Time to Pass the Baton to the Next Hero Generation: The Millennials

October 18, 2016

Writer

It's time to take the plastic off the furniture and turn off the TV set. Millennials are the next hero generation queued up to save the republic. They're depending on older generations to show them the way. They don't care about political parties, they don't care about Ronald Reagan. They care about making a difference. So let's show them how to do it --- the American way.

Read below or listen to the full segment for answers to these questions:

• Do millennials watch television?

• What unrealistic expectations did parents set for millennials?

• Do millennials think older generations are like old grumpy neighbors?

• Why don't more millennials know about Mao Tse-tung?

• Do millennials want your house?

• Does Glenn surf the Kondratiev wave?

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: So if -- imagine that you are a -- imagine that you're a millennial, and you're 20-something years old, and you're seeing the world as it is today. And you're watching people on television -- on television, which is no longer a part of your world. You go over to your mom and dad's house, and they're sitting on their couch, watching television, which you don't do. You don't do it. You don't sit and watch an hour of commercials in a television program. And so it's already kind of cute and quaint. It's kind of like going over to your grandparents when they had the plastic on the furniture. You're like, "They're just old. Don't -- you know, just go along with it." Okay?

PAT: I don't know if it's quite that bad.

GLENN: It's pretty close. It's pretty close. Millennials do not watch television.

JEFFY: No. No, they do not.

PAT: I mean, they watch it less. But they do watch it.

GLENN: Not cable news. Not cable news.

PAT: Nobody watches cable news anymore.

JEFFY: No cable.

GLENN: Yes, they do.

So the ones who are connected to politics, they're watching cable news. So they come over from their world into yours, and you're watching cable news. And you're seeing usually two old white guys and a young person, a millennial, a girl, a hot girl, who isn't talking at all like any of your millennial friends. Is like old people speak.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And you're rolling your eyes at her. Because you're like, "Total sellout." And the other one -- because you're like, "This is so obvious. They're saying the same basic thing. They're arguing over things that -- oh, my gosh, I don't know why my dad does this." Okay?

That's the world they're coming from. Then they go to their world where they're listening to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and everybody else saying that jobs are good. Hey, we're on the road to recovery. They're massively in debt. They have -- they are -- they've gone to college. All their friends have gone to college. Their friends aren't getting jobs.

JEFFY: If they are, they're underemployed.

GLENN: Yes, they're underemployed. They can't pay for their --

PAT: And let's not forget, they've been told that which drives me out of my mind. That their debt is not their fault, they believe. Which pisses me off.

GLENN: Well, hang on just a second, they have now -- they see this crushing debt that they have --

PAT: That they accrued.

GLENN: Hang on just a second.

PAT: All right.

GLENN: That the old world, as they see it --

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: -- has been encouraged since they were little, "You got to go to college. When are going to go to college? Where are you going to go to college? Got to go to college. Got to go to college. Everybody goes to college. Got to go to college. Got to get into a good college."

Everyone in their life who they're now seeing represented on dad's/grandpa's TV set yelling at each other about a solution that they know won't work, and they think to themselves, "I -- I mean, this doesn't work, and I'm screwed with this debt."

Meanwhile, while everybody has been saying, "Got to go to college, got to go to college, got to go to college," they went to college. And where everybody -- where mom and dad said, "This is the best college. This is a great college." Those people that mom and dad endorsed taught them that you didn't really incur this debt and this whole system doesn't work. And so maybe I do know a little bit more than mom and dad.

Even if they don't go that far, they know this system doesn't work, and they don't want to become like mom and dad, who are now in debt. Dad is still having to work. Maybe their retirement isn't coming through the way it was. They haven't really been happy. Mom or dad have just been kind of tolerating each other for a while, maybe till the kids -- they've drifted apart. Or maybe they're really happy, but they're -- they are under such pressure with debt because of the house and the lifestyle, that the millennial looks at and says, "Why not just buy a smaller house? Why -- we didn't need all this stuff, mom and dad. Why did you do that?"

