Academy Award-winning Russell Crowe revealed a lot about his own values, giving a thoughtful answer when he was asked about which movies should be required viewing for young men, specifically Gen Z.
Crowe, who won the coveted Best Actor award for his role in &#8220;Gladiator,&#8221; was asked to look back at his filmography and explain which movies he thought every young man should watch. He based his answer on what values and lessons the younger generation could take away from the movies he&#8217;d chosen to make.
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&#8220;That&#8217;s kind of a very serious question,&#8221; Crowe began with a smile, adding, &#8220;It would probably take me a month to write a dissertation.&#8221;
Crowe then selected three of his movies — 2000&#8217;s &#8220;Gladiator,&#8221; 2003&#8217;s &#8220;Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,&#8221; and 2005&#8217;s &#8220;Cinderella Man&#8221; — and explained what he believed young men might learn from each of them.
<h4>&#8220;Gladiator&#8221;</h4>
&#8220;Gladiator&#8221; was first on his list because he said it would teach young men about &#8220;honor and the importance of la familia.&#8221;
Crowe has often talked about the fact that family, and one man&#8217;s mission to avenge his loss, is the heart of that film. He felt so strongly about that particular point that he pushed back — hard — when producers and even director Ridley Scott wanted to add a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/russell-crowe-reveals-why-he-refused-to-do-a-sex-scene-for-gladiator">sex scene</a> into the movie.
&#8220;When we were shooting that film, there was a lot of pressure. The studio, the producers [thought] there should be sex between Maximus and the female characters. I just kept pushing back,” he said in a previous interview.
&#8220;This is the story of a man avenging the death of his wife and his child,” Crowe explained. “There cannot be a moment in that journey where he stops and has sex with somebody. It doesn’t make any sense because then that destroys the journey.&#8221;
The end results spoke for themselves: Scott ultimately sided with Crowe, agreeing that a sex scene would take away from the film&#8217;s &#8220;moral core.&#8221; The finished product netted them not only Crowe&#8217;s Best Actor statue, but also the Best Picture Oscar. (Crowe has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/russell-crowe-blasts-gladiator-2-for-lacking-moral-core-that-made-the-first-one-great">also said</a> that the reason &#8220;Gladiator 2&#8221; failed to capture the audience in the same way was that it strayed from that &#8220;moral core.&#8221;)
<h4>&#8220;Master and Commander&#8221;</h4>
The second film Crowe listed was &#8220;Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,&#8221; a period piece set in 1805 and loosely based on the &#8220;real-life naval exploits of British Captain Lord Thomas Cochrane.&#8221;
The actor said that film, which did not garner anywhere near the commercial or critical success he saw with &#8220;Gladiator,&#8221; would nonetheless teach young men &#8220;about loyalty and fealty.&#8221;
&#8220;There are a few movies in the things that I&#8217;ve done which can have a profound connection to a young man,&#8221; Crowe continued before offering up his third and final selection. &#8220;Those two are very important, but there&#8217;s also a film called &#8216;Cinderella Man,&#8217; which is about somebody who&#8217;s facing the worst kind of situation, but he still goes forward. And because they go forward, they end up achieving what they set out to achieve.&#8221;
<h4>&#8220;Cinderella Man&#8221;</h4>
&#8220;Cinderella Man,&#8221; as Crowe noted, follows the career of the boxing champion who almost wasn&#8217;t: Jim Braddock. After a hand injury and the onset of the Great Depression stalled what had looked to be a promising boxing career, Braddock was forced to work manual labor jobs on the New Jersey docks — and rely on government assistance at times — to support his family.
In 1934, he got a chance to step back into the ring, but he wasn&#8217;t fighting for the title so much as for his own name. He won in a knockout — and kept winning. But as the prize money rolled in, Braddock didn&#8217;t spend it or even put it into savings. Instead, he tracked down every government agency through which his family had gotten aid, paying every cent back.
Dubbed &#8220;the Cinderella Man&#8221; due to his rags-to-riches story, Braddock went into the 1935 championship match at Madison Square Garden against World Heavyweight Champion Max Baer with 10-1 odds that he would lose. But years of working on the docks had given him the stamina to wear Baer down, and after 12 rounds, Braddock was named the new world champion.
With more than 80 acting credits to his name, Crowe could have answered that question dozens of different ways. The way he chose to answer, what he chose to pass on to the next generation, revealed that values he holds dear: family, loyalty, honor, and determination. And, as Crowe himself showed when the &#8220;moral core&#8221; was threatened during the filming of &#8220;Gladiator,&#8221; he is willing to fight for them when necessary.
***
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe’s Three Movies Every Young Man Should Watch

