Fox News host Tucker Carlson took on disparities in America's gender pay gap by claiming societies in which women make more money than men are historically tied to drug and alcohol abuse, high imprisonment rates and births out-of-wedlock.
Carlson's Wednesday evening show pointed to an elitist class of people for allowing male-dominated industries such as manufacturing to go by the wayside. Without pointing any blame toward specific greedy U.S. corporations who outsourced those American workers, Carlson instead titled his segment, "Men In Decline As The Ruling Class Looks Away." He specifically cited how industries men once dominated have "all but disappeared over the course of a generation" and were replaced by the female-dominated fields within education and health care, including teachers and hospital workers.
"In many areas, women suddenly made more than men. Now, before you applaud that as a victory for feminism, consider some of the effects," Carlson began.
The Fox News host's typical critics immediately labeled him a "misogynist" on social media as Carlson took aim at what he says are the proven societal problems that occur when women make more money than men. He repeatedly lamented uncaring, "mercenary leaders" turning their backs on the "dignity and purpose" men seek in their careers.
Carlson does not point blame at members of either political party, instead describing the leaders who have allowed such deep societal problems as transient "day traders" or "substitute teachers" who don't care about average Americans.
"Study after study has shown that when men make less than women, women generally don't want to marry them. Maybe they should want to marry them, but they don't. Over big populations this causes a drop in marriage, a spike in out-of-wedlock births and all the familiar disasters that inevitably follow," said Carlon.
He pointed to the nuclear family unit as the proven backbone of American success that worked in keeping men away from a life of debauchery for much of the country's history. Instead, he points to today's lost culture of men who turn to drugs when they see no purpose in their lives.
"More drug and alcohol abuse, higher incarceration rates, fewer families formed in the next generation. This is not speculation, it's not propaganda from the evangelicals. It's social science. We know it's true. Rich people know it best of all, that's why they get married before they have kids. That model works," he concluded.
In the same segment, Carlson pointed to opioid addiction and suicides as one of the key factors causing a depopulation of the country, adding that anyone measuring the nation's health through it's GDP is "an idiot." Carlson said Americans are seeking something "simpler and more elusive than mere prosperity: happiness."
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2017 men earned a median wage of $49,192 compared to women who make $39,988, or 81.3 percent of the average male salary. With experts citing factors such as pregnancy in the research, that gap only widens with age. Men between the ages of 55 to 64 make an average of $58,760 compared to $43,420 among women in the workplace.
In March, Carlson used his show to point out several reasons "men are falling behind in this country." He specifically pointed out the disappearance of fathers from the American home, revealing a statistic showing that between 1960 and 2016 the proportion of American kids living with both parents decreased by 20 percent. And the percentage of children living with single mothers nearly tripled.
Carlson mentioned the same upper echelon of elitist "journalist and policymakers" live in neighborhoods not affected by those massive demographic changes.
On social media, responses to Carlson's segment sarcastically agreed that "empowered women" were the real problem in America. "Tucker Carlson is a misogynist afraid of economically secure women who can't be dominated by cash," wrote one irate viewer of the Fox News segment.
Another sarcastic viewer replied, "By God, those women making more money than a man is a disaster to society."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Benjamin Fearnow is a reporter based out of Newsweek's New York City offices. He was previously at CBS and Mediaite ... Read more
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