All That Remains vocalist Phil Labonte has been politically outspoken for much of his career at this point. While he at one point championed more libertarian ideals, recent years have found him speaking more of right-wing ideals, frequently aligning himself with right-wing American political commentator Tim Pool.
Back in 2024, Labonte penned an op-ed for Fox News in which he claimed that society had been failing men and boys. Labonte cited many reasons to back up his claims, including a lack of traditional father figures, a decline in higher education, a lack of spaces exclusively for men and boys to connect which each other, and more.
Labonte‘s piece lines up with some forthcoming legislation aimed to tackle the issues he mentioned. Appearing recently on ‘Today’s Boondoggle Podcast‘, Labonte further outlined his concerns regarding the matter of what he feels is a ‘silent crisis’ that is hindering males in modern society[transcribed by Blabbermouth.net]:
“Look, for the better part of the past three decades, men have been told that they are the problem. You saw it in the ’90s when every single sitcom had the doofy husband, and the woman was the smart one, and thank God for her because without her, that poor schlub would just run his life into the ground. And that was the standard kind of thing. And it’s been like that. And that’s not the way that reality is. Raising a family is a team effort. Mothers are super important, but fathers are super important too.
And you see a lot of kids that are being raised by single mothers. You’ve got divorces at all-time highs. Generally, it’s initiated by the female. Young men are not going to college. They’re not graduating college. They’re checking out of society. They’re deciding that it’s not worth it to try and find a girlfriend. Most kids nowadays — I don’t know the numbers — but most kids have not gone on a date. There’s not nearly as many young men and young women getting together that are dating. Gen Z is the least sexually active generation in a long time. You see abortion is at an all-time high. All of these things are directly downstream from feminism and the massive influence that the left and feminist ideas have on society.”
“The idea that a woman can be the boss babe and a mother at the same time is a total lie. You cannot do both. You can do one or the other. Women are deciding that they want to go to school and have a career, and then when they hit their 30s, they’re scrambling to try and find a man, but men have checked out or they’ve already found — or they’re going for younger girls that are looking for families and stuff. Male suicide is at an all-time high. Men are, like I said, they’re checking out of society.
They’re deciding to anesthetize themselves with video games and pot. All these things are absolutely terrible for a society. And so the op-ed was kind of to outline this stuff, and now there’s a bill that’s in the House — it’s in committee, I think — and it’s to start the White House council on fathers and sons. It’s based on the framework that was created during the Obama administration, which was the White House council on women and girls, and then it was changed during the Biden administration, I believe.
I forget what the Biden administration called it, but it was something very gender neutral. And so there is a framework there. So hopefully we can, we can get this passed and have the White House actually talk about this because this is a crisis that is a big deal for society.”
Labonte went on to add:
“Suicide among men my age — 50 and above — the rates are up. Men have to have meaning. Men need something to do. The idea that men can go to therapy and that’s gonna solve their problems is ridiculous. Therapy is for women. Men don’t solve their problems by talking. Men solve their problems through action. So men should be doing things with other men, like building things, going out and fixing cars, whatever it is.
But those kind of activities are what will help a man feel accomplished, help a man feel like he’s got purpose. Just going and talking to a therapist, that’s not what fixes men. That’s not what fixes men at all. Men need goals that are achievable, and they need to make progress to those goals. That kind of stuff is what will help a man feel empowered, feel good about himself. That’s the kind of stuff that men need. And the idea that all of society is telling men, ‘Oh, you should be more like women,’ or, ‘You should go to therapy,’ none of these things help men.
And the evidence is in the statistics. The evidence is in the suicide rate. It’s in the depression rate. It’s in the fact that men are checking out from society. These ideas don’t work for men because men and women are not the same. And this is not in any way an attack on women, but men and women need to be treated as if they are men and women. They’re two different, different psychologies. And that’s not to say that there aren’t men with more feminine characteristics or women with more masculine characteristics, but broadly, men are different than women, and they need different things to make them feel emotionally fulfilled and psychologically acceptable.”
While Labonte tended to champion libertarian views at one point, his political ideals have indeed since shifted to the right, as he confirmed as much in this podcast:
“Uh, I don’t know what I consider myself. I consider myself an independent. Libertarians have lost their way. There’s a lot of ideas that libertarians have that I like, but I think that libertarianism as a political vehicle is silly. The idea that you’re gonna get into power and then even dismantle the government is ridiculous. And the idea that you’re gonna get into power and then leave people alone, that’s ridiculous, too.
If there is power available, someone is going to use that power. So your best bet is to get into government and use the power to push forward an agenda that is suitable to you and the people that elected you into the office. The idea that you’re gonna get into office and not do anything, that’s gonna make sure that you don’t get elected again, that your party doesn’t ever go above 3%. The Libertarian Party has totally lost its way.
I did call myself a libertarian for a while, but I think the reality of politics and the reality of the execution of power when it’s given to you, I think that’s changed my opinion, so I just call myself an independent now. I am generally right wing, though. It’s safe to say that I’m a right-winger.”