family

Gen Z

Hollywood

Kennedy Centert

Movies

Parenting

Upstream

On June 2, 2020, I spent my 18th birthday entirely alone. For much of the day, I sat on my front porch, answering text messages from friends, but mostly I allowed time to pass in a crawl, the way it did for much of the COVID-19 lockdown. In the evening, I went inside and turned on the nightly news out of habit. It had become addicting watching the number of COVID cases rise and hearing concerned news anchors pour over virality data and quarantine horror stories. I spent my 18th birthday alone, shut away from my friends and family, watching people post black squares on their Instagram accounts in solidarity with George Floyd. 
That same day, Dr. Anthony Fauci met with President Donald Trump, during which time Trump <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/07/27/faucis-diary-released-revealing-his-thoughts-fame-rambling-trump/">allegedly stated</a>, “I love you, Tony. I feel like giving you a big hug.” After meeting for awhile to discuss vaccines, Trump called Fauci “close” to his desk and complimented him by saying, “You are looking real good.” According to Fauci’s diary, upon leaving the White House, he bumped into a friend and bragged about his performances on recent media hits. He then excitedly anticipated his plans for a morning breakfast meeting with Michael Caputo, the former assistant secretary for Health and Human Services. The previous day, June 1, Fauci bragged in his diary about getting to do a Zoom graduation ceremony for the Regis High School’s senior class. By his own judgement, they “loved it.”
While hundreds of thousands of children and young adults were blocked from having actual graduation ceremonies, or meeting with family members, or having morning breakfasts with their friends, Fauci was living a normal life. After he spent months scaring Americans and convincing local and state governments that they had to shutter their doors, he was parading around D.C., doing media hits and making notes about which celebrities offered him public praise. 
For members of Gen Z, the pandemic was the first major cultural event they experienced. Many were too young to remember 9/11 or the 2008 financial crisis. While some of my friends vaguely remember a few things about the Obama presidency or Trump’s first term, very few of them were mature enough to be politically engaged. The pandemic stripped away their ignorance, forcing them to deal with the tyrannical political inclinations of Fauci, state governments, and liberal elites. 
At the time, very few young people saw any upside to the COVID pandemic. It led to 46% of Gen Z reporting new mental health issues, 65% <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2021/one-year-pandemic-stress-youth">reporting</a> feeling &#8220;very lonely,&#8221; and spikes in dangerous social trends such as <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Trans-Pop-Update-Jun-2022.pdf">transgenderism</a>. Some students never got to say goodbye to their friends before leaving for college or, upon arrival, weren’t allowed to leave their dorm rooms without a mask. Numerous colleges required students to be vaccinated if they wanted to attend classes in person, while other universities and high schools simply told people to take virtual classes without any end in sight. Many of my teenage friends suddenly found themselves smoking weed every night to pass the time, or turning to dangerous illicit drugs just to “feel something.” With bars closed and parties cancelled, many of my former classmates started drinking alone in their rooms. Meanwhile, out-of-touch celebrities posted cringey videos of themselves singing “Imagine” and hiding in their Beverly Hills mansions. 
For some Zoomers, the reaction to COVID was despair. But for many others, the reaction was defiance. After months of lockdowns and mask mandates, young people realized that their likelihood of getting sick was very slim and that quarantining barely mitigated the spread. As “two weeks to slow the spread” spiraled into endless months of forced isolation, many people realized the government was being weaponized against them. Just a few of my peers&#8217; stories back this up. 
Alex, who is now 26, dropped out of Northwestern just a few months into his freshman year after realizing the school’s online classes didn’t match its pricey tuition fees. In his free time, he taught himself computer programming. After landing a job at a well-known bank, he came to the conclusion that college was a scam, COVID was a scam, and that the only people who hadn’t lied to him were conservatives.
Jake, 27, had recently graduated from high school and got into the trades during the start of the pandemic. After going into several people’s houses per day, he realized the quarantines had had very little effect on people’s safety and Fauci’s HHS had been spreading lies.
Eric, 24, was forced to spend all of his time alone in his dorm room as a college student. He began listening to podcasts, starting with Jordan Peterson, and eventually wound up listening to Michael Knowles and Charlie Kirk every day. Within the course of less than a year, he went from being apolitical to volunteering for Turning Point USA. 
COVID taught young Americans that they couldn’t trust the government to make decisions for them. In the past few years, a majority of my peers have admitted a similar experience: that COVID caused them to see the tyrannical abuse of power inflicted by left-wing governments. It’s no surprise that Trump won the popular vote for Gen Z men in 2024; he represented freedom from radical leftism. I was not the only Gen Z kid who spent her birthday, or graduation, or weekends alone. I was one of many young people who realized that Fauci’s shutdowns and power grabs were nothing but narcissism. Gen Z will never forgive Fauci for lying to them, but they can be grateful that he showed them how dictatorial politicians can be.
***
Brooke Brandtjen is a writer and journalist from Wisconsin who focuses primarily on culture, politics, and religion. She is a senior contributor at New Guard Press, a publication she joined while attending Hillsdale College.
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

Gemini_Generated_Image_jkp0bzjkp0bzjkp0

The Lasting Scar Fauci Left On Gen Z

Anthony Fauci

COVID-19

Nearly half of Generation Z says one political factor is making them less likely to attend church, according to newly released survey data. 
The research found that 48% of Gen Z adults say Christian support for President Donald Trump makes them less likely to attend church. 
Political scientist and religion researcher Ryan Burge highlighted <a href="https://religionnews.com/2026/07/20/half-of-gen-z-says-trump-support-keeps-them-out-of-church/">newly released data</a> from the Billy Graham Center Research Institute examining barriers that keep young adults from embracing Christianity. The survey included 2,365 Gen Z adults ages 18 to 28 and was led by Rick Richardson of Wheaton College. 
Overall, nearly one in five respondents said they &#8220;strongly agreed&#8221; that Christians&#8217; support for the president discourages them from going to church services. 
“So, it’s fair to say young adults are pretty evenly divided on this idea,” Burge and Richardson wrote. “But these results are confounded by a few variables: Younger adults tend to be more left-leaning in their politics, and a significant share of Gen Z claims no religious affiliation, which means a lot of these respondents wouldn’t be going to church much anyway.”
Digging deeper, the survey found a sharp partisan divide. Among Gen Z Democrats, 67% said they &#8220;strongly,&#8221; &#8220;somewhat,&#8221; or &#8220;lightly&#8221; agreed that Christian support for Trump makes them less likely to attend church. Fewer than half of independents shared that view. Republicans, however, broke sharply in the opposite direction, with 74% saying they disagreed. 
About 72% of Gen Z atheists said Christians’ support of Trump has made them less likely to attend a church service. For agnostics, the figure fell slightly lower to 65%. Gen Z Protestants were least likely to feel that way, according to the report, which was highlighted by Religion News Service. 
“But even among Gen Z Christians, there’s a significant share who said Trump made it harder for them to attend at all: 44% of those who identified as a generic Christian, 42% of Catholics and 30% of Protestant young adults said they were turned off by the Christian-Trump alliance,” the report stated. 
White evangelicals have played a pivotal role in Trump&#8217;s electoral success, forming the backbone of the Republican coalition and backing him by overwhelming margins in all three of his presidential campaigns. In 2024, Trump captured 82% of the white evangelical vote, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/election/2024/exit-polls/national-results/general/president/0">according to exit polls</a>. Catholics also broke decisively in his favor, with nearly 60% backing Trump after <a href="https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/national-results">narrowly supporting Joe Biden</a> in 2020.
At the same time, other recent surveys suggest religion may be gaining traction among some segments of younger Americans. 
About 42% of men aged 18 to 29 now say religion is “very important” in their lives, up from 28% two years earlier, according to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/708410/young-men-religious-young-women.aspx">recent survey from Gallup</a>. The 14-point jump was the largest recorded among any demographic group in the poll’s recent history and returned young men to levels of religiosity not seen since the early 2000s.
Vice President JD Vance has <a href="https://x.com/VP/status/2056135528752234892?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2056135528752234892%7Ctwgr%5Ec3aaf5b9e9b1bcf5d074b80023045f4e297c71f6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fthousands-of-christians-fill-national-mall-for-prayer-service-celebrating-americas-faith-heritage">hailed the numbers</a> as a rebuke to the expert class that has long predicted the demise of American Christianity. 
“Defying predictions, the experts said that religion and faith were dying. Today, a wave of young Americans is returning to the pews, and we know that they’re looking for meaning, for authority, for direction, and of course, for closeness with God,” Vance said. “That should give all of us hope for our future together.” 
<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2026/05/14/how-americans-feel-about-religions-influence-in-government-and-public-life/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email">A Pew Research poll</a> in May showed 37% of U.S. adults believe religion is gaining influence in America, the highest share since 2002.

