What do we call the anti-woke tech bros?

The aesthetic of Cybertrucks, energy drinks, and MMA, explained. vox.com/culture CULTURE   The Wednesday edition of the Vox Culture newsletter is all about internet culture, brought to you by senior reporter Rebecca Jennings. The Wednesday edition of the Vox Culture newsletter is all about internet culture, brought to you by senior reporter Rebecca Jennings. 🛻 What is a Cybertruck if not an admission of fear? 👨🏻 If, in the year 2010, someone asked you to conjure an image of the average libertarian, there’s a good chance you’d envision former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who was, for decades, the ideology’s most famous representative. You might also think of someone entirely fictional: Ron Swanson. Grumpy, mustachioed, and obsessively fearful of government overreach, Swanson was Parks & Recreation’s resident macho man, the lone-wolf amateur woodworker who believed society’s problems could be fixed by bootstraps, hard work, and rugged individualism. Sometime between 2010 and now, however, the libertarian of the American imagination changed. Our new avatar for laissez-faire economics and “leave me alone-ism” is more likely an aspiring entrepreneur who rails against wokeness in forums and group chats. [Logan Paul] Whether or not this type of guy is actually even a libertarian at all is debatable. Some may espouse libertarian-ish economics, but most are far more fixated on culture; still others have a hard-to-classify medley of views. They are, however, united by their self-mythologizing as “free thinkers” and a sense of alienation from mainstream liberal discourse. This brand of tech bro is proud of his [heterodoxy](, despite the fact that the worldview he articulates seems to have been passed top-down from a cadre of influential Silicon Valley executives. Sure, these guys romanticize the idea of working with their hands, but it’s far more likely they spend their days typing on a laptop (or better yet, speaking into a podcast mic). Rather than a remote log cabin, they imagine escaping to their very own civilization on a [corporate-owned self-governing city-state]( — er, “[networked state](.” They’re not driving lifted trucks; they’re buying [bulletproof hunks of metal]( that look like they came out of Cyberpunk 2077. Like Ron Swanson, they still [love animal protein](, but now they may be eating it [literally raw](. Less into Milton Friedman (the economist) than [Lex Fridman]( (the computer scientist-turned-podcaster), they regurgitate the gospel of tech overlords like [Elon Musk]( and [Marc Andreessen]( and the creators who interview them — Joe Rogan and his many imitators. They love tough-guy sports like[MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu]( but are worried about [vaccines](, [seed oils](, and the mainstreaming of [trans rights](. Their worldview is often a paradox, full of irony and sometimes hypocrisy. In recent years, there have been a few attempts at christening this cohort with a name. Germs of it are [influenced by the manosphere](, or the parts of the internet where men complain about their lack of access to women and sex and blame society’s present ills on feminism. Though you don’t hear these guys talk about the alt-right or being “redpilled” much anymore (perhaps too closely associated with [incels](), they tend to frame their position as “anti-woke,” or a counterpoint to what they see as a world over-indexed on equality and diversity. This sphere, broadly conceived, includes everyone from “canceled” figures associated with the [“intellectual dark web,”]( to controversy-hungry influencers like Sneako and the Paul brothers, to mega podcasters Dave Rubin and Tim Pool (most recently in the news for unwittingly [becoming paid Russian propaganda stooges](). Since the Obama administration, two things happened that changed the way these men (and they are overwhelmingly men) think, look, and behave online: the overhaul of acceptable political discourse caused by the election of Donald Trump and, of course, the pandemic. [Continue reading ]( Clickbait - The internet's [AI slop problem](. - Snapchat is completely [revamping its platform]( to look more like TikTok. - Why don't [more men follow Dadfluencers](? - On [Jemima Kirke's iconic advice](: "I think you guys might be thinking about yourselves too much." - The creators [suing America]( to save TikTok. - The 22-year-old influencers promoting disordered eating and an obsession with thinness [got a profile in WSJ]( (content warning, obviously). - Friend of the newsletter Taylor Lorenz has started her own [internet culture magazine on Substack](. One Last Thing Your [annual reminder]( that if you decide to go apple picking, do not wear your cute flannels or your cozy little fall outfits. IT WILL BE TOO HOT. Those Instagram Stories are LIES!   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=culture). If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved.