Derek Thompson: The Monks in the Casino

Derek Thompson with another banger of an article titled The Monks in the Casino about the societal crisis facing young men and the trappings of modern life.

I’ve been thinking recently about these guys who are dating less, socializing less, and leaving their home less, while filling their media with more porn and betting parlays. They seem to prefer the financial discomfort of losing a bet to the social anxiety of being rejected on a date.

These young men seem to me like modern ascetics who find themselves somehow trapped on the betting floor of the economy. They are like monks, yes. But more than that: They are monks in a casino.

This is a topic that Scott Galloway has talked a lot about. Young men are dating less, have fewer friends, and spend more time alone than ever before. Derek Thompson argues that this is a crisis of environment more than a crisis of self.

In the last few weeks, some of my favorite economic commentators, including Greg Ip and Kyla Scanlon, have suggested that the US economy is evolving toward what the author Hans-Werner Sinn once called “casino capitalism.”

The pro-social script—date around, marry, settle down, buy a house, have a kid—feels more like a luxury every year. The anti-social script—porn, posting, parlays—feels easy and even costless. If young people are throwing out the old script, it’s because they’re hunting for a deal, just like everybody else.

I often marvel at the luck I’ve had in my life. The pro-social script has played out for me—I have a house and an amazing wife. But I worry about what comes next. About bringing a kid into a world where loneliness is the default setting, where the easy things—scrolling, betting, consuming—win out over the hard things like connection, patience, and purpose. It feels like the casino is getting louder, and fewer people are finding the exit.