Worshipper praying on a church

Half Of Gen Z Say A Political Factor Is Keeping Them Out Of Church

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Faith

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America&#8217;s homeownership crisis may be even more severe than widely understood. A new <a href="https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2026/new-homeownership-measure-puts-people-first">study</a> argues that while official government statistics show about 65% of U.S. homes are owner-occupied, only about 53% of American adults actually own the homes they live in. 
The difference stems from how homeownership is measured. The Census Bureau&#8217;s longstanding homeownership rate tracks whether a home is owner-occupied, not whether every adult living there owns it. For example, a married couple who own a home they share with an adult son counts as one owner-occupied household, even though the son does not own the property himself.
The researchers argue that measuring homeownership by individual adults provides a more accurate picture of how many Americans have actually achieved homeownership, particularly as more adults live with family members or roommates because of high housing costs.
Researchers estimate that nearly 14% of adults live in owner-occupied homes without actually owning them. That group includes adult children, aging parents, roommates, friends, and others living with homeowners. To better capture individual ownership, the researchers propose a new metric, Homeownership-to-Population, or HPOP, which measures the share of adults who own the home they live in.
The lower estimate comes as homeownership becomes increasingly out of reach for many Americans, particularly younger generations. According to recent surveys, 62% of Gen Z say they worry they will never be able to buy a home. Meanwhile, the median age of first-time homebuyers jumped from 33 in 2021 to 40 in 2025, reflecting the growing financial hurdles facing prospective buyers.  
Those hurdles continue to mount. In June, the median existing-home price reached a record <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-existing-home-sales-report-shows-2-4-decrease-in-june">$440,600</a>, up 49.2% from June 2020. 
National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the biggest obstacle remains a lack of housing supply. 
“Without a doubt, affordability is a major challenge for people who want to become homeowners, which is the reason why we need more supply,” Yun said. 
<a href="http://realtor.com">Realtor.com</a> estimates the United States faces a housing shortage of roughly 4 million homes. 
Higher borrowing costs have compounded the problem. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates from near zero to above 5.25%, while the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has more than doubled from roughly 3.11% in 2020 to about 6.55%.
Congress attempted to address the housing shortage by passing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act in July, legislation designed to reduce regulatory barriers to home construction while encouraging state and local governments to reform zoning and land-use policies through grant incentives. 
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called the legislation &#8220;transformational.&#8221;
&#8220;This transformational legislation will help address the housing affordability problem, reduce regulations so builders can build, limit institutional investing in the housing market, and bring the American Dream back into reach for millions of young and working families,&#8221; he said.
Housing economists welcomed the legislation but cautioned that meaningful relief will take time.
“This bill directly targets some of the biggest drivers of housing costs: land-use restrictions, permitting delays, financing constraints and regulatory hurdles,” <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/11/21st-century-road-to-housing-act-homebuyers-sellers.html">said</a> Selma Hepp, chief economist at Cotality. “Unfortunately, homebuyers should not expect immediate relief.” 
Hepp added that “housing development takes time and many of the benefits would likely materialize gradually rather than overnight.”

US-ECONOMY-HOUSING-REAL ESTATE

America’s Home Ownership Crisis May Be Even Worse Than Previously Known

Housing

Housing Crisis

President Donald Trump’s granddaughter, Kai Trump, recently took her followers on a tour of the White House, describing the famous landmark with nonchalance and a hint of sarcasm.
The Gen-Z internet personality showed off the White House in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxV0P0602M">video</a> posted on Wednesday and gave some more behind-the-scenes perspective of the White House UFC fight.
As she entered the White House, which she called &#8220;my house,&#8221; she gestured towards a portrait of George Washington, saying, “We got my best friend, George Washington. We’re real tight.” 

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Credit: Kai Trump via YouTube
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Kai also described the newly-installed statues of Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin in the Rose Garden as if they were old friends.
“This is my friend Alexander Hamilton. What a chiller,” Kai said. “Over here we have Benjamin Franklin, who’s also my dear friend. Old Boy Benji. We call him Benji. What a nice guy.”
As she walked through a hallway adorned by paintings, glass lamps, and an old grandfather clock, Trump&#8217;s granddaughter commented that she &#8220;used to play soccer in these halls.&#8221;
After dodging aides who were moving furniture on the second floor, Kai found a podium.
“I’m about to do a speech in front of everyone. Look, look at my crowd,” she joked to the few people filming her.
She continued showing other rooms in the White House, commenting with her deadpan sense of humor.
“This is the Red Room. As you can tell, it’s red and that’s why it&#8217;s called the Red Room.” Kai joked. “This is the Blue Room. As you can tell, it’s also blue.”
To conclude her White House tour, Kai went into the Oval Office, showing off the Declaration of Independence on the wall, the portraits, Trump’s Sharpies, and the various articles of gold in the office.
“All right guys. We’re in the Oval Office right now,” she said. “So everything is gold because my grandpa hates gold so he actually decided to add a lot of gold to the Oval Office. That’s a joke. He loves gold. It’s like his favorite thing on the planet if you guys haven’t noticed.&#8221;
“He has a very good attention to detail, so everything that he thought should be gold, he made gold,” Kai added. 
Kai has over three million followers on Instagram and 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube. She is attending the University of Miami this fall, where she is <a href="https://miamihurricanes.com/roster/kai-trump/">joining</a> Miami&#8217;s golf team.

Untitled design – 2026-06-25T132950.303

The White House Through Kai Trump’s Eyes

Kai Trump

White House

The internet is melting down. Politics is broken. Culture is spiraling. And Mat Nuclear is going live.
The Daily Wire’s newest show, “The Nuclear Reaction,” drops viewers into a post-apocalyptic shortwave broadcast where the only mission is helping those who are still Left … get Right in the head.
Part reaction show, part debate arena, part emergency transmission from the wreckage of modern discourse, “The Nuclear Reaction” puts Nuclear into the middle of the day’s dumbest, darkest, and most combustible arguments. Guests, callers, clips, chats, and assorted survivors wander through the broadcast as Nuclear tries to separate what’s real from what’s fake — and figure out who’s having the biggest public meltdown.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
The Nuclear Reaction starts tonight ☢️🔥
Meet The Daily Wire’s newest talent, <a href="https://x.com/MatNuclear?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MatNuclear</a>!
Part reaction, part debate, part broadcast from the ruins of rationality — Mat&#8217;s getting into it all.
Watch tonight on YouTube at 6PM, plus his guest appearance on Friendly Fire🔥 <a href="https://t.co/AkGPcbHbWh">pic.twitter.com/AkGPcbHbWh</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2067279309505524166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
“It’s politics, culture, internet drama, and apocalyptic nonsense all treated with the level of lols it deserves,” Nuclear said.
The show marks a new chapter for one of the Right’s fastest-rising young voices.
Nuclear built an audience as a teenage debater taking on opponents across social media. What started with arguments against vegans on Discord quickly evolved into viral clashes on TikTok, where he developed a reputation for relentlessly questioning progressive assumptions and refusing to let opponents escape uncomfortable questions.
His national breakout came through Jubilee’s viral “Surrounded” series, where he faced activist Amanda Seales in front of a live audience. Clips from the debate spread rapidly online and introduced millions of viewers to the then-18-year-old commentator.
Soon afterward, appearances with major conservative figures followed. Figures like Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk praised Nuclear’s debating ability and composure.
Now, Nuclear is bringing that same energy to a nightly live format built around audience interaction, real-time reactions, and unpredictable debates.
Each episode of “The Nuclear Reaction” will feature a mix of breaking news, political commentary, livestream debates, audience call-ins, social media clips, and internet chaos. No topic is off limits, and no sacred cow is guaranteed protection.
For Nuclear, the appeal of debate has always been rooted in a simple idea: most political arguments become much less convincing when someone asks a straightforward follow-up question. Rather than relying on talking points or outrage, Nuclear built his audience by challenging claims directly and forcing conversations back to basic questions of truth, logic, and consistency.
That approach has resonated particularly with younger audiences, many of whom encountered him through short-form social media clips before following him into longer discussions and debates.
While the show embraces the absurdity of modern politics and internet culture, it also reflects Nuclear’s belief that persuasion matters — especially for a generation increasingly surrounded by ideological noise.
“The Nuclear Reaction” streams regularly across The Daily Wire’s platforms, delivering reactions, arguments, laughs, and chaos from the front lines of the culture war.
The world may be falling apart, but Mat Nuclear will be there to talk about it.

