Are The Kids Are Alright?

We need 20 year olds to have the freedom to try things, the freedom to explore, the freedom to end up having careers that they couldn’t have imagined at 20. Life requires a certain amount of curiosity and exploration. Life is an open world game. It rewards you for exploring. And capitalism cannot fucking stand that. It wants you on rails.... See more

We have let school shootings in America persist long enough that we have created a culture where kids grow up seeing them as a path towards fame and glory. Another consequence of how thoroughly the internet has flattened pop culture, politics, and real life violence. All of it now is just another meme you can participate in to go viral.

As of September 2025, approximately 170 million Americans spend, on average, one hour every day in an app that is designed to maximize psychological grip. While Congress fixates on TikTok’s data collection usages, what hasn’t received enough attention is how the platform has successfully industrialized human attention itself.