Millennial A.E. After Empire – The Post Announces New Column

Millennial A.E.

After Empire

     It’s been a long time since I’ve written on the state of things. Given the progression of the Culture War, which I now think deserves capital letters, it seemed fitting to give a Millennial perspective on things. I do this for two reasons.

     First, most of my generation is still trying to read what I’ve typed so far, so I thought I’d help them out.

     Second, I don’t assume all the problems my generation faces are inherently unsolvable, so maybe we can actually make some headway.

     Some of you may remember I tended towards a cynical, dry take on issues. Don’t worry, I’ve grown substantially in the last 7 odd years.

     I am now inconceivably more cynical. So… you have that to look forward to.

     I’m also a business owner, husband, and father of two, which means I now have a vested interest in the ongoing dumpster fire sweeping our nation. If it’s just me, then I have little to worry about. Hey, Netflix is relatively cheap, and this whole “going outside” thing is overrated, anyway. But, alas, eventually you run out of Coke and must re-engage with society at large.

     I was sitting here thinking about what I wanted to address in the nation first when I saw the news: Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Technically, we know of no political motivation from the shooter because they haven’t caught the shooter yet. Regardless, I’m going to keep using “assassinate” because I’m not an idiot and I learned years ago how to read a room. And, boy, the room is looking very John Wilkes Booth-y.

     If you don’t know who Charlie Kirk is, then you probably need to schedule a colonoscopy, or at least call your grandkids. They miss you.

     I’ll throw you a lifeline: Charlie Kirk was likely the single most influential political “influencer” online for my generation, and especially for the generation below me. He was a fairly classical conservative, advocating family focus, Christian values, community good will, and political activism for the youth. Naturally, this meant he had to go.

     Charlie became gradually more famous for posting videos, often on YouTube (later Instagram and TikTok), of him sitting at college campuses and inviting students up to debate with him. At no point did I ever see him deny a speaker the right to answer, nor did he ever resort to personal attacks. I don’t agree with Charlie on a wide swath of issues, but his way of going about things was top-class.

     Charlie Kirk’s popularity exploded in the late 2010s and rose at a meteoric rate, thanks to the contentious election seasons we’ve enjoyed for the last decade. In fact, I would wager that Charlie Kirk is one of the top 3 reasons why Donald Trump did so well with the young male demographic in 2024. As his popularity rose and his involvement in politics grew in proportion, Charlie became the face of the young conservative movement, who valued truth and the open exchange of ideas, with an emphasis on addressing issues the crowd (Gen Z college kids) thought were important. This was riding on the absolute desolation of the mainstream media as news outlets in the eyes of the youth.

     Now, we live in America in 2025, which means we should be getting a little calloused to this whole “political violence” routine. I certainly thought I was. But this was different. All day, I couldn’t figure out exactly why this one troubled me so much. Was it because he was a young man my age? Because he was a husband and father of two? Because I liked him in any open forum I ever saw him in? Certainly, those were factors. But, ultimately, I think it was something else…

     This was a signal. It wasn’t just the assassination. It was the response to it. For every two posts of grief there was one saying he had it coming. I realized today that America is no longer safe. It isn’t just in certain cities or particular areas, and it isn’t just dangerous for people living particular lives. People love to say, “it’s safe if you stay out of the cities.” Well, Iraq probably has some nice villages outside of the cities, too, but I don’t want to be stuck there either.

     Horrifyingly, I realized it is now dangerous for people to voice their beliefs. Of course, this has been a rising issue. But while Charlie was politically active, he wasn’t a politician. He was, at his core, a guy who posted YouTube videos, regardless if he ever would have run for an office. Again, this may seem obvious, but it made something clear to me.

     I once feared that America was headed for a cliff. Today, I saw we have already stepped off it.

     For all intents and purposes, today marked a new phase of what will one day be studied as the American Collapse. We have officially shifted into Year 1 A.E. – After Empire. I have no doubt America will keep chugging along. But keep your eyes peeled. Everything will seem a little less shiny. A little less clean. Foreign countries will care a little less about what we have to say. The groceries get a bit more expensive. The churches and parent-teacher conferences get a little emptier. People won’t look up as much. The malls will be a little sparse.

     The kids will get a little quieter.

     I guess that is what I’m really mourning. I want a life where my children can grow up not just with wealth and opportunity, but where they feel empowered to speak truth and stride forward with their heads held high. And, if we are being honest, I’m just not sure that is in the cards for our country anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure we could repair some of our messes. But the moral fiber of our country has been eroded with a steady attack on the minds, constitutions, and, lastly, values of our families. We venerate selfishness as “self-care” and denounce the responsibility of family as oppression, then fill the resulting hole with resentment pointed at a system we are told controls all but cannot be touched, seen, or fought.

     Maybe we can fix things. Like I said, I don’t think our problems are literally unsolvable. It will all come down to whether we make a real attempt. Unfortunately, our situation will require us to fix ourselves while ignoring the constant beaming of hedonism and distraction fired our way by tiny OLED screens. I’m not sure I like our odds.

     I’ll certainly try and fix, or at least discuss, what I can. We are going to talk about that here in future entries. But in the meantime, today was the dropping of the ball, signifying that we are already living what we feared would come. It’s 0001 A.E.

     Happy New Year.