MNUC-v3-resized_MNUK-keyart-16×9

WATCH: Mat Nuclear Gets Hot On His Daily Wire Livestream

Daily Wire

Debate

Poltiics

Entitlement reform is about to become a hot-button issue, again, due to imminent fiscal shortfalls.
And right now the politics don’t look great for Americans under 40. According to recent <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/social-securitys-finances-are-getting-worse-americans-dont-know-how-hard-choices-will-be">polling</a> by the Cato Institute, 89% of senior citizens would support raising taxes on younger workers in order to maintain their Social Security benefits. Now consider that the <a href="https://voteathome.org/new-report-on-primary-voting-highlights-path-to-increase-voter-participation/">median</a> primary voter is 65 years old.
Gen Z <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/2024-presidential-election-voting-registration-tables.html">votes</a> at much lower rates than older Americans, especially in <a href="https://theharvardpoliticalreview.com/gen-z-voter-barriers-2024-election/">midterms</a>. Worse, many Zoomers don’t even know how Social Security works. Half think their payroll taxes are either saved for them in a personal account or invested in a trust fund on their behalf.
In reality, Social Security is a <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/social-security-trust-fund-myth">pay-as-you-go program</a>. That means today’s beneficiaries are funded through taxes paid by younger workers, today. While retirees say they “paid in,” those dollars were spent long ago. Social Security’s mythology has obscured the economic trade-offs it requires: between the incomes of younger workers and the retirement lifestyles of seniors.
For decades, Social Security spending has gone in one direction: up, up, and up, on <a href="https://epicforamerica.org/federal-budget/epic-explainer-discretionary-v-autopilot-spending/">autopilot</a>. As a result, it now accounts for <a href="https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-does-the-us-spend-on-social-security-is-it-sustainable/">over</a> 22% of the federal budget, costing nearly $1.6 trillion per year. That makes it the single biggest item in America’s federal budget, and it’s <a href="https://www.pgpf.org/article/top-10-largest-budget-functions/">not close.</a> If you add up all spending on seniors in the federal budget, it’s about <a href="https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/p/2026-04-01-how-federal-spending-is-distributed-by-age-group-in-fy2025/">$2.7 trillion</a> annually. We spend six times as much on senior citizens, the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/over-65-congratulations-you-own-the-economy-5acea4c4">wealthiest demographic,</a> as we do on children and young adults.
Congress has made no major changes to Social Security since 1983, when President Ronald Reagan signed a bipartisan bill that saved it from imminent collapse. Contrary to today’s facile notion that entitlement reform is “a third rail,” Reagan signed bipartisan legislation that cut Social Security and Medicare spending in 1983, in addition to raising taxes. He won 49 states the very next year (when the economy jumps 7% in a single year, they let you do it).
Since Reagan, no president has been able to change the course of Social Security. Bush and Obama both talked about it. Neither got it done.
Something must change. The Social Security Trust Fund (technically it’s the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund) is projected to run out in late 2032. That’s just six years from now. It means senators elected or re-elected in the November 2026 midterms will confront this crisis within their upcoming terms.
And that’s not the only crisis on the horizon. Medicare Hospital Insurance is <a href="https://www.cms.gov/oact/tr/2026">projected</a> to run out in 2033. Chinese President Xi Jinping has directed the Chinese military to be able to strike Taiwan by 2027, though this does <a href="https://news.usni.org/2026/03/19/china-not-committed-to-2027-taiwan-invasion-u-s-intel-report-says">not</a> necessarily mean China will attack then. And the United States has been so occupied with <a href="https://americanmind.org/salvo/what-is-total-boomer-luxury-communism/">transferring</a> wealth to senior citizens that it forgot to match its defense production to its national security strategy. And that means significant production shortages of <a href="https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/chinas-naval-buildup-exposes-us-shipbuilding-gaps-and-fleet-weakness">ships</a>, <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/rebuilding-us-missile-inventory-multiyear-project">missiles</a>, and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/the-u-s-wants-to-break-chinas-drone-dominance-heres-where-it-will-struggle-39e69e18">drones</a>. America faces a rapidly complicated geopolitical situation, yet is maintaining <a href="https://econofact.org/u-s-defense-spending-in-historical-and-international-context">historically</a> low defense spending.
Making this all more intractable is America’s demographic collapse. We have fewer and fewer younger Americans <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/history/ratios.html">supporting</a> more and more older Americans. And this will get worse, impacting America’s ability to fund its entitlement programs — the fertility rate is falling <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/low-falling-fertility-means-social-securitys-funding-problems-are-worse-expected-0">faster</a> than the Social Security Trustees seem to think.
This will all come to a head, and soon. The U.S. must either significantly cut the growth trajectory of Social Security and Medicare spending or dramatically raise taxes. (Or some combination of benefit cuts and tax hikes).
There is no way to finesse our way out of this. It’s far too late to “privatize” Social Security, and any such plan would <a href="https://debtdispatch.substack.com/p/debt-digest-the-cassidy-kaine-social">dramatically</a> raise the national debt, making America’s fiscal problem worse, not better. And while AI promises to accelerate economic growth, excessive government regulation, grassroots backlash, and early demands for Universal Basic Income all cast doubt on the notion that AI will save us from the consequences of our own government spending.
By law, when the Social Security and Medicare trust funds run out, the programs’ spending will be cut significantly (by over 20% for Social Security and over 10% for Medicare Part A). But Congress is unlikely to allow these cuts to happen, given the political realities we have discussed.
American senior citizens know what they want: retirement benefits that keep going up forever, paid for by younger workers. Meanwhile, younger people don’t even know their own interests. Or what threatens them. Even among Americans under 30, 47% would protect current retirees’ benefits even if that means higher taxes on younger workers like them.
Expect more of the same. At least until America’s fundamental imbalance, between elderly power and youthful ignorance, changes.
America did not begin as a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gerontocracy-America-Hoarding-Power-Wealth_and/dp/0374607648">gerontocracy</a>. Thomas Jefferson was just 33 years old when he drafted the Declaration of Independence. Alexander Hamilton was around 20 in July 1776, but he was up north <a href="https://armyhistory.org/major-general-alexander-hamilton/">serving</a> as a captain in a New York artillery company.
With respect to America’s founders, however, if taxation without genuine political representation was a <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/colonial-life-today/early-american-economics-facts">problem</a> back in 1776, it is a much larger problem now.
***
Russ Greene is Executive Director of the Prime Mover Institute and the <a href="https://americanmind.org/salvo/what-is-total-boomer-luxury-communism/">coiner</a> of the term “Total Boomer Luxury Communism.”

