The Monks in the Casino

Addiction vs “Preference”

• Several commenters reject the notion that these men “prefer” porn and gambling to relationships; they see it as addiction or mental illness, not a lifestyle choice.
• Others argue you don’t need full-blown addiction: ever-more-available screen-based entertainment can quietly siphon time and motivation away from real-world interaction.

Blame, Misandry, and Young Men’s Radicalization

• A major thread claims many young men feel constantly blamed via “male privilege” and DEI rhetoric, leading some toward right-wing or incel/MGTOW spaces where they feel heard.
• Others strongly dispute that this rhetoric is widespread offline, seeing it as exaggerated by online echo chambers or conservative media.
• There is disagreement over whether expressions like “kill all men” are fringe jokes, normalized misandry, or simply online shibboleths.
• Several stress that dismissing men’s “lived experience” as imaginary deepens resentment and polarization; others say what’s really being criticized is abusive or bigoted behavior, not men as such.

Role of Social Media, Community, and Communication

• Many blame social media for flattening nuance, rewarding outrage, and making “agree 100% or we fight” the norm.
• Others point to the destruction of local, unsupervised childhood communities; kids now socialize through phones, which pushes them further into online radicalization and loneliness.
• Some predict an eventual backlash from the non-zealous “middle”; others fear structural incentives (gerrymandering, media economics) will keep rewarding extremism.

Solitude, Parties, and Human Variation

• Several criticize the article for treating all solitary behavior as pathological. Time alone for study, creativity, or hobbies is defended as healthy and historically productive.
• There is debate over the centrality of parties: some see constant social gatherings as core to human flourishing, others (including neurodivergent people) say large, loud events are miserable and that small, occasional gatherings are enough.

Economics, Porn/Gambling, and Article Skepticism

• Some argue material factors—housing costs, stagnant wages—are underemphasized; culture war becomes a proxy for blocked life paths.
• Gambling’s negative spillovers are noted; one commenter challenges “porn addiction” as a scientifically discredited label.
• A meta-critique says this column fits a familiar genre: moral panic about modern vice starting from a 1950s baseline and smuggling in preferred policy solutions, despite a poor historical record for legislating morality.