Dr. Arthur Brooks, a conservative professor at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, once said, “The main issue in the new American culture war between free enterprise and statism is not material riches — it is human flourishing. This is a battle about nothing less than our ability to pursue happiness.”

In particular, our youngest generations, Gens Z and Alpha, are struggling to find happiness in American society. This fact was emphasized again last week when the latest World Happiness Report came out. The United States had dropped yet again. This time, we are ranked #24. (We were ranked #23 last year. Thirteen years ago, we were ranked #11.)

According to Fortune, this drop in happiness is mostly due to the feelings of those under the age of 30. Notably, the happiness questions were focused on social support and what people felt they received. “You see an extraordinary increase in dining alone over the past two decades in the U.S.,” explained Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, editor of the World Happiness Report and a University of Oxford professor of economics. “It’s the fact that people are increasingly on their own, isolated, their political thinking, their theories around life and society, are no longer tested by others[.] … In our echo chambers, we develop these notions that others are to be distrusted, and we mistrust others, and migrants eat cats and dogs, all that kind of stuff. And as a result, we start believing these things. And the way we’ve picked up on that is really acute.”

Why are our young adults eating alone? Why are most of our youngsters in their own echo chambers? Why do they mistrust others?

There are numerous reasons. At the heart of it all, young people have been sold the Marxist lie that they need to focus merely on themselves and their material desires, at which point happiness will be achieved. Sadly, this lie has only succeeded in making them isolated, anxious, depressed, and contemptuous of anyone who interferes with their pursuit of self-deification.

No Contact

Our younger generations have been told from a very young age that they can and should cut out every person from their life who is “toxic.” While there are people who certainly should have boundaries placed on them to protect an individual or the family’s peace, many of today’s excommunications are due to petty and mundane disagreements or grievances.

After the November presidential election results, many leftists took to social media to let the world know that they were cutting off family members because they voted for Donald Trump. They are literally cutting off their support line and then complaining that they have no support.

Those Darn Screens

Gens Z and Alpha have grown up with cellphones and tablets perennially in their faces, and now, AI is taking the tech world by storm. Many are glued to their deleterious social media feeds. This addictive and antisocial behavior is also why young adults are unable to build community. They don’t know how to talk to one another, but they are perfectly happy to spill their hearts out on social media for clicks and likes.

Men vs. Women

Both young men and women are unhappy. They are struggling to date, find spouses, and start families. Men are made to feel like they have to deny or suppress their masculinity or else be labeled toxic. Women are told that they are always the victims of male oppression. Furthermore, leftist women have been trained to view politics as a deeply personal and existential part of their lives. Thus, when someone they have been told is a “fascist” gets democratically elected, they are much more likely to become irrationally upset.

Generations That Were Coddled Are Not Allowed to Become Resilient

Gens Z and Alpha are products of an overcorrection. Many Millennials and Gen Xers saw their parents as strict or neglectful, so they have tried gentle parenting. Consequently, Gens Z and Alpha have been overprotected and not allowed to do the necessary lifeskill-building, slightly dangerous activities that build resilience. Instead of being given the space to work through life’s difficulties, they were put into therapy. That therapy, in turn, has taken authority away from parents.

Bad therapy has created generations that feel too broken, too risk-averse, and too self-focused. These youngsters aren’t growing up, aren’t forming genuine meaningful relationships, and aren’t ready for the unpredictability of life’s twists and turns.

In Conclusion

Our culture has turned from that described in the immortal words of Jane Austen — “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?” — to a culture that encourages the self above everything else. No kids, no marriage, no family, no community. It’s sending our younger generations into a tailspin.

Perhaps turning off the screens, doing selfless activities, going to church, showing mercy, and building resilience will help these youngsters get back on track. They, too, have the right to pursue happiness; it’s just that they have been led astray as to how to get there.