Senior woman’s hands counting cash us dollars at home

The Boomer Ponzi Scheme Robbing Americans Of Future Prosperity

Boomers

DW Opinion

Medicare

Social Security

This summer has been anything but normal in La La Land.
Two indie horror films, one made for less than $1 million, are crushing the box office. A Steven Spielberg film about aliens visiting Earth can only dream of catching up. The same holds for a film franchise “in a galaxy far, far away.”
Nothing makes sense in Hollywood now, and that might be the best news possible for a flailing industry and audiences hoping for more voices, not fewer.
The Old Guard is fading to black. Enter the New Guard, weaned on YouTube and ready to tell fresh stories that connect with Gen Z.
Take director Curry Barker. The 26-year-old isn’t a household name like Spielberg, unless you live on YouTube. Barker cut his teeth on the platform, delivering viral hits like the creepy “Milk &amp; Serial,” an hour-long found-footage film no studio would touch.
That convinced Hollywood to let him direct his first feature, “Obsession,” about a lovestruck man granted one powerful wish: Make the girl of his dreams fall in love with him.
It works, and that’s when the macabre elements rush in.
The micro-indie opened to a solid $17 million in U.S. theaters, but it just kept growing. The film made significantly more money in its subsequent two weekends, a feat that doesn’t happen without adding movie screens.
As of June 11, the film snuck back to <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/date/2026-06-10/?ref_=bo_di_table_1">reclaim the top box office</a> slot nearly a month after it opened (May 15). Once again, that simply doesn’t happen.
But it did. And its worldwide total as of mid-June is north of $240 million. Hollywood already handed Barker the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise to revive. More gigs will follow, with one studio waving a <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/obsession-filmmaker-curry-barker-gets-7-figure-offer-1236606967/">$10 million check</a> in front of him to do something, anything, for them.
Here’s betting Kane Parsons will get similar offers. The 20-year-old director also flexed his storytelling chops on his YouTube channel (Kane Pixels), building on creepy stories that lurk across digital platforms like 4chan.
The result? “Backrooms,” which opened to $81 million stateside.
That comes on the heels of an early 2026 hit, “Iron Lung.” Once more, a neophyte director weaned on YouTube. Mark Fischbach, AKA Markiplier, wrote, edited, directed, and starred in a sci-fi/horror film that earned a stunning $40 million on a $3 million budget.
As if 2026 couldn’t get any more unpredictable, there’s “The Amazing Digital Circus.” The Australian animated series debuted the final two episodes of its first season in select theaters. That release, subtitled “The Last Act,” briefly topped the box office and ended its debut weekend <a href="https://www.boxofficepro.com/the-amazing-digital-circus-the-last-act-lands-standout-box-office-debut/">with more than $20 million</a>.
All for two TV-like episodes set to debut in less than a month, for free, on YouTube. We shouldn’t be shocked, though. The show’s pilot episode has generated <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwAPLk_sQ3w&amp;t=120s">440 million views</a> on the platform to date.
These films did more than just wildly overperform; they let YouTube storytellers have their say. They brought Gen Z back to theaters in droves. That’s what’s been missing in recent years. Something blamed on a generational shift, short attention spans, and a dearth of compelling content.
And it took a new guard of storytellers to make it happen.
Now, imagine this stunning success complemented by older, more established franchises and iconic directors. Except it’s not working out that way.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the first new “Star Wars” feature since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker,” is underperforming. Badly. The film is laboring to crack the $300 million mark at the global box office, a fraction of what a “Star Wars” movie should earn.
For comparison, “The Rise of Skywalker” brought in $1 billion worldwide, and that film got skewered by franchise fans. The least successful “Star Wars” film in the modern era, “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” brought in $392 million in 2018.
And then there’s the man who gave us “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Spielberg’s new film, “Disclosure Day,” lets the Oscar winner revisit his most popular theme — aliens.
The thriller stars Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo, and early reviews are promising — north of 80 percent “fresh” at RottenTomatoes.com. Yet the film is expected to earn roughly <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/06/box-office-disclosure-day-projection-1236951773/">$35 million in its opening weekend in the U.S.</a>
Mediocre word of mouth could sink the film, and fast.
Once upon a time, a new Spielberg film felt like a cultural event, one that couldn’t be missed. That’s especially true for his summer-style features.
Not anymore.
Then there’s Clint Eastwood. The actor-director just turned 96, and various media reports suggest he’s either <a href="https://consequence.net/2026/06/clint-eastwood-may-not-be-retired/">retired or hasn’t decided yet</a>. Either way, the Hollywood legend has earned the right to sit back and marvel at his magnificent film legacy.
There won’t be another star like him, maybe ever.
Hollywood is in flux, and the new kids are in charge. It could also lead to more voices being heard and movie studios losing their iron grip on content. After all, technology is breaking down the barriers between artist and studio. Someone can shoot a movie on their iPhone and edit it on any number of cheap but powerful tools.
Plus, Fischbach self-distributed “Iron Lung,” bypassing the Hollywood gatekeepers — the same gatekeepers who often make sure select stories and voices aren’t heard on screen. We know which ones.
That won’t be the case for much longer.
The new, emerging Hollywood isn’t just saving the theatrical experience. It’s opening cinema up to fresh new ideas and, eventually, to more voices than ever before.
***
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. He&#8217;s also the host of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hollywood-in-toto-podcast-w-christian-toto/id1186449155">The Hollywood in Toto Podcast</a>. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en">@HollywoodInToto</a>.

Los Angeles Special Screening Of Focus Features’ “Obsession” – After Party

Gen Z YouTube Creators Are Shaking Up Tinseltown

Entertainment

Independent Film

Star Wars

Steven Spielberg

The internet has been up in arms about one of the biggest Lego scandals in human history, involving a record-breaking Lego set and accusations of corporate greed, content farming, and police irresponsibility. 
 
