Tom McLaughlin: Men aren’t doing well

Men aren’t doing well here in the 21st century. Male life expectancy has always been lower than that of females by about five years, but lately it is declining further. Researchers cite what they call “deaths of despair” in non-college-educated white men aged 45-54. “The mortality rate for that group increased by a half percent each year from 1999 to 2013,” according to NPR, mostly because of suicide, drugs and alcohol, yet progressives insist men should renounce their “white male privilege.” It would appear that white men are feeling anything but privileged.

Fifty years ago, 60 percent of those with bachelor’s degrees were men. Today, the reverse is true. Boys are behind girls in primary and secondary schools as well, and according to a 2002 “60 Minutes” report they’ve been falling behind for a long time. Increasingly, boys simply don’t like school. For many parents, it’s a fight to get their sons to school every morning.