Free Republic

My generation is a disaster, politically. They typically hold views that either are in direct contradiction of one another, or make zero sense altogether. As The Atlantic noted in 2014, Millennials support President Obama and the concept of universal health care, but oppose Obamacare. They hate political parties, but are the demographic that give Congress its highest marks of approval. We’re also the only age group, where a majority–53 percent–holds socialism in high regard. Yet, there is a silver lining, as both The Washington Post and The Atlantic noted that once Millennials get jobs–their support for socialism drops dramatically as...

While it’s not good for man to live alone, it’s even worse for him to live at home with his parents. A recent Pew Research poll reveals that though employment is up, the number of millennials living on their own is down. This failure to launch reflects a widespread cultural regression. By returning home after graduation, this generation’s doing more than just perpetuating adolescence. We’re losing at life. There might be more room for activities at your parent’s house but there’s little room for personal growth. And if being determines consciousness, then you’ll bring your future down with you when...

(CNSNews.com) – Seventy percent of American males between the ages of 20 and 34 are not married, and many live in a state of “perpetual adolescence” with ominous consequences for the nation’s future, says Janice Shaw Crouse, author of “Marriage Matters.” “Far too many young men have failed to make a normal progression into adult roles of responsibility and self-sufficiency, roles generally associated with marriage and fatherhood,” Crouse, the former executive director of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, wrote in a recent Washington Times oped. The high percentage of bachelors means bleak prospects for millions of young women who dream about...

Lawmaker proposes lower military drinking age • A Maryland senator has proposed a new bill to allow 18-year-old members of the US military to drink alcohol, despite the legal drinking age in the country being 21. Senator Ron Young, D-Frederick proposed a reduction in the legal drinking age for military members to the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Friday. The bill would permit service members under the age of 21 to drink beer and wine at a bar or restaurant by showing valid military identification, however spirits and off-premise purchases would still be prohibited. “Is someone can...

Right now, millions of Americans are disenfranchised by our political process. They can pay taxes and contribute to social security, but they can’t vote. They can be sentenced to life in prison, but they can’t vote. Every day, their bodies, lives and futures are affected by politicians and policies they did not choose. Who am I talking about? Felons? Guess again. We need to lower the voting age. This is a prime moment to ask ourselves whether our voting system is yet fully equitable. Last month, Scotland made history when, for the first time in British politics, 16- and 17-year...

ONE of the most notable demographic trends of the last two decades has been the delayed entry of young people into adulthood. According to a large-scale national study conducted since the late 1970s, it has taken longer for each successive generation to finish school, establish financial independence, marry and have children. Today’s 25-year-olds, compared with their parents’ generation at the same age, are twice as likely to still be students, only half as likely to be married and 50 percent more likely to be receiving financial assistance from their parents. People tend to react to this trend in one of...

The feminist film critics can exhale now. Someone has finally concocted their dream movie: an "abortion comedy." Because apparently nothing sounds funnier than an unplanned one-night stand and a courageous destruction of God's most beautiful and most innocent creation. It's called "Obvious Child." Feminist lingo sells this monstrosity. Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Jenny Slate plays Donna Stern, a standup comedian who "is forced to face the uncomfortable realities of independent womanhood for the first time." A "drunken hookup -- and epic lapse in prophylactic judgment -- turns out to be the beginning of a hilarious and totally unplanned...

As a binge-TV watcher, I’ve relished devouring serial dramas in advertising-free gulps. But “Breaking Bad” — the story about a cancer-stricken chemistry teacher turned clandestine meth-cooking badass – didn’t appeal. Then Anthony Hopkins declared it an “epic work” with “the best actors I’ve ever seen.” Midway through season two, I understand why Walter White is heroic. As men increasingly check out of work, marriage, and fatherhood, it’s hard not to root for a man fiercely determined to secure his family’s future before dying – despite his morally abhorrent methods. That there are dramatically fewer men willing and able to safeguard...

Just as a more permissive attitude to cannabis gains momentum in the United States, so does a more restrictive attitude to tobacco. It is as if there were a law of the conservation of prohibition: if one substance is permitted after having been prohibited, another will be prohibited after having been permitted. While Colorado permits the use of marijuana by those over 21 for any purpose, New York City prepares to prevent sales of tobacco to anyone under the age of 21. An article in a recent edition of the New England Journal of Medicine comes out strongly in favor...