STU: It would be great if that's the way they were -- that's the way they were thinking about these things. It doesn't seem like that's the way they're thinking about it.

JEFFY: No, it is not.

STU: Good example of your generational thing.

GLENN: Some. Some. I'm telling you --

STU: Of course, some --

GLENN: -- they're being indoctrinated to think the other way.

STU: Right. But let's think about --

PAT: Some believe they're entitled to the house that mom and dad are living in.

JEFFY: Exactly right.

GLENN: I agree with you.

PAT: Move out of that house.

GLENN: I agree with you.

STU: Why would you bring that up? That's a weird thing to bring up.

PAT: I don't have any examples, no.

(laughter)

STU: Okay.

PAT: I just know that exists.

GLENN: You have five examples. You have five examples.

(chuckling)

STU: The generational thing you've talked about many times -- and this is an interesting -- potentially an interesting example of it, the situation -- the old system is faulty. Right? We spend all of this money. We get in lots of debt to get college. And they agree that that's faulty. You know what, I agree also that that's faulty. My, let's call it, generation would look at that issue and say, "Let's execute a cost-benefit analysis. Is it wise for us to enter into this agreement that everyone is telling me I have to do and acquire all this debt? Should I consider being educated in a way that is less expensive? Should I chase a different way of approaching this problem?"

PAT: Should I have gotten a job in high school and earned money?

GLENN: Hang on. Hang on.

STU: Hold on. Let me just finish the point.

They seem to be looking at this as, it's not the idea that college should be required, that's the problem. The issue is, I just shouldn't have to pay for it. I completely accept without questioning --

JEFFY: Yes.

STU: -- the idea that I must go to college and must do all these things, despite the fact that I'm going to spend 80 percent of my time now doing schoolwork, as has been shown in study after study. That, I shouldn't question at all. I should only question the cost I acquire for it. And that's why we continually complain about them -- millennials looking at socialist solutions.

A real -- a real questioning the status quo, really, is to say, do I need this? Do I need to do it in a different way? Do I do it in a way that maybe doesn't --

PAT: Can I go to trade school? Can I go to a community college?

Can I go to a State University where it's going to be cheaper than Harvard?

JEFFY: Not without getting a job though.

PAT: You know. Right.

STU: I stopped talking already. Glenn is giving me that look of how dare you. How dare you.

GLENN: No, no. No, no, no.

I agree with your point -- I agree with your point of view. I absolutely agree with your point of view. Here's where we differ, I think.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Do you know how hard it is to cut your own way anyway? Everybody likes to think, I'm different. I'm special. I'm cutting my own way.

JEFFY: Right.

GLENN: Well, first of all, that wasn't true for most of us when it was cool to think that you were different, but this generation, it's not cool to necessarily think differently. It's to think collectively because of their generation. Okay? To make things better collectively.

So they're coming to it from a different place than we are. It's why -- it's why grandparents usually understand -- have such a great bond with the grandchild. I've always thought that it's because, "I don't have the responsibility. So it's kind of fun." No, it's because it's an 80-year cycle. Your experiences are closer than the experiences of your children. It skips a generation because it's an 80-year we/me cycle. Okay?

So the grandchildren are looking at things much differently. Our children are looking at things much differently than we are. We were more independent-minded.

Also, at the time -- at our time, there were more people like Ronald Reagan, who were living this and saying, "Be this. Do this." All of society was, "You -- you can do it." All of society now is, "No, you can't do it, nor should you want to do it. No man is an island. You all have to work together for the common good." Everything is teaching them the opposite. And on top of it, who the hell do we have on our side that they can -- that they even relate to?

Because everybody that is on our side looks like me, sounds like me, does talk radio, or a stupid talk show on television, that come at that only their dads are watching. And they think their dad doesn't understand them.

There's nobody positioning themselves on our side that's speaking their language or even doing anything, but, "These crazy kids. Get off my lawn." That's who we're turning into, to them.

