That is, good people reject ideas and institutions that they find (to borrow a word) toxic, and they turn instead to those that are healthy. By contrast, authoritarians impose their preferences from above. The Chinese Communist Party, for instance, finds masculinity so endangered that it must be protected by the heavy hand of the state from the dread scourge of boy bands.

“China’s government banned effeminate men on TV,” NPR reported in September. “That reflects official concern that Chinese pop stars, influenced by the sleek, girlish look of some South Korean and Japanese singers and actors, are failing to encourage China’s young men to be masculine enough.”

China’s government also shares Hawley’s worries over video games, and restricted children’s use of them to three hours per week lest they be corrupted by the debilitating influences of Fortnite.

For his part, Hawley sees salvation for the virtues of masculinity by encasing them in a nurturing terrarium of nationalistic 1950s nostalgia.