Scott Galloway’s recent conversation with Dave Rubin ripped the polite mask off a problem too many in elite circles pretend isn’t happening: a generation of young men being hollowed out by screens, algorithms, and a culture that rewards grievance over grit. The Rubin Report episode lays out the chilling statistics and the human consequences in plain language, and it should make every parent, teacher, and community leader sit up.
Galloway, whose new book Notes on Being a Man arrived this month, doesn’t coddle anyone — he lays down a practical blueprint for what healthy masculinity looks like and why reclaiming male purpose matters for families and society at large. The publisher’s description and coverage make clear this is part memoir, part tough-love manual: protect, provide, procreate, but also grow resilient and useful.
The heart of the interview is the warning most journalists ignore: Big Tech is engineering loneliness for profit, rewiring young men into asocial, asexual consumers of dopamine hits from porn, endless scrolling, and gaming. Galloway argues that these platforms exploit human weakness, hollow out real-world relationships, and leave a generation without the muscle memory for rejection or the confidence that comes from earning something hard.
What left Dave Rubin almost speechless — and should wake up every parent — is the simple life hack Galloway offers: reclaim eight to twelve hours a week from your phone and invest it in fitness, work, and face-to-face community. That’s not trendy self-help fluff; it’s a conservative prescription for rebuilding character, discipline, and a sense of purpose that markets and universities have quietly allowed to erode.
Galloway also skewers the modern campus victim narrative, reminding listeners that telling young people they’re fragile victims of structural forces only breeds helplessness and dependency. Conservatives should welcome this frankness: agency, accountability, and the dignity of work are the antidotes to despair, and men taught to expect life to be frictionless will never learn to lead or protect.
Let’s be clear about what this moment requires: not pity, but action. Encourage young men to take risks, to face rejection, to get out of the house and contribute something measurable to their families and communities — earning money honestly, building physical strength, and forming real friendships offline will do more to fix this crisis than any lecture from campus administrators.
And while the left and the tech barons argue about culpability, conservatives should double down on practical solutions: support local institutions that build men — from trade schools and community gyms to mentorship programs and faith-based groups — and stop outsourcing our sons’ moral education to the same companies that monetize their attention. This is about rebuilding a culture that values resilience, excellence, and responsibility over clicks, outrage, and instant gratification.
America was built by men and women who answered the call to work, to love, and to sacrifice for the next generation. Scott Galloway’s blunt intervention is a wake-up call; conservatives should make it a mission to turn that wake-up into results — not by handwringing, but by rolling up our sleeves and restoring the habits that make a free and flourishing society possible.
