I watch young people protesting first one thing and then another. They seem to be always looking for a cause. So many of them seem to be filled with bitterness and hatred despite the fact they are living in the greatest country on earth and are blest beyond measure.

I often ask myself why they are so unhappy. Dennis Prager recently addressed this problem and wrote the following.

Here are some unhappy statistics:

— In America between 1946 and 2006, the suicide rate quadrupled for males ages 15 to 24 and doubled for females the same age.

— In 1950, the suicide rate per 100,000 Americans was 11.4. In 2017, it was 14.

— According to Grant Duwe, director of research and evaluation at the Minnesota Department of Corrections, in the 1980s, there were 32 mass public shootings (which he defines as incidents in which four or more people are killed publicly with guns within 24 hours). In the 1990s, there were 42. In the first decade of this century, there were 28. In all the 1950s, when there were fewer controls on guns, there was one. Fifty years before that, in the 1900s, there were none.

— Reuters Health reported in 2019, “Suicidal thinking, severe depression and rates of self-injury among U.S. college students more than doubled over less than a decade, a nationwide study suggests.” The study co-author Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, said, “It suggests that something is seriously wrong in the lives of young people.”

This data is not only applicable to Americans. As social commentator Kay Hymowitz wrote in City Journal in 2019: “Loneliness, public-health experts tell us, is killing as many people as obesity and smoking. … Germans are lonely, the bon vivant French are lonely, and even the Scandinavians — the happiest people in the world, according to the UN’s World Happiness Report — are lonely, too. British prime minister Theresa May recently appointed a ‘Minister of Loneliness.’ … consider Japan, a country now in the throes of an epidemic of kodokushi, roughly translated as ‘lonely deaths.’ Local Japanese papers regularly publish stories about kinless elderly whose deaths go unnoticed until the telltale smell of maggot-eaten flesh alerts neighbors.”

Though people have more money, better health care, better health, better housing and more education, and live longer than at any time in history, they — especially young people — are unhappier than at any time since data collection began.

Why has this happened?

There are any number of reasons. Increased use of illicit drugs and prescription drug abuse, and less human interaction because of constant cellphone use are two widely offered, valid explanations. Less valid explanations include competition, grades anxiety, capitalism and income inequality. And then there are young people’s fears that because of global warming, they have a bleak, and perhaps no, future.

But the biggest reason may be the almost-complete loss of values and meaning over the last half-century.

Let’s begin with values.

America — and much of the rest of the West, but I will confine my discussion to America — was founded on two sets of values: Judeo-Christian and American. This combination created the freest, most opportunity-giving, most affluent country in world history. This is not chauvinism. It is fact. And it was regarded as such throughout the world. That is why France gave America — and only America — the Statue of Liberty. That’s why people from every country on Earth so wanted to immigrate to America — and still do.

Chief among American values was keeping government as small as possible. This enabled nongovernmental institutions — Kiwanis International, Rotary International and Lions Clubs International; book clubs; the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts; bowling leagues; music societies; and, of course, churches — to provide Americans with friends and to provide the neediest Americans with help. But as government has gotten ever larger, many of these nongovernmental groups have dwindled in number or simply disappeared.

Another set of values is what is referred to as “middle-class” or “bourgeois” values. These include getting married before one has a child; making a family; getting a job so as to be self-sustaining and sustain one’s family; self-discipline; delayed gratification; and patriotism.

All of these have been under attack by America’s elites, with the following results:

One in 5 young Americans has no contact with his or her father (not including fathers who have died).

In 2011, 72% of black children were born to unmarried mothers. In 1965, it was 24%. In 2012, 29% of white children were born to unmarried women. In 1965, it was 3.1%.

The majority of births to millennials are to unmarried women. Yet, according to a 2018 Cigna study, single parents are generally the loneliest Americans.

