Josh Hawley Gets One Thing Right About the Plight of Men

During his recent keynote address to the National Conservative Conference, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri brought attention to the crisis of a marginalized and long-forgotten group: men. "Over the last 30 years and more, government policy has helped destroy the kind of economy that gave meaning to generations of men," he said, describing low wages and corporate consolidation brought on by globalization. The result, he said, is "more and more men are withdrawing into the enclaves of idleness, and pornography, and video games." Hawley's remarks were immediately met with derision, criticism, and exasperation: Here was another conversative--a presidential hopeful no less--hand-wringing over pornography, another traditionalist subscribing to outdated gender norms by saying "a man is a father, a man is a husband, a man is someone who takes responsibility," and another male politician cautioning that a supposed liberal attack on manhood was at the root of this rot. Here's the issue: Hawley is partially right.