The Honor Wars
The Ancient Drive Reshaping American Politics
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In the aftermath of the 2024 election, a persistent pattern became harder to ignore: young men are increasingly aligning with the political right, and the Democratic Party seems lost on how to win them back.
Catalist data shows a widening gender gap, with men moving from 48% support for Biden in 2020 to just 42% support for Harris in 2024. While some attribute this shift to sexism, this view is too simplistic. Something deeper is happening.
The missing piece may lie in an ancient concept from Plato: Thumos.
What is Thumos?
Thumos refers to the spirited part of the human soul - the drive for honor, recognition, purpose, and meaningful struggle. Plato saw it as one of three core forces within us, alongside reason (Logos) and desire (Eros). When channeled well, Thumos fuels courage and civic virtue. When corrupted or ignored, it fuels resentment and nihilism.
While Thumos is universal to the human experience, cultural expectations shape how it is expressed. Women often channel spiritedness into advocacy, caregiving, or moral leadership. Yet women, on the whole, seem less burdened by its distortion in the current environment, likely because they are offered more socially accepted outlets for meaning and connection, whereas men are more often isolated and deprived of paths to honorable recognition.
Understanding Thumos
Francis Fukuyama defines Thumos as the craving for dignity and the willingness to fight for recognition. This can be noble: civil rights activists, soldiers, or community leaders who sacrifice for others. But it can also turn toxic - fueled by grievance, resentment, or a thirst for domination.
The key insight: Thumos will always find expression. The question is whether political movements can channel it productively.
The Right’s Mastery of Thumotic Appeals
Conservative movements have learned to speak to Thumos more effectively than their progressive counterparts. Consider four core strategies.
Heroic Narratives: Trumpism frames political participation as a mythic battle against elites, cultural decay, and global threats. This turns supporters into protagonists of a sacred mission. "Make America Great Again" offers grievance (acknowledging decline), pride (past greatness), and purpose (restoration).
Recognition Through Achievement: Conservative rhetoric celebrates individual achievement and earned honor. Entrepreneurs, veterans, and religious leaders are held up as models. Historically, conservatism promoted difficult virtues: service, sacrifice, humility. Though often distorted today, the framework remains powerful.
Brotherhood in Struggle: Online spaces and real-world movements create strong in-groups through shared struggle. From MAGA forums to January 6th, participants report a sense of camaraderie and meaning - however misguided their cause. It is a modern expression of ancient tribal bonds.
Sacred Masculine Purpose: Conservative Christianity frames traditional masculine roles - protector, provider, leader - as divinely ordained. This gives young men struggling with direction a transcendent purpose.
The Corruption of Thumos on the Right
Yet the right's success has come at a cost. Instead of demanding genuine excellence or sacrifice, much of modern right-wing Thumos has curdled into grievance, entitlement, and dominance. Figures like Trump and Andrew Tate offer belonging through shared resentment, not virtue. It's Thumos divorced from moral substance - a shortcut to recognition.
This shift reveals a troubling cultural reality: many no longer expect principled leadership. "At least he fights for us" becomes justification for moral compromise. And because corrupted Thumos still provides emotional satisfaction, it faces little backlash- especially in an era where economic systems and digital platforms reinforce grievance and performance over genuine growth. Trump has proven to be a master at exploiting this grievance.
The Moral Compass of Thumos
A defining feature of corrupted Thumos is its disdain for empathy. In many online spaces and populist narratives, to empathize is to show weakness, especially with out-groups. Elon Musk says, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy”, and that empathy is “a bug in Western Civilization.“
But this is a profound misreading of Thumos. Healthy Thumos requires empathy to give it moral direction. Recognition without empathy becomes narcissism. Courage without empathy becomes cruelty. The spirited desire for honor only becomes virtuous when it is tied to a sense of shared humanity.
Empathy, far from being its opposite, is what allows Thumos to become heroic rather than destructive.
Economic Precarity and the Rise of Nihilism
This Thumotic corruption is not purely cultural. It is rooted in economic despair. Since 1980, home prices have increased over 400% while wages have grown just 20%. Many paths to honor that once existed for working-class men - military service, skilled trades, homeownership - are increasingly inaccessible. A sense of futility has taken root, breeding nihilism. In this void, grievance-based identities offer a substitute for meaning and status.
Trump's unique appeal lies in acknowledging this brokenness and offering not a fix, but a promise to subvert the system on behalf his supporters. "The system is broken, and he’ll exploit it for our benefit" becomes a rallying cry. It's a form of spiritual surrender masquerading as strength.
The Role of the Attention Economy
Digital media further distorts Thumos. Algorithms prioritize outrage and tribalism over nuance. Vulnerability is mocked; anger is rewarded. Influencers like Bronze Age Pervert and Tate are engineered for virality. Constructive Thumos - quiet sacrifice, community-building, real growth - rarely makes it into the feed.
In an attention economy, the platforms that dominate our headspace reward precisely the forms of corrupted Thumos that bypass reason and inflame emotion. As detailed in Black Holes of the 21st Century, our devices function like psychological slot machines - hijacking involuntary attention through engineered stimuli and pushing users toward addictive, identity-driven content.
The infinite scroll, short-form video, and algorithmic personalization act as “attentional black holes,” creating a gravitational pull where meaningful civic engagement and reflective thought don’t stand a chance.
