In its failed attempts to undermine and abolish the May 1 bank holiday, the French government has sought to depict International Workers’ Day as an anachronism. But when we look at the problems facing society today — and the ways in which people are trying to deal with them — it strikes me that a day dedicated to the collective power of working people is needed as much now as ever before.Everywhere we turn now, we are confronted with the negative impact on people of the politics of isolationism. A world in which every problem you face is your fault and can only be resolved by you alone. It’s not a new phenomenon. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher told us in the 1980s that “there is no such thing as society.” But it certainly has been exacerbated by the social conditions of our time.In his new documentary on the “manosphere,” Louis Theroux shines a light on the online community that tells young men they are struggling financially because they are simply not “alpha” enough. Many are convinced to send what little money they have to influencers who share the supposed path to success. That usually consists of treating women appallingly, abusing drugs to acquire a certain physique, and putting themselves in further financial difficulties to obtain status symbols.Equally, women can’t look at their phones without being tormented by videos of “tradwives.” Women struggling to juggle work and care responsibilities are told that their stresses will disappear by donning an apron and turning the clock back to simpler time, when women were, allegedly, taken care of economically by their breadwinning husband, on the condition that they provided labor in the domestic sphere. Keep scrolling, and you’ll find someone else sitting crossed-legged on the floor telling you all your problems can be resolved by breathing slowly and thinking positively. That may well have a role to play, but as a new book by sociologist Damien Karbovnik points out,…