(chuckling)

GLENN: Where their professors are all --

PAT: Well, I don't want them on my lawn.

GLENN: All the professors are really super cool and telling them all the super cool things they can do collectively.

JEFFY: That's right.

GLENN: We're not. We're not.

We are never going to make an impact trying to speak the language of Ronald Reagan to a group of people who don't -- nor do they care. And in most cases, have been taught he's a bad guy. Nobody is going to listen to, "We got to be more like Ronald Reagan. We need another Ronald Reagan." They don't even know who the hell that is.

STU: I mean, I think that's the point I was making. In that, that's the generational gap. Right? That's the difference.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: And it's not just even bringing up Ronald Reagan. They don't even know who freaking Ronald Reagan is.

JEFFY: Right.

STU: I mean, you know, we talked about them not knowing who killed more people, Mao or Bush. Forty-two percent of people were unfamiliar with Mao. Almost half of them have never even heard of the guy. So I'm not -- you're right on language, I think. What I was trying to define is more of like what their approach is. And I think you've tried to do this with guest after guest after guest, and Kondratiev wave after Kondratiev wave after pendulum -- all of those things are pointing to the same general conclusion, that these -- that younger voters think completely differently about this stuff. And, you know, I find it to be problematic. I think -- I think you're looking at it as, well, how do we win them over, which I think is appropriate and is necessary. But, I mean, I do think it's problematic.

GLENN: But there's no -- the question I keep asking -- Kondratiev wave after Kondratiev wave after Kondratiev wave -- and I go back and do my history and look -- you do not beat -- it's like standing in front of the ocean expecting to change the tide. You're not.

Now, how can you get into the water and work with that tide and that force and perhaps change the direction? Because that happens every time. It's why we have the French Revolution and the American Revolution. Very different things, all the same piece: We, the people. We, the people.

That's really important to understand, just that one thing. That was a generation that understood -- that looked at things as a collective.

Now, you can push back and say, "Yeah, well, we had the Bill of Rights. That was all about individual liberties."

Yes, because they know that the eternal truth was that no one is over you. But that's why they started it with, "We, the people." Not, I, the individual: We, the people. We'll establish this to protect these things, to protect the individual. We're going to get together as a collective.

Now, unless you have somebody who is teaching, "Hey, as a collective, we have to protect the individual." Because that's all they want to do. "We want to help the downtrodden. We want to help." Great. Well, there's ways to do that. And the two times before this wave was the Founders' wave.

And they said, "We, the people, need to protect the individual and what the individual -- because that is supreme." Where all of the other generational we thinkers at that time went Robespierre and said, "We are the collective, and we'll crush the individual that stands in our way." And that's already happening.

You disagree with global warming, they will crush you. You disagree with Donald Trump, and they will crush you.

We are in that scenario, that always leads to witch hunts and to blacklists, unless somebody on our side is appealing to the youth and knows who they can be. They've just not had anybody on our side actually reaching out to them and saying, "I know who you are. You're not who everybody says who you are. I know who you are. You are the hero generation. And people are going to try to misguide you. We, collectively -- you can change the world and chart the course, away from the death you never learned about."

When somebody teaches you something and you realize that somebody intentionally has kept a very important detail away from you, you don't run into their arms and say, "Hey, thank you for that." You look at them and say, "What the hell were you thinking? You didn't tell me about this part? You didn't tell me about Mao and 100 million people that he killed. You let me believe that George W. Bush was a bigger killer. I can't trust you at all." We have a massive win. But it's slipping through our fingers every time we betray our values by living something differently than what we say is important.

Featured Image: USA's Gil Roberts (L) grabs the baton from USA's Tony McQuay as they compete in the Men's 4x400m Relay Final during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 20, 2016. / AFP / PEDRO UGARTE (Photo credit should read PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images)

The Deep State's NEW plan to backstab Trump

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton. Conservatives cheered, believing we’d taken back the reins of our country. But we missed the bigger battle. We failed to recognize the extent of the damage caused by eight years of Barack Obama and decades of progressive entrenchment. The real war isn’t won at the ballot box. It’s being waged against an insidious force embedded deep within our institutions: the administrative state, or the “deep state.”

