Panda Express didn’t sign up to represent generational failure



Panda Express and Chipotle have unintentionally become memes for mediocrity and failure. While their food might be unhealthy and has occasionally caused food poisoning, labeling the restaurants as symbols of decadence seems unfair.

Similarly, it was unjust to blame old shows like "Saved by the Bell" and "Boy Meets World" for corrupting white American youth and causing them to fall behind their Asian American peers academically.

Zoomers need to take active steps to improve their own lives. This means putting down the phone, engaging with the real world, and fostering spiritual growth.

This reflects today’s public discourse, which often simplifies ideas into memes for easier, more entertaining consumption. Unfortunately, this approach obscures genuine disagreements and turns clear, reasoned debates into a tangled mess of bad arguments.

In what feels like a sequel to the recent H-1B visa brouhaha, another discussion has emerged that deserves attention. As before, both sides present valid points and would likely agree on solutions. Yet, in the pursuit of content and audience engagement, participants continue talking past each other and trading potshots.

The current debate focuses on Zoomers — those in their late teens and 20s — and their ability to succeed in today’s America. One side argues that this generation faces insurmountable obstacles to success. The side claims the workplace and academia have become toxically feminized, and the gerontocracy leading our institutions suppresses the rise of younger generations.

Demands for ever more credentials have reached absurd levels, while the American dream of a spouse, children, and homeownership has become prohibitively expensive. Adding to this, older conservative voices seem oblivious to these challenges.

As a teacher working with Zoomers, I would add that online pornography and smartphones have taken a massive toll on the generation coming of age. These influences directly affect the libidos and social habits of young people entering adolescence. They have also created an anti-social culture marked by paranoia, crippling anxiety, and self-loathing. Most interactions between young people now occur online, limiting shared realities and empathy. This dynamic has wrecked the dating scene and stifled the formation of real friendships.

In addition to diminishing job opportunities and upward mobility, older generations have left Zoomers with a world of universal loneliness. This began when they handed children tablets and smartphones with unrestricted internet access. While parents rationalized these devices as tools for learning and self-improvement, the reality was far darker. These gadgets acted like a drug, poisoning children’s minds and damaging the culture at large.

The opposing side in this debate contends that a decent life is still achievable if young people were to stop making excuses and put in the effort. This is where Panda Express comes in. A motivated Zoomer could work his or her way up to managing a fast-food restaurant. While not glamorous, these roles offer honest work and could support a family with disciplined, frugal living.

Supporters of this perspective often share testimonials to back their claims. These stories highlight individuals who worked hard, avoided the usual vices, fell in love, started families, and now live fulfilling lives as popular influencers. Their message is clear: If they could succeed, so can anyone else.

To this, I would agree that Zoomers technically have access to all the resources they need to succeed. I’ve seen stumbling blocks turn into stepping stones, helping some of my students become far more accomplished at their age than I ever was. They have the tools to teach themselves nearly anything and engage in discussions once reserved for older generations.

However, what is possible isn’t always probable. Most people aren’t intellectual prodigies capable of instantly achieving fame and fortune. And more importantly, they shouldn’t have to be exceptional just to enjoy the same quality of life their parents once had.

Many Millennials in their 30s and 40s fail to see the significant generational gap between themselves and Zoomers. What was achievable for Millennials no longer holds true for Zoomers, who have borne the brunt of woke ideology and elite mismanagement.

For Millennials, hard work and basic credentials still could guarantee decent-paying jobs. Relationships and friendships formed naturally, and housing was relatively affordable. This is no longer the case for Zoomers, and dismissing them as “whiny brats” who spend too much time online fails to acknowledge the unique challenges they face.

To address or mitigate the struggles of this younger generation, both sides of the debate must acknowledge the validity of the other’s arguments. Leaders should adapt to modern realities by ending the reliance on cheap labor, curbing excessive public spending, streamlining regulations, breaking up monopolies, reforming education, prioritizing American workers, regulating addictive technology and online pornography as public health issues, and incentivizing marriage and parenthood.

At the same time, Zoomers need to take active steps to improve their own lives. This means putting down the phone, engaging with the real world, reading meaningful books, gaining work experience, and fostering spiritual growth. These efforts can help them build friendships, find partners, accumulate wealth, and create stability. While this path may not lead to glamorous jobs or extravagant homes, it is far better than resigning to a life of aimless frustration and online trolling.

Donald Trump’s return to office offers hope for both sides of this debate. If he fulfills his promises, conditions will improve. At the very least, the current decline will pause for a few years, giving Americans time to adjust and steer their course toward a brighter future.

