The Real Driver of U.S. Political Violence: Young Men, Isolation, and ‘Rage Platforms’ | CNN2.0

🎯 Thesis: Political violence isn’t chiefly left vs. right; it’s a crisis of age and mental health among young men, who are overrepresented in late‑teens/20s across historic assassinations and modern attacks, per the analysis shared on‑air
📚 Patterns: Examples span John Wilkes Booth (26), Oswald (24), Sirhan (24), Hinckley (25), Thomas Matthew Crooks (20), plus school shooters from Columbine (17/18) to Uvalde (18), showing a recurring age band
📱 2012 inflection: As smartphones/social media became ubiquitous, teen in‑person time and sleep fell while mental‑health problems and self‑harm rose; male neurodevelopment and dopamine seeking compound risks, while platforms “monetize anger” as giant rage machines
📉 Data signals: A 2023 Harvard study found 1 in 3 young adults felt lonely and about half lacked purpose, trust in the federal government hovered near one‑fifth, and post‑2010 mortality for 25–44 worsened—spiking further after Covid across overdoses, crashes, homicide, and suicide
🧠 Bottom line: Politics can be a trigger, but the through‑line is isolation and mental health; understanding doesn’t excuse violence, it targets the underlying crisis of young men to reduce it
📊 Engagement: Viewers are asked whether ideology or mental health plays the larger role in political violence by young men, underscoring where solutions should focus first
#PoliticalViolence #MentalHealth #YoungMen #SocialMedia #Loneliness #PublicHealth #Smerconish #CNN2Point0