This isn’t a new problem. America’s founders foresaw it, though they didn’t have a term for “deep state” back in the 1700s. James Madison, in Federalist 48, warned us that combining legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet today, that’s exactly where we stand. Unelected bureaucrats in agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice hold more power than the officials we vote for. They control the levers of government with impunity, dictating policies and stifling change.

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege.

We’ve felt the consequences of this growing tyranny firsthand. During COVID-19, so-called experts ran our lives, crushing civil liberties under the guise of public safety. Our intelligence agencies and justice system turned into weapons of political warfare, targeting a sitting president and his supporters. Meanwhile, actual criminals were given a pass, turning American cities into lawless war zones.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816 that “the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.” Today, we see Jefferson’s prophecy fulfilled. The deep state exercises unchecked power over our freedoms, and information itself is controlled by the fourth branch of government: the legacy media.

Even when we win elections, the deep state doesn’t concede defeat. It switches to survival mode. Trump’s first term proved this. Despite a historic mandate to dismantle the bureaucracy, the deep state fought back with everything it had: leaks, investigations, court rulings, and obstruction at every turn. And now, with the possibility of Trump returning to office, the deep state is preparing to do it again.

Progressives are laying out their attack plan — and they’re not even hiding it.

U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) recently boasted about forming a “shadow cabinet” to govern alongside the deep state, regardless of who’s in the White House. Nickel called it “democracy’s insurance policy.” Let’s be clear: This isn’t insurance. It’s sabotage.

They’ll employ a “top down, bottom up, inside out” strategy to overwhelm and collapse any effort to reform the system. From the top, federal judges and shadow officials will block Trump’s every move. Governors in blue states like California and New York are gearing up to resist federal authority. During Trump’s first term, California filed over 100 lawsuits against his administration. Expect more of the same starting January 20.

From the bottom, progressive groups like the American Civil Liberties Union will flood the streets with protesters, much as they did to oppose Trump’s first-term immigration reforms. They’ve refined their tactics since 2016 and are prepared to unleash a wave of civil unrest. These aren’t spontaneous movements; they’re coordinated assaults designed to destabilize the administration.

Finally, from the inside, the deep state will continue its mission of self-preservation. Agencies will drag their feet, leak sensitive information, and undermine policies from within. Their goal is to make everything a chaotic mess, so the heart of their power — the bureaucratic core — remains untouched and grows stronger.

We cannot make the same mistake we made in 2016 — celebrating victory while the deep state plots its next move. Progressives never see themselves as losing. When they’re out of power, they simply shift tactics, pumping more blood into their bureaucratic heart. We may win elections, but the war against the deep state will only intensify. As George Washington warned in his Farewell Address, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force; and force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

This is the fight for the soul of our nation. The founders’ vision of a constitutional republic is under siege. The deep state has shown us its plan: to govern from the shadows, circumventing the will of the people. But now that the shadows have been exposed, we have a choice. Will we accept this silent tyranny, or will we demand accountability and reclaim our nation’s heart?

The battle is just beginning. We can’t afford to lose.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Drone mystery exposes GLARING government incompetence

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

The drone issue is getting way out of hand.

Earlier this month, Glenn first reported on the mysterious drones stalking the night sky over New Jersey, but the situation is increasingly concerning as the sightings have escalated. Not only have drones been seen across the Northeast Coast, including over New York City, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but recently, they have been spotted over the night skies of San Diego and other parts of Southern California.

