Young men have a problem with money.
I was recently struck by a Guardian infographic on the ‘manosphere’, a social-media bubble that promises young men access to a life full of luxury, yachts and women if they just apply themselves, work out more and buy one or two online courses on how to get rich quickly.
There are different ways people get sucked into this distorted view of money and manhood. Traditionally, men had to be providers, achieve status and secure financial independence, which can feel impossible to fulfil today. Housing is expensive, jobs are unstable and student debt suffocating.
Another allure of the ‘manosphere’ and its ambassador, self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, is its sense of community, which may appeal to those who feel isolated or disempowered in their own life. For them, the ‘manosphere’ becomes an immediate answer to very tangible problems, or at least a way to forget about them.
But the desire to get rich at any cost can have dire consequences. I was shook by a New Yorker reportage in which journalist Patrick Radden Keefe tells the story of Zac Brettler, a teenager from a “quietly affluent” north-London background who became fixated with money and wealth.
He reinvented himself as Zac Ismailov, the son of a Russian oligarch, and assumed this new persona, complete with designer clothes and expensive watches. He became progressively involved in shady business deals with members of the London criminal underworld until in 2019, he fell to his death from a luxury apartment block in unclear circumstances. He was 19 years old.
Brettler’s is an extreme case that ended in tragedy, but it speaks to a wider anxiety that young men have today, that unless you are visibly rich, you have failed. You encounter this everywhere. For example, in schools. Recently, a friend of mine who teaches in a London high school told me that the most popular pastime among his students is to trade crypto and gamble on their phones.
He told me: “I suppose if they are of age and fully aware of what they are doing, then who am I to tell them to stop”. But if they are doing it to get rich, they are getting a number of things wrong and, at the very least, misunderstanding the concept of investing.
Trustnet readers know well that investing is about a slow accumulation of savings and, mostly, time. It has no flashing lights, no thrill, no colourful, addictive animations. The irony is that the same discipline missing from those viral get-rich-now schemes – patience, delayed gratification, focus – is exactly what genuine investing requires.
Underwhelming, I know, and so different from the Wolf of Wall Street and the widespread representation of the stock market as a casino that either turns you into a millionaire or leaves you disgraced, with little in between.
I know it’s naïve to tell someone who’s fallen into the ‘manosphere’ to follow sensible advice and read Trustnet, but… How to start investing: a roadmap for beginners, Vanguard’s four-step plan for your stocks & shares ISA and our education section are good places to start.
I’m afraid it won’t turn heads on social media or get you a swanky car, but it will allow you to live on your own terms – which is the real freedom the ‘manosphere’ pretends to offer.