If the internet as a whole were a singular person, that person would currently be having a passionate affair, filled with intense attraction as well as utter hatred, with a man named Andrew Tate. If you haven’t heard his name by now, you’re a brokie.
Regardless, opinions on Andrew Tate abound. Andrew Tate is supposedly a misogynist who believes that “women belong in the home, can’t drive, and are a man’s property.” He's also a hero. Who knows. Regardless of the internet’s general opinion of Andrew Tate, which is largely negative, the man has gone viral, which means that deep down, the internet loves him. Or rather, the internet loves being entertained. And Andrew Tate is definitely entertaining.
Certainly the quagmire of information on Andrew Tate over the internet deserves some well-needed refining: is this man really as bad as he is made out to be? Does he have anything worthwhile to say, or is he really spreading hate towards women and poisoning the minds of those who listen to him?
First off, some background on Tate would be helpful. Tate is a former kickboxer, he retired thanks to eye trouble. Now it would appear that his life consists of saying controversial things on podcasts, making TikToks about how he just spent $300k on a watch, and occasionally saying something inspiring today’s men to get off their duffs and do something worthwhile.
However, Tate himself is especially dishonest when it comes to having multiple girlfriends, and he also tries to justify cheating…but only for men. Which is ridiculous, to say the least. Men and women are different, but those differences do not translate into “I can cheat and that’s fine.” While there aren’t many other glaringly obvious character flaws that Tate has, the way he treats and talks about women (which, by the way, his comments on women are definitely the most controversial views he has) show a concerning lack of care for the more delicate of the two genders.
Part of the problem with Tate is that he almost seems to choose to say relatively reasonable opinions in the most controversial, ridiculous way possible. Tate is obnoxious, and while his unnecessary exaggeration and sometimes almost cheesy way of putting things is part of his character for sure, it’s fatiguing to listen to him and pick apart what he really thinks from what he’s simply joking about.
Furthermore, Tate has no respect for anyone but himself, not even the law. He’s not actually trying to form a purer world, or encourage honesty and morality. In fact, he said on a certain podcast that he prefers living in Romania as compared to the UK because “corruption is far more accessible,” and added that he likes being able to bribe officials into not interfering with his ventures. Tate might brand this as just “not playing by the rules” or not giving into “the Matrix” but in my day we’d call that dishonesty. He himself literally called it corruption.
But that’s not to say Tate has never said anything worth listening to. He constantly calls on men to step up and embrace their masculinity, a refreshing voice to hear in the midst of culture telling men to be more feminine. Tate doesn’t try to sweeten up anything about the difficulty of life; he himself said “You must put in the effort to get the life you want,” which is something our current generation of basement gamers and TikTok binging boys needs to hear. Hearing him speak is inspiring, like it or not.
Even when he says something worthwhile though, he says it in a cocky way. He brands anyone who can’t spend $10k a night on a hotel room a “brokie” and offers no sympathy to the working class citizen. His tone is almost always condescending, and even though he has spoken out against an arrogant man, if he himself isn’t arrogant, fish can walk. The only difference between an arrogant Andrew Tate and an arrogant John Doe is that Tate has money. The root problem-the underlying character-is the same.
If I had to describe Andrew Tate briefly, I’d call him an inspirational idiot. He says a lot of things that today’s men need to hear. And he also spews a lot of BS. He has no respect for women, has been arrested for sex trafficking, and he's just another rich person abusing every law he can and scoffing at the average person.
Hopefully, today’s men have the ability to discern what to and what not to listen to from the mouth of Andrew Tate. His misogynistic mindset and disrespectful, condescending attitude towards the rest of the world are disappointing to see, but his views on stepping up and taking responsibility, working hard and doing your best, and using the full potential God has granted you are good lessons to pay attention to, whether you’re a man or even if you’re a woman. (Sorry Andrew, I think women are people, unlike you.)
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