It doesn't take an expert to identify the potential dangers and risks that dozens of undetectable, unidentified six-foot or larger drones pose to national security. Yet, our government's response has been one of unimaginable incompetence, leaving us to speculate on the origin and intention of these drones and wonder in astonishment at the government's ineptitude. Here are three examples of the government's lackluster response to the mystery drones:

Iranian Mothership and Missing Nuclear Warheads

- / Stringer | Getty Images

After several weeks of hubbub, New Jersey Representative, Jeff Van Drew gave an interview on Fox News where he claimed that the drones originated from an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States. This theory has since been disproven by satellite images, which show that all Iranian drone carriers are far from U.S. shores. Another theory suggests that drones may be equipped with sensors capable of detecting nuclear material and that they are looking for a nuclear warhead that recently went missing! With these apocalyptic theories gaining traction in the absence of any real answer from our government, one can't help but question the motive behind the silence.

Pentagon's Limp Wristed Response

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

In a recent press conference, national security spokesman John Kirby responded to reporters demanding answers about the government's lack of transparency, which has caused increasing public anxiety. He insisted that the drones did not pose a threat and were not assets of a foreign power, such as from Iran or China--even though he is still uncertain about their identity and origin. He also claimed that many of the sightings were simply misidentifications of normal aircraft.

This lackluster answer has only further inflamed national anxieties and raised even more questions. If the government is unsure of the identity of the drones, how do they know if they are a threat or if they aren't foreign assets? If they aren't foreign, does that mean they are U.S. assets? If so, why not just say so?

The Pentagon has also stated that they are leaving it up to local law enforcement to spearhead the investigation after concluding that these drones pose no threat to any military installation. This has left many feeling like the federal government has turned a blind eye to a serious issue that many Americans are very concerned about.

Where's Pete Buttigieg?

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

We are in the closing weeks of the Biden administration, and with the finish line in sight, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg probably figured nothing else could go wrong on his watch—but boy was he wrong. As Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg is in charge of the FAA, the agency responsible for managing all air traffic across the nation. One would think that mysterious, 6-foot-long, seemingly intractable drones are invisible on radar and flying above major cities would pose a serious threat to the myriad of legal aircraft that traverse our skies. Yet, Buttigieg has been silent on the issue, adding another failure to his resume which includes: malfunctioning airplanes, the train derailment in Ohio, and the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, just to name a few.

Glenn: How Alvin Bragg turned hero Daniel Penny into a villain

Michael M. Santiago / Staff | Getty Images

We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty.

America no longer has a single, shared understanding of justice. Two Americas now exist, each applying justice differently depending on who you are and where you live. One America, ruled by common sense and individual courage, praises heroes who stand up to protect others. The other, driven by political agendas and corrupted institutions, punishes those same heroes for daring to act.

This stark division couldn’t be clearer than in the case of Daniel Penny, the Marine whose trial in New York City this week drew strong reactions from both sides across the divided line of justice.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare.

Penny was on a subway train last year when Jordan Neely — a man suffering from severe mental illness and reportedly high on drugs — began threatening passengers, saying, “I’m going to kill you all.” The fear on that subway car was palpable, but nobody moved. Nobody, that is, until Penny did what needed to be done. He took action to protect innocent lives.

In the America many of us used to believe in, Penny’s response would be heralded as heroic. His actions mirrored the courage of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, who, on September 11, 2001, rallied others with the words, “Let’s roll,” to prevent further tragedy. But in New York, courage doesn’t seem to count anymore. There, the system turns heroes into villains.

Penny subdued Neely using a chokehold, intending only to restrain him, not kill him. Tragically, Neely died. Penny, filled with remorse, told the police he never meant to hurt anyone. Yet, instead of being recognized for protecting others from a clear and present threat, Penny stood trial for criminally negligent homicide.

In Alvin Bragg’s New York, justice bends to ideology. The Manhattan district attorney has made a career of weaponizing the law, selectively prosecuting those who don’t fit his narrative. He’s the same prosecutor who twisted legal precedent to go after Donald Trump on business charges no one had ever faced before. Then, he turned his sights on Daniel Penny.

