I’m a very optimistic person and have looked forward to the future all my life.
Until now!
Whatever other problems we face nothing compares to having a generation – at this stage probably two – of kids who just cannot get to the next level of adulthood, especially when it comes to marriage, owning a home and having kids. If these are not turned around fast then in a decade, two at the most, we’re going to see other measures of society showing equally severe drops.
This is US data of course, but looking around me it seems we’re in a similar situation. Shit like this has made things worse.
The great philosopher Adam Smith had one student who was concerned about the collosal spending of the British government as it prepared for war with Napoleon in the early 1800’s and told Smith that the accompanying debt and taxes might ruin Britain anyway. Smith’s famous reply was that “There is a great deal of ruin in a nation“, meaning that it takes a lot more to destroy a nation than mere debt, or even war.
But if you do want to ruin a nation, a society, then having its youth destroy themselves will do it.
No Minister 
I’ve spent the last 15 years bringing up my kids to be the best they wanted to be in the most positive environment that I could create.
Then covid came along and kids were depriotised by the majority. Schools were closed, sports became unreliable, then mandates galore.
I remember actually apologising to my daughter, because there world went to crap, and I couldn’t fix it all.
It’s affected the kids trust in any Government and corporate institutions, perhaps forever.
and the medical profession.
I’m not sure kids losing trust in The Government is a bad idea ( did anyone, ever, trust corporates?) Nor, for that matter, doctors – who tend to be human in my experience.
It seems to me that for too long New Zealanders as a whole took the word of official-types as gospel, never criticising or considering it and certainly never believing Pollies weren’t gods.
It’s much worse since Covid. Sure Covid started a decline, but what the schools are teaching is not enhancing student well being.
if I had the time over again I would home school our youngest. Unfortunately he went to the local college where they fucked his mind with group think, identity politics and communism.
Sadly its too late for us. He took his own life earlier this year.
whilst that is bad, it revealed to us the true state of things no-one is talking about. The weekend he did it, there were 5 other young men in our area who took their own lives.
I am so sorry for your loss.
The whole covid thing hit when our kids were teenagers. We pulled them out of school after they locked down auckland for a single case of delta and we effectively home schooled them.
We also met up with other families thru VFF every weekend and played some sports to give them a sense of normality.
My god, I’m so sorry to hear that. It would damn near kill me if that happened in my family, but as you say, it’s more common than most people think.
It just won’t go away…
https://x.com/JamesMelville/status/1836031592982077741
But trust has. Long ago.