Eric Mansell, along with his son Bryan, reportedly <a href="https://bricksandminifigs.com/blog/blog/2026/05/28/bricks-minifigs-salem-oregon-clarity-and-resolution/">collected</a> a Lego Star Wars collection consisting of 780 boxed Lego sets and 1,200 rare figures as an investment for his grandchildren. The collection was reportedly priced between $60,000 to $200,000. 
 
The family gave the collection to Bricks and Minifigs, an after-market Lego reseller, to sell on consignment. But when the store changed hands, the new owner refused Mansell access to the collection and denied even having it. 
 
“All you have to do is let me in back. We can go that route or we can go to court,” Mansell said he told the store owner, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wscQpkcwgNU">adding,</a> “And the guy there just looks at me, crosses his arms and goes, ‘Let me tell you what’s going to happen. If we go to court, we’re going to drag this thing out so long and you’re going to end up spending so much more money than your collection is ever worth or what you ever would have gotten out of it, then it ain’t worth it, man.’”
Bricks and Minifigs denied &#8220;knowingly&#8221; stealing the Lego collection, stating, “The actual origin of this dispute lies in an unauthorized, local consignment arrangement between an independent former franchisee of the Salem store and the Mansell family.” The company stated that the collection was not even in the store when Johnson and Brandon Best took it over, as the collection was moved to an &#8220;offsite secure location.&#8221; 
Bricks and Minifigs stated that it found between $2,000 and $5,000 worth of the sets in the store that could possibly belong to the Mansell family. It stated, “We offered to return these items to the Mansell family though BAM had no legal obligation to do so, but it was refused.”
“Neither corporate nor the incoming owners (Josh Johnson and Best) ever took, sold, or concealed this collection,” the company added, claiming that inventory logs show the collection was already missing at the time of the takeover of the franchise.
Ben Schneider, who is known on YouTube as Reckless Ben, brought the case to the public&#8217;s attention after he sought to help the family get compensation for the massive Lego set. Schneider even went to the Bricks and Minifigs store to look into the case, but the police were called and he was ordered to stay off the property after being <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wscQpkcwgNU">accused</a> of harassment. Schneider was also accused of trespassing after he attempted to go to the office of Ammon McNeff, the CEO of Bricks and Minifigs.
After Schneider reportedly tried all forms of discussion with Best and his business associate Joshua Johnson, he managed to win a default judgement in a small claims court against them for the Legos. However, Best and Johnson closed the Bricks and Minifigs store shortly after the controversy erupted.
Schneider then tried to personally sue Johnson and Best to recover the money, but said he had difficulty having a good faith conversation and serving the court papers required to personally sue. 
Schneider said he waited outside Johnson’s house away from his property so he could talk with him about the lawsuit while not being accused of trespassing. Johnson reportedly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxZPfj8AlmY">refused</a> to leave his property and called the cops multiple times on Schneider, one time allegedly accusing him of having heroin in his car, which turned out to be false. 
After Schneider was released on bail, the police later raided the house where Schneider and his friends were staying. The police arrested them all, and Schneider accused officers of dislocating his arm in the process.
Schneider and his friends were interrogated, and the police tried to keep Schneider in jail with no bail, but a judge allowed him to go. When Schneider was reportedly notified that there was another bail out for his arrest on the pretext that he was a physical threat to Johnson, he fled to Mexico to wait until things were sorted out.
In response to the ongoing problem with Schneider, Mansell, Johnson, and Best, Bricks and Minifigs filed a lawsuit against Schneider for conducting a harassment and extortion campaign against Bricks and Minifigs in Utah and Oregon. The company also <a href="https://bricksandminifigs.com/blog/blog/2026/05/28/bricks-minifigs-salem-oregon-clarity-and-resolution/">released</a> an official statement defending their side of the story.
The Bricks and Minifigs website has called Schneider and his content creator friends “zealous online profiteers” who have been engaged in “viral mischaracterizations” and &#8220;sensationalization&#8221; of their actions, and the actions of Johnson and Best.
Bricks and Minifigs also denied receiving verifiable copies of the signed contract, receipts of payment to the Mansell family, and a true listing of the inventory. It also said the store was closed “because our staff — including local teenagers — faced severe real-world safety hazards, targeted in-person stalking, and explicit bomb threats driven by viral videos.”
The American Fork Police Department posted a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcVmSQpIPRY">video</a> detailing its perspective on the events, including previous claims about harassment, stalking, forging of signatures, and theft of Legos. The police department also stated it wanted to stop Schneider&#8217;s attempt to contact Johnson about the Legos because Johnson &#8220;reported that he was going to shoot someone as a result of the ongoing harassment.&#8221;
Schneider has also issued a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YEzhDn0jY8">response</a> to the police video, stating that the police raided &#8220;my house for stealing the Legos when there&#8217;s an overwhelming amount of evidence that Josh stole the Legos&#8221; and that the police &#8220;redacted everything&#8221; that supported Schneider in the body cam footage, saying that the reason was &#8220;to protect the victims.&#8221;
Schneider also started a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bryan-recover-his-lego-collection">GoFundMe</a> to help the Mansell family recover the cost of their collections and to pay for legal fees as he is considering suing Best, Johnson, and the police department.
Most recently, Bricks and Minifigs released a statement <a href="https://bricksandminifigs.com/blog/blog/2026/06/04/bricks-and-minifigs-salem-joshua-johnson-brandon-best-resignation/">declaring</a> that it was permanently closing their Salem location, parting ways with Johnson and Best, and &#8220;personally reached out to Bryan Mansell and family to meet, to review documentation revealed in the investigation, and to come to a mutual and positive resolution.&#8221;

