we must counteract it with life.

Many people are already doing this, whether it is small movements regenerating their local patch of greenery down the street, or community groups coming together to create connection in a very disconnected world. And then there are the bigger moments, such as the recent election of Zohran Mamdani in the United States, showing that a message of hope, life and of the future, can achieve something real.

Shifting this narrative away from nihilistic death will not be easy. This fear and apocalyptic doom is a powerful force, one underpinned by influential individual and material realities. But if we want a future of any sort, it is a story we must sell. Because what is more powerful than life itself as a thing to fight for?

Notes

[1] Petter, O. (2025) “Voices: ‘It’s not me, it’s you’: the reason men are giving up on dating is women”. AOL.com URL: https://www.aol.com/articles/voices-not-reason-men-giving-115926619.html

[2] Nietzsche, F. (1914) The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche, vol. 11, edited by Levy O, trans. Common, T. London: Macmillan Company: 113

[3] Diken, B. (2009) Nihilism. London: Routledge: 15

[4] Ibid

[5] Faludi, S. (1999) Stiffed: The Betrayal of the Modern Man. London: Chatto & Windus: 26

[6] Ibid: 35

[7] Ibid: 26

[8] Mair, P. (2013) Ruling The Void: The Hollowing of Western Democracy. London: Verso

[9]Armstrong, M (2022) ‘Friendships: less is now more’, World Economic Forum, URL https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/11/friendships-less-is-now-more/

[10] Copland, S. (2017) “The many reasons that people are having less sex”, BBC URL: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170508-the-many-reasons-that-people-are-having-less-sex

[11] Faludi, S. (1999) Stiffed: The Betrayal of the Modern Man. London: Chatto & Windus: 35

[12] https://x.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/1824691091347587451

[13] Mair, P. (2013) Ruling The Void: The Hollowing of Western Democracy. London: Verso

[14] Mishra, P. (2018) Age of Anger: A History of the Present. Penguin Press

[15] Klein, N and Taylor, A. (2025) “The Ride of end times fascism”, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk

[16] Nietzsche, F. (1968) The Will to Power, translated by Kaufman, W. & Hollingdale, R. New York: Vintage Books: 29

[17] Ibid: 9

[18] Brown, W. (2019) In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West. New York: Columbia University Press

[19] Brown, W. (2019) In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West. New York: Columbia University Press: 178

[20] Ibid: 179

[21] Brown, W. (2019) In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West. New York: Columbia University Press: 177

[22] Klein, N and Taylor, A. (2025) “The Ride of end times fascism”, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk

[23] Klein, N and Taylor, A. (2025) “The Ride of end times fascism”, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/13/end-times-fascism-far-right-trump-musk