We all have regrets. We look back at forks in the road behind us and wonder where we might be now had we chosen more wisely back then. Every misstep, however, is an opportunity to learn, to follow more faithfully in Jesus’ footsteps. How gracious that our Lord not only covers our folly, but is able to grow wisdom out of it? Below are ten things the now me would seek to impress into the stubborn mind of the then me.10. Cultivate gratitude, put to death grumbling. I am persuaded the path to future blessing follows on the trail of giving...

One in two adults has received financial support from their parents, a new study shows.A report by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) has found that the "bank of mum and dad" is an essential source of welfare for people, particularly those on low incomes. Of 2,565 people of all ages polled, 55% (1,400) said they had received money, of whom almost half that number (52% or 628) earn less than £20,000. Almost one in four low earners (23%) said that without the money they would not have been able to survive. The 25-34 age group across all income levels had...

Why should a young man listen to an old guy about the best way to become a man? Because the typical teen is not yet able to see a future past the next few months. That's not a fault of character, but the fact that teens' brains have not yet physically matured. The pre-fontal cortex (PFC) does not fully develop in most people until they're twenty-four years old. Yet, the PFC is responsible for regulating mood, attention span, impulse control, and the ability to plan ahead and understand the consequences of one's actions. In the meantime, it's up to the...

New guidance for psychologists will acknowledge that adolescence now effectively runs up until the age of 25 for the purposes of treating young people. So is this the new cut-off point for adulthood? "The idea that suddenly at 18 you're an adult just doesn't quite ring true," says child psychologist Laverne Antrobus, who works at London's Tavistock Clinic. "My experience of young people is that they still need quite a considerable amount of support and help beyond that age." Child psychologists are being given a new directive which is that the age range they work with is increasing from 0-18...

Adolescence no longer ends when people hit 18, according to updated guidelines being given to child psychologists. The new directive is designed to extend the age range that child psychologists can work with from 18 years old up to 25. It is hoped the initiative will stop children being 'rushed' through their childhood and feeling pressured to achieve key milestones quickly, reports the BBC.

A British study has identified the age at which men finally grow up -- and it's 43. That's 11 years later than their female counterparts, according to research commissioned by Nickelodeon UK. Men demonstrate their immaturity by being amused at farts and burps and playing video games, among other things, said women who participated in the survey. Not being able to cook simple meals, re-telling the same old stories and jokes when out with the boys, and owning a skateboard or BMX were also high on the list. Nickelodeon UK released the results in support of its launch of a...

They’re narcissistic. Apathetic. Pampered. And addicted to their four-inch screens. If you believe the conventional wisdom about the millennial generation — those 16 to 34 years of age, by most calculations — you’ve got considerable reason to worry about the future of the U.S. economy. Millennials show far less interest in buying cars, homes and other big-ticket items than their parents did at the same age, which has generated an intense effort among companies that produce those things to crack the code of these crazy kids and figure out how to sell them stuff. But the millennials may not be...

The nearly 3.7 million American babies born in 1982 weren’t special, except to their families. But in the eyes of demographers, they were categorically different from the 3.6 million Americans born in 1981. They were the first members of a new club: Generation Y.This so-called millennial cohort, the largest generation in American history, landed in the cradle during an awful recession, learned to walk during the Reagan recovery, came of age in the booming 1990s, and entered the labor market after the Sept. 11 attacks and before the Great Recession, the two tragedies of the early 21st century. They’ve...

We all know them, the kids who were raised in church. They were stars of the youth group. They maybe even sang in the praise band or led worship. And then… they graduate from High School and they leave church. What happened? It seems to happen so often that I wanted to do some digging; To talk to these kids and get some honest answers. I work in a major college town with a large number of 20-somethings. Nearly all of them were raised in very typical evangelical churches. Nearly all of them have left the church with no intention...

"And so I began to search my memory, and I could not recall a single adult male in my boyhood speaking to me or my friends in such tones. I cannot recall any men routinely squatting down or leaning over to make themselves appear closer to my own height. I cannot remember any men putting a breathless wheezing whisper into their words. I cannot bring to mind a single incident in which a grown man opened his eyes and mouth as wide as possible and talked to me like some grinning, masculine Norma Desmond. What I do remember are the...

A music theater student has won a stalking order against her parents who admitted they installed monitoring software on her computer and phone to ensure that she succeeded. David and Julie Ireland have been ordered to have no contact with their 21-year-old daughter - their only child - before September 23, 2013 and must keep 500 feet away from her at all times. The unusual case concerns Aubrey Ireland, a musical theater major who regularly fills lead roles at Cincinnati's prestigious College-Conservatory of Music and has made the Dean's List every quarter. Despite this success, her parents often drove 600...