Marriage and family are the single greatest sources of happiness for most people. Yet, the percentage of American adults who have never been married is at a historic high. More Americans than ever will not get married, or they will marry so late they will not have children. In 1960, 9% of blacks ages 25 and older had never been married. In 2012, it was nearly 40%.

And I haven’t even mentioned the biggest problem: the loss of meaning in young people’s lives. I will discuss that in part two.

Dennis Prager

—CC—

I received a letter from my good friend, Mary Ann Gaberino, of Stuart and she, like many of us, thought the half-time show of the Super Bowl was obscene and disgusting. I turned if off shortly after it started. I have no desire to watch such filth. If what these folks did is talent, I am glad I don’t have any.

Believe it or not, there was a time when the halftime shows were family oriented and enjoyable to watch. That time is long gone and so is my desire to watch their x-rated filth.

—CC—

Speaking of x-rated, how many of you watched the despicable antics of Nancy Pelosi during the State of the Union address? I believe the following letter to the editor spoke for many of us…..

An open letter to Mrs. Pelosi,

Mrs. Pelosi, I am speaking to you woman to woman. I don’t care about our political parties or our individual beliefs right now. I’m simply speaking to you as a woman in the year 2020.

You don’t know me, so to be fair I’ll give you a bit of background. I am my children’s teacher. I educate their young minds every single day. I do so willingly and with a sense of responsibility unlike any other. I have been sexually assaulted twice in my life. When I was 14, a man stalked my every move for months and then broke in through my bedroom window at 3:00 a.m. When I was in my early twenties, I was assaulted by a different man while I was working at an apartment community. I’ve been ruthlessly bullied by a girl in high school who I later learned has legitimate mental health issues. I’ve had multiple doctors strongly urge me to abort my baby because there was less than a 1% chance of her surviving the next 28 weeks of the pregnancy. Her name is Grace Elizabeth. She’s 15 years old and smart as a whip. I’m a woman who cares about other women. I care.

Last night, President Trump gave the State of the Union address. You fidgeted in your seat more than my kids did in church when they were toddlers. You made smug, condescending faces and you used hand motions and little head shakes to tell “your people” when and when not to clap, when to stand, basically how to act during the entire speech.

I must tell you, Mrs. Pelosi, this is an amazing time in history for us because my girls and I are studying American government. The past semester has been rich with opportunities to watch history unfold live not just in a textbook.

You are part of a party that claims to promote diversity and individual freedoms, yet you “direct” those around you as to when to sit, stand, clap, or show emotion. Unfortunately, you seem to have a very difficult time when someone disagrees with your opinion. You are a woman in a role of leadership and you’ve looked less like a leader than the pint-sized bully at the local preschool. You, Mrs. Pelosi, are a mean girl. I’ve dealt with enough them to know. You want men/the world to respect us and treats us as equals, then don’t act like a deranged woman who’s in desperate need of some alone time in the bathroom to eat her hidden stash of chocolate in front of millions of people.

You didn’t use the time-honored words to introduce the president. You allowed your personal feelings to override anything that looks like what you’re paid to do. You are paid to represent the American people and to do your best while you have the position. You’re not paid to have a temper tantrum upon your mini throne.

It’s OK, if you don’t feel love for the current president, but do you think that ripping up a speech that recognized and honored a baby born prematurely, a young lady receiving a big honor, a respected military man turning 100 years old, a soldier returning home, and more is the morally right thing to do? We wonder why there’s such a lack of respect for elders and authority in this country. You, ma’am, were a perfect example for the reason—you, you who are an elected “leader” of this great nation, acted like an enraged toddler whose Goldfish were taken away before you were ready. Sadly, you have repeatedly allowed the vitriol in your heart to overflow into your work.

You can rip up a copy of the president’s speech while trying to look cute and powerful to your cronies, but what worries me is that one day you’ll decide it’s time to rip up the Constitution. The 2020 election is coming up, and I pray that the people of this great land will recognize mental illness when they see it and allow you some much needed time off to get some help. Please, get some help.

Humbly,

Shannon Schick