As with the H-1B debate, this conversation is productive. These arguments have long been overlooked, and younger generations have endured the worst effects of this neglect, living in a world filled with unnecessary dysfunction. Beyond sharing memes and entertaining ourselves, we must address these challenges seriously, take constructive action, and leave fast-food chains out of the blame game.

Why men need faith for mental health and meaningful lives



You probably didn’t hear that International Men’s Day was November 19. While arbitrary dates for these designations don’t signify much, there’s a stark contrast between the ho-hum response for men and the extravagant hullabaloo and pomp and circumstance around International Women’s Day, March 8.

For example, unlike International Women's Day, International Men's Day is not officially recognized by the United Nations. While men should wear it as a badge of honor from such a corrupt organization as the United Nations, this illustrates a telling, second-class treatment of men by global “elites.”

When addressing mental health, particularly for men, our mental health system often lacks connection to God’s healing power.

That men deserve support and acknowledgment for their sacrifices and vulnerabilities undermines the New World Order’s desire to feminize and divide our world into critical gender theory categories of masculine “oppressors” and feminine “oppressed.”

International Men’s Day was founded by Thomas Oaster, former director of the now-defunct Missouri Center for Men’s Studies at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. It’s partially a day to bring awareness to the abuse, violence, homelessness, and suicide men suffer. For example, a mere 8% of all workplace fatalities are women. Men are enormously more likely to put their physical bodies at occupational risk, composing an astonishing 92% of workplace deaths.

Unfortunately, America is generally in a mental health crisis, and men fatally suffer most. Men are four times more likely than women to kill themselves. Men make up 50% of the U.S. population but nearly 80% of suicides, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year, more than 50,000 people committed suicide in America. This is nearly 17 times the number of people murdered in the 9/11 terrorist attack and the highest number ever of suicides recorded. Before our current onslaught, the year with the previous highest suicide rate was 1941, the ashes of the Great Depression. Gallup reported in 2023 that clinical depression in lifetime and current depression both hit new highs.

Jeff Myers of Summit Ministries recently noted that every 10 years, the World Happiness Report reports levels of happiness in 143 nations by asking people to rate their happiness on a scale of 1 to 10. “The report reveals that Israeli young people — even with all their nation’s troubles — are the second-happiest people group in the world (slightly behind Lithuania),” Myers wrote. “American young people, on the other hand, are in 62nd place.”

America’s happiness ranking dropped precipitously in recent years, driven by a drop in purpose and meaning, especially among self-identified liberals and progressives. Yet men and women attending weekly religious services are significantly less likely to die "deaths of despair" — suicide, drug overdose, or alcohol poisoning — according to research from Harvard University’s School of Public Health.

Similarly, the National Bureau of Economic Research, a farm team for chairs of White House Council of Economic Advisers from left and right, reported last year that states reporting declining religious participation also saw increasing deaths of despair, and vice versa.

Psychiatric Times ran a literature review examining hundreds of studies and reported overwhelmingly less depression, suicide, and substance abuse among people of faith.

It’s no wonder then that progressives are more likely to be depressed, as they are also far more likely to be atheist. Pew Research found that 69% of atheists identify as Democrats or Democrat-leaning, while just 15% identify as Republicans and 17% as independents.

When it comes to gender, Pew also found men are far more likely to deny the existence of God, regardless of political party, though Republican atheists were slightly more likely to be male (70% male, 30% female) than Democrat atheists (65% male, 35% female).

Atheism is also correlated with psychopathy, as researchers from Case Western Reserve University and Babson College found, writing, “the more empathetic person was more likely religious. This also fits with a previous finding that women tend to be more religious or spiritual than men, which can now be explained by their stronger tendency towards empathy.”

When addressing mental health, particularly for men, our mental health system often lacks connection to God’s healing power. Studies reveal a significant disconnect between the religious beliefs of the general population and those in mental health professions. The journal Sociology of Religion found that psychologists are the least religious among professors, with 61% identifying as either atheist (50%) or agnostic (11%). Similarly, Harvard magazine reported that psychologists, along with biologists, are the least likely among professors to believe in God.

In contrast, Gallup found that 81% of Americans believe in God. Research by Harvard Medical School’s David Rosmarin, founder of the Center for Anxiety, highlights this gap. Rosmarin discovered that nearly 76% of patients sought spiritually integrated psychotherapy. However, his team also found that 36% of therapists expressed discomfort addressing spirituality and religion with clients, 19% rarely or never inquired about these topics, and 71% reported “little to no clinical training in this area.”

No matter their political stripe, based on mounds of scientific evidence (trust the science, right?), men are far less likely to engage in the lifesaving faith communities that are strongly tied with significantly less depression, substance abuse, and suicide.

Mental health often deteriorates around the holidays as feelings of loneliness compound. Let’s stand for our men and connect them with the healing power of God to save life and provide joy and peace.

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