This environment fragments identity. Young people, especially young men, are pulled into hyper-individualized content ecosystems where grievance, dominance, and provocation are currency. In such an ecosystem, corrupted Thumos thrives not despite digital architecture, but because of it.
These platforms present themselves as engines of empowerment by providing forms of individual recognition - likes, followers, and algorithmic attention. On the surface, they seem to satisfy Thumos by spotlighting the individual. But this is a broken mirror: a gamified illusion of significance, engineered specifically for monetary extraction, not personal fulfillment. Multinational corporations profit by inflaming the desire for recognition while stripping it of meaning.
Why Men Feel the Gap More Acutely
Boys are often socialized to seek status through achievement and recognition. As traditional paths to prestige - like military service, skilled trades, or steady careers - become harder to access, men are faced with "status displacement." The breakdown of old economic ladders, combined with a lack of compelling new ones, leaves many feeling invisible and without direction.
This is especially true for non-college-educated men, where Trump gained 7 points in 2024. Despite progressive policies that economically benefit them, many don't feel seen by Democratic messaging. Instead, they find dignity in places that affirm their worth, even if those places are politically toxic.
In 2024, over half of men under 30 supported Donald Trump - a notable swing compared to previous cycles. Analysts point not to policy alignment, but to Trump's projection of strength, disruption, and masculine assertiveness as key drivers of this shift.
His appearances on platforms like Logan Paul's and Adin Ross’s podcasts helped him reach young male voters who are more responsive to identity and recognition than ideology. Thumos, even if unnamed, is doing a lot of the electoral heavy lifting for these voters.
Importantly, this Thumotic pull isn’t limited to white men. Trump made significant gains among young Black and Latino men as well, suggesting that the hunger for dignity and purpose cuts across racial lines.
Where the Left Falls Short
Progressive movements often struggle with Thumos for several reasons.
Narrative Weakness: Much left-wing messaging focuses on systemic critique over individual agency. While important, it often fails to inspire heroic action. The result? Analysis without purpose, leaving men shrugging their shoulders.
Failure to Reclaim Masculinity: Progressive masculinity is often defined by what it's not (toxic), rather than what it is. When male role models in progressive circles are academics or niche celebrities, many young men gravitate toward more visceral models of traditional masculinity.
Success Trap: Progressive causes flourish during urgent struggle, but flounder during times of cultural dominance. The right, by contrast, excels at inventing crisis – there’s always a ‘them’ out to destroy what you hold dear.
Secularism Neglects an Inherent Pathway to Thumos: Religion has long provided a narrative structure for Thumos, offering honor, purpose, and belonging. The right’s integration of faith and masculinity gives it a built-in advantage in speaking to the spirited soul. Just take a look at this Russian Orthodox church in Texas promising “absurd levels of manliness.” This may seem over-the-top to some, but it has real pull for a lot of disenchanted young men.
The secular left, in contrast, lacks a moral language that moves people at this level - so it must find ways to offer transcendence without dogma. This is no easy task, but religious alternatives do exist. Unitarian Universalist churches offer a Green Sanctuary program focused on climate action. The United Church of Christ and the Social Gospel-minded wings of the Episcopal Church also openly champion progressive causes with concrete, actionable programs.
The left can craft its own rites that honor sacrifice and shared purpose – whether secular or spiritual – and offer clear value-laden alternatives to the corrupted Thumos dominating the right.
Reclaiming Thumos for Progressive Causes
The solution isn’t to mimic the right’s grievances, but to speak more powerfully to Thumos through progressive values.
Construct Heroic Narratives: Frame climate activism as a civilizational mission. Labor organizing as a fight for justice against oligarchs threatening individual freedom. Civic service as a path to honor. Build epic stories where individual action matters.
Elevate Embodied Role Models: Celebrate men who blend strength with justice - Wes Moore, LeBron James, and Rep. Maxwell Frost, who brings youthful energy, artistic culture, and civic responsibility to progressive leadership. Highlight workers building green infrastructure, teachers fighting for students, or dads showing up with strength and empathy.
Foster Brotherhood Through Action: Expand apprenticeships, service corps, and grassroots organizing. Build male-centric spaces that value purpose, contribution, and shared growth - not just grievance.
Reward Healthy Competition: Harness the competitive drive through challenges to solve social problems. Gamify innovation, reward impact, and showcase success stories.
Offer Clear Recognition Pathways: Create visible ladders of achievement in progressive spaces - mentorship, community leadership, and purpose-driven careers. Show men how to earn honor while advancing justice.
Any attempt to revive Thumos on the left must consider the possibility of corruption, just as this has occurred on the right. The challenge is to cultivate purpose without tribalism, and to pursue recognition without domination.
The Stakes Are High
This isn’t just about winning votes. When Thumos is neglected, it morphs into its polar opposite. When corrupted, it destabilizes democracies. But when channeled, it becomes the beating heart of social progress. The challenge for progressives is not to reject Thumos, but to reclaim it.
If movements for justice want to thrive, they must address the whole person - not just minds and not just flawed systems, but the soul’s deep desire for honor, meaning, and recognition.
The future won’t be won by policy alone. It will be won by the movement that offers not just progress - but purpose.
Chris Prato, creator of WattMind, enjoys writing about technology, culture, and the crazy world we live in. Follow Chris on LinkedIn, Threads, and BlueSky for more cultural hot takes.
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