Legoworlds in the Bomann-Museum Celle

GRAND THEFT LEGO: How One Man’s ‘Star Wars’ Collection Set The Internet Ablaze

Corporate America

Corporations

Corruption

Internet

Lego

Oregon

Utah

For decades, Americans have viewed their primary adversaries as foreign nationals or international terrorist organizations. Yet this perspective has proven dangerously naive. Over the past 60 years, socialist and Marxist ideologies have taken root within our own borders, often hiding in plain sight. This internal threat operates not from distant shores but from within.
Recent events only underscore this concern. The arrest of a would-be assassin at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — reportedly a former “Teacher of the Year” — is deeply disturbing. It raises a critical question: how have individuals entrusted with educating our children become radicalized to such extremes? And more importantly — where is the line when freedom of speech ends and subversion begins?
<h3>Quietly Reshaping Society From the Inside Out</h3>
This enemy is not a shadowy cabal of spies but a network of socialist and Marxist-influenced elites who have methodically gained influence over key pillars of American life: universities, the legal system, media, political parties, and even religious organizations. Operating under the banners of progress, equity, and social justice, they have advanced while many citizens focused on daily responsibilities. The outcome has been a slow erosion of foundational American values and a deliberate division of people along lines of ethnicity, religion, and sexual identity and even splits amongst once close family members. The result is the gradual weakening of the nation’s core institutions and social fabric.
<h3>The Decimation of the Nuclear Family</h3>
One of the most striking impacts appears in the decline of the nuclear family. This trend began prominently in the black community. In the 1960s, roughly 80% of black children lived in two-parent homes. Today, that figure is reversed with 77% of black children born to <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/693212/77-black-births-to-single-moms-49-for-hispanic-immigrants/">single mothers</a>. The problem has since spread nationwide. Pew Research Center <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/12/12/u-s-children-more-likely-than-children-in-other-countries-to-live-with-just-one-parent/">data</a> show the United States has the highest rate of children living in single-parent households among developed nations — 23% of U.S. children under 18 live in fatherless homes, more than three times the global average.
Marriage rates have also hit historic lows, undermining the stable family structures historically linked to prosperity, child well-being, and social mobility. A prosperous country cannot long thrive without strong families as its foundation.
<h3>Academic Excellence Subverted into a Marxist Trojan Horse</h3>
Nowhere is the transformation more evident than in education. In public schools, social justice curricula emphasizing systemic racism, gender ideology, and equity have often displaced core academics. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores — the Nation’s Report Card — reveal reading and math proficiency at historic lows, with declines affecting students across demographic groups. Resources flow into DEI initiatives and “restorative justice” programs that prioritize emotional outcomes over measurable skills.
The human cost is profound: <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/most-us-would-fail-u-s-citizenship-test-survey-finds-n918961">surveys indicate</a> only about 19% of Americans under age 45 can pass the U.S. Citizenship Test, with many unable to name the three branches of government or explain the Bill of Rights. Older Americans pass at much higher rates (around 74% in some studies), underscoring that this reflects educational shifts rather than inherent generational differences. 
Teachers’ unions have sometimes embraced ideological language. During the 2022 Minneapolis strike, a union leader framed the effort as a fight against “the patriarchy” and “capitalism.”
Universities, once centers of free inquiry, now exhibit stark ideological imbalance. Faculty ratios have shifted dramatically, with liberal-to-conservative balances moving from roughly 2:1 in the mid-1990s to far wider margins today — often 10:1 or higher in many studies, with even greater disparities in humanities and education departments. In the national survey, Departments of Education faculty self-identify as Radical, Activist, Socialist or Marxist. This is especially concerning because they instruct the next generation of public-school teachers.
<h3>Propaganda Masquerading as Journalism and Advocacy</h3>
This academic capture influences media, law, and advocacy. Organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) have faced scrutiny, including allegations in legal contexts of questionable practices while labeling mainstream groups. Media outlets often amplify such frameworks, shaping narratives through selective coverage. In politics, socialist ideas have moved from the fringes to mainstream Democratic platforms.
In November 2025, New York City elected Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, as mayor — the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of America’s largest city. His administration prioritizes expansive government and redistribution. Similar dynamics appear in Minnesota: Minneapolis City Council includes self-declared Democratic Socialists of America members advancing related priorities amid ongoing challenges with crime and services. The 2020 unrest in Minneapolis, involving organized elements, accelerated “defund the police” experiments rooted in these ideologies.
<h3>Undermining Service to Citizens</h3>
Elected officials advancing such agendas can weaken state capacity and national cohesion. When civic education falters, informed citizenship declines — an outcome aligned with views that see the Constitution as an outdated instrument of oppression.
Religious institutions have also been affected. Some mainline Protestant and Catholic circles have incorporated critiques of “systemic sin,” shifting emphasis toward social justice over personal redemption. Sermons increasingly echo academic and media talking points on privilege and reparations.
<h3>Pattern Recognition and the Path Forward</h3>
This is not paranoia but observable pattern recognition. Socialist and Marxist influences advanced not through overt revolution but via tenure committees, HR departments, grants, and activist networks. They reframed compassion-based concepts like diversity, inclusion, and equity into tools against dissent.
Evidence surrounds us: politicized campuses stifling debate, advocacy groups facing credibility questions, socialist elected officials, schools prioritizing socialist ideology, unions opposing capitalism, coordinated protests and riots, and churches emphasizing liberal politics.
Americans must awaken to this reality. The adversary lectures from podiums, edits content, drafts laws, grades papers, and serves on councils — seldom wearing foreign uniforms. Reclaiming institutions require vigilance: restoring academic excellence and viewpoint diversity in universities, demanding transparency from nonprofits and unions, electing leaders focused on merit and results, and ensuring schools prioritize fundamentals — reading, writing, history, and civics — over grievance.
The republic was not lost overnight but inch by inch. The time to push back is now. Our children’s future and the nation’s character depend on it.
* * *
Kendall Qualls is an Army veteran, business leader, and the leading Republican gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota. TakeCharge is a national nonprofit organization led by Kendall and Sheila Qualls focused on restoring strong families as the foundation for opportunity, dignity, and upward mobility.

Former President Obama Joins NYC Mayor Mamdani On A Visit To Child Care Center

The Quiet Campaign Weaponizing America’s Youth

Education

Family Values

Leftists

Legacy Media

Minnesota

Propaganda

Teenagers

A new poll finds that a plurality of Gen Z would hop in a time machine and leave their life behind as many young people grow disillusioned with modern technology and increasingly pessimistic about their economic futures.
If given the option, nearly half (47%) of 18-29-year-olds said they&#8217;d choose to live in the past, according to an <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28059030-genz-nbc-news-decision-desk-poll-march-2026-topline/">NBC News Decision Desk Poll</a>. One in three surveyed said they’d pick a time period less than 50 years ago, while another 14% would choose more than 50 years in the past. Only 38% of young people said they’d prefer to live in the present.
Members of this generation, born in 1997 or later, yearn for an era “right before social media and computers mediated life,” Clay Routledge, a nostalgia researcher and existential psychologist, said in an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/discomfort-modern-technology-gen-z-desire-live-past-poll-rcna340897">interview with NBC News</a>.
Ben Isaacs, a 20-year-old Colorado student, said he’d choose to live in the 1990s, arguing smartphones are eroding young people’s ability to connect face-to-face and live beyond “the realm of the phone,” according to NBC.
The survey captures Gen Z’s deepening dissatisfaction with the country’s trajectory, social cohesion, and their financial futures.
A whopping 80% of Gen Z—more than any other generation—said the United States is headed in the wrong direction, according to the NBC poll, and 62% expect their lives will be worse than those of previous generations.
Plus, a majority rated the economy—especially inflation and the cost of living—as their top political concerns.
Artificial intelligence, which is transforming the higher education landscape and entry-level job market, is adding to the uncertainty and economic anxiety. <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/704087/college-students-weigh-impact-majors-careers.aspx">One in six college students</a> has changed their major because of AI, and 48% of Gen Z workers now say its negatives outweigh its benefits—an 11-point increase from 2025, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Unemployment among recent college graduates has risen since the pandemic, reaching 5.6% at the end of 2025 and extending well beyond the humanities, according to the <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:unemployment">Federal Reserve Bank of New York.</a> Computer engineering now has one of the <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:unemployment">highest unemployment rates</a> among college majors at 7.8%, a sharp reversal from 2021, when it ranked among the lowest at 3.2%.
Economic, cultural, and political turbulence is helping drive a cultural shift among some young people, especially men. Another Gallup poll released this month indicates that young men have become more religious in recent years.
<a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/708410/young-men-religious-young-women.aspx">The survey</a>, released April 16, finds that 42% of men ages 18–29 now say religion is “very important” in their lives, up sharply from 28% in 2022–2023. Monthly religious attendance among young men also rose to 40% from 33%, the highest level in more than a decade, surpassing women for the first time.
&#8220;When there’s a lot of disruptions — political divisiveness, or, you know, worries about AI or other kinds of societal, technological or social, cultural changes — people tend to become more nostalgic for the past to help them with the things that they’re worried about,” <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/discomfort-modern-technology-gen-z-desire-live-past-poll-rcna340897">Routledge told NBC</a>.