A jury may have acquitted Penny, but what happened in New York City this week isn’t justice. When the rule of law changes depending on the defendant’s identity or the prosecutor's political motives, we’re no longer living in a free country. We’re living in a state where justice is a game, and ordinary Americans are the pawns.

The system failed Jordan Neely

It’s worth asking: Where were activists like Alvin Bragg when Neely was suffering on the streets? Jordan Neely was a tragic figure — a man with a long history of mental illness and over 40 arrests, including violent assaults. The system failed him long before he stepped onto that subway train. Yet rather than confront that uncomfortable truth, Bragg’s office decided to target the man who stepped in to prevent a tragedy.

This isn’t about justice. It’s about power. It’s about advancing a narrative where race and identity matter more than truth and common sense.

It’s time to demand change

The Daniel Penny case — and others like it — is a wake-up call. We cannot allow corrupt institutions to punish those who act to protect life and liberty. Americans must demand an end to politically driven prosecutions, hold DAs like Alvin Bragg accountable, and stand up for the principle that true justice is blind, consistent, and fair.

If we let this slide, we accept a world in which heroes are treated as criminals and the law is a weapon for ideological warfare. It’s time to choose which America we want to live in.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

CEO Brian Thompson's killer reveals COWARDICE of the far-left death cult

Jeff Swensen / Stringer | Getty Images

Early on the chilly morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare, was walking through Midtown Manhattan on his way to a company conference. Suddenly, a masked and hooded figure silently allegedly stepped onto the sidewalk behind Thompson, drew a 3-D printed, silenced pistol, and without warning fired multiple shots into Thompson's back before fleeing the scene on an electric bicycle. After a multiple-day manhunt, a 26-year-old lead suspect was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being recognized by an employee.

This was not "vigilante justice." This was cold-blooded murder.

As horrific as the murder of a husband and father in broad daylight in the center of New York City is, the story only gets worse. Even before the murder suspect was arrested, left-wing extremists were already taking to X to call him a "hero" and a "vigilante" who "took matters into his own hands." Even the mainstream media joined in on the glorification, as Glenn pointed out on air recently, going out of the way to show how physically attractive the murder suspect was. This wave of revolting and nihilistic fanfare came in response to the findings of online investigators who surmised the murder suspect's motives to retaliate against healthcare companies for corruption and denied coverage. The murder suspect supposedly underwent a major back surgery that left him with back pain, and some of his internet fans apparently viewed his murder of Thompson as retribution for the mistreatment that he and many other Americans have suffered from healthcare companies.

me liking tweets celebrating the assassination of the united healthcare ceo pic.twitter.com/N41w51ZuZR
— 🔻 (@pegasustits) December 5, 2024

The murder suspect and his lackeys don't seem to understand that, other than depriving two children of their father right before Christmas, he accomplished nothing.

The murder suspect failed to achieve his goal because he was too cowardly to try.

If the murder suspect's goals were truly to "right the wrongs" of the U.S. healthcare system, he had every tool available to him to do so in a constructive and meaningful manner. He came from a wealthy and prominent family in the Baltimore area, became the valedictorian at a prestigious all-boys prep school, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in engineering. Clearly, the murder suspect was intelligent and capable, and if he had put his talent into creating solutions for the healthcare industry, who knows what he could have accomplished?

This is the kind of behavior the far-left idolizes, like communists on college campuses who wear shirts that celebrate the brutal Cuban warlord, Che Guevara. Merchandise celebrating the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect is already available, including shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even Christmas ornaments. Will they be sporting his face on their T-shirts too?

A liberal TikToker is selling a t-shirt that glorifies the recent assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in NYC.
“deny , defend, depose” was reported to have been on the shell casings. pic.twitter.com/IWpHYkx2lF
— SteveSant66 🇺🇸 (@SSant66) December 8, 2024

This macabre behavior does not breed creation, achievement, success, or life. It only brings death and risks more Americans falling into this dangerous paradigm. But we still have a chance to choose life. We just have to wake up and take it.

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