Teens in circle holding smart mobile phones – Multicultural young people using cellphones outside – Teenagers addicted to new technology concept

Why Gen Z Wishes They Could Time Travel

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If you&#8217;re a liberal Gen Z commentator, the last person you want to see on the other end of the debate stage is Isabel Brown.
And yet that&#8217;s exactly the position influencer Harry Sisson found himself in at the University of Virginia, when he joined The Daily Wire host for the latest installment on CBS News and <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/watch-the-gen-z-debate-with-harry">The Free Press&#8217;s</a> &#8220;Things That Matter&#8221; debate series. Brown and Sisson sparred on culture, economics, and the direction of Gen Z politics, with Brown pressing an argument rooted in culture and faith and Sisson leaning on conventional liberal talking points.
Brown opened by framing the debate at a civilizational level, rejecting the idea that current political and economic frustrations can be pinned solely on former President Donald Trump.
“It may be flashy and easy to say it’s all Donald Trump’s fault,” she said, “but in reality where we have arrived at today is because of the systematic removal of God from our society.” She returned to that theme repeatedly, arguing, “We lack the common shared humanity that bound us all together — that is, God.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/harryjsisson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@harryjsisson</a> and his leftist counterparts like to chase clicks by blaming all of Gen Z&#8217;s problems on President Trump.
But <a href="https://twitter.com/theisabelb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@theisabelb</a> identifies the root of the crisis facing Gen Z: the systematic removal of God from our society. <a href="https://t.co/LJBlDv1tlQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/LJBlDv1tlQ</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2047284604017492384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">April 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Sisson, by contrast, focused on attacking Trump&#8217;s rhetoric, claiming “Trump said Kamala Harris is going to import a million, gazillion people … and he said I’m focused on affordability … and none of that has happened.”
The debate sharpened when it turned to foreign policy. Sisson asked, “What war did Joe Biden get into?” Brown fired back: “Joe Biden directly propped up and funded foreign wars around the world … we sent money to the Iranian regime — we sent $200 billion to the war in Ukraine.”
While the exact figures are debated, it is well-documented that the U.S. committed over $180 billion in aid to Ukraine since 2022, according to a Defense Department<a href="https://media.defense.gov/2025/Mar/10/2003663371/-1/-1/1/OAR_Q1_DEC2024_FINAL_508.PDF#page=28&amp;zoom=70,-372,685" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> inspector general report</a> from 2024, alongside controversial financial transfers tied to Iran and the aftermath of the Afghanistan withdrawal — making Sisson’s implication of non-involvement difficult to sustain.
On domestic economics, Sisson claimed, “We now have less workers than jobs open right now,” echoing a common labor shortage argument. Brown immediately countered: “So why are 10 million Gen Zers unemployed?” As youth unemployment has remained persistently higher than the national average, and labor force participation among younger workers has lagged, complicating the simplistic “more jobs than workers” narrative.
“Immigrants in virtually every piece of economic data makes our country better, they make our culture better, they make us better as people,” Sisson claimed, drawing a sharp contrast with Brown’s argument that mass immigration can suppress wages in certain sectors, a concern supported in part by labor market research showing localized wage pressure in low-skill industries.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/harryjsisson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@harryjsisson</a> DENIES that mass migration hurts Gen Z <a href="https://twitter.com/theisabelb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@theisabelb</a>: &#8220;It is a system that has been consistently selling out the opportunities of our generation for everyone else around the world.&#8221;
HS: &#8220;The idea that immigrants are coming in and stealing jobs is just NOT TRUE.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/HeXoo8Kvow" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/HeXoo8Kvow</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2047307000313225667?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">April 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Brown then shifted the conversation to culture and social stability, noting that “Young people, especially young men are looking for unafraid, on offense conservatism,” she said, outlining a platform of limited government, reduced foreign intervention, and education reform against “woke slop.”
Throughout the exchange, Sisson often defaulted to dismissiveness, responding, “I don’t even know what woke slop means.” Brown tied her argument on education reform to a deeper argument about meaning and social cohesion, warning against what she described as a drift toward “radical Marxism.”
As The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/education-dept-slashes-600-million-in-grants-promoting-divisive-ideologies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">frequently</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-doj-spent-over-100-million-pushing-dei-restorative-justice-in-classrooms-report-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, the Biden administration spent millions promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in public schools, efforts the Trump administration has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-privilege-not-a-right-trump-admin-gives-k-12-schools-ultimatum-on-dei" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worked</a> to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-takes-sledgehammer-to-dei-in-latest-round-of-executive-orders-targeting-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">roll back.</a>
She also leaned on <a href="https://ifstudies.org/in-the-news/conservative-women-are-happier" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> from scholars like the Institute for Family Studies’ Brad Wilcox, noting that “married moms are three times happier than unmarried childless women,” and arguing that declining family formation correlates with rising mental health struggles among young people — a claim that aligns with broader data showing higher reported happiness and stability among married populations.
Sisson’s arguments, by contrast, reflect a more familiar institutional liberalism that often assumes its premises rather than defending them. Claims like immigration universally improving outcomes or dismissing concerns about foreign entanglements land differently with a generation that has grown up through economic instability, pandemic disruption, and now renewed geopolitical tension.
The Trump administration, while still dominant within Republican politics, is navigating a complicated stretch, particularly on foreign policy as tensions with Iran continue to hang over the national conversation. For younger voters, especially those wary of prolonged overseas entanglements, that creates an opening and a risk. There’s a clear demand for a version of conservatism that is assertive at home but restrained abroad, something Brown explicitly nods to with her emphasis on “no foreign intervention” and keeping “American tax dollars at home.”

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