The Whirlwind We Handed Our Children

5/14/26

In my book, When We The People Lead, The Leaders Will Follow, I implore young people to get involved in fixing what ails our country, admitting that my generation—I’m a Boomer—has left the young a hornet’s nest of intertwined problems.

I recognize the potentially offensive irony: We created a mess, now you should go fix it.

My generation is turning over a country caught in a self-reinforcing cycle of civic decline, oligarchy, and political extremism, all of which contributes to spiritual despair. The graphic below, from the book, tells the story:

Graphic © 2026, Richard McKnight, PhD

No wonder a lot of young people are cynical about politics, institutions, and even the possibility that ordinary citizens can still make a difference.

These problems operate in a self-reinforcing cycle, all embedded in social media which amplifies outrage, fear, envy, and constant comparison.

At the same time, many of the institutions that once helped bind Americans together—local journalism, civic organizations, neighborhoods, churches, and trust in government itself—have weakened. Into that vacuum, wealth and influence have become increasingly concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of political, corporate, and media actors who often benefit from conflict, distraction, and public passivity. Political extremism then feeds on this environment, rewarding anger over problem-solving and turning democratic life into a theater of perpetual outrage.

All this takes a psychological and spiritual toll on ordinary people. Many Americans—especially younger ones—feel not merely frustrated, but exhausted, anxious, isolated, cynical, without purpose, and powerless. This leads to disengagement.

In my book, I make the point that, while we hear constantly how polarized we are as Americans, it is far more accurate to say that we don’t have a polarization problem so much as a disengagement problem, one of those swirling forces.

When people feel they have little or no agency, they withdraw from civic life. They vote less, organize less, trust less, and expect less from one another and from democracy itself. That withdrawal further weakens the institutions and civic habits that democracy depends upon, creating even more room for manipulation, extremism, and concentrating power in the hands of extremists. The whirlwind feeds itself.

When Trump was elected the second time, a lot of people, including me, were extremely troubled by it. Like many others, I staggered around after the election in a state of disbelief and dismay, mumbling, “How in the hell did this guy get elected?” After a lot of study and reflection, I created the whirlwind graphic, my answer to the question. Trump is the result of something, not the cause. The whirlwind is the something.

On many major issues—from money in politics to concerns about inequality and political dysfunction—large numbers of Americans share more common ground than our media environment suggests: gun control, a woman's right to choose, money in politics, and on and on. This is good news, but most of us who want these things have been sidelined and, worse, have sidelined themselves due to disengagement and, among the young, low voting rates.

Young people are hungry for something more meaningful than scrolling through outrage. To those young people, I declare that you deserve better than the whirlwind we are handing you.

Yet resignation and withdrawal is a luxury democracy cannot afford and some of my heroes are stepping up. Some are retirees deciding to re-enter civic life. Others are organizers refusing to give in to cynicism.

One of my heroes is my good friend, John Smith, who is taking a stand for democracy. With some others at his retirement community, John has started an organization called Senior Citizens for America. I heard him speak recently and came away inspired. Speaking that day to a group of seniors, he said, “We retired people were once great in our careers. We left our careers and put our feet up. Well, it’s time to acknowledge the fact that our country faces the biggest challenges it’s ever faced, and that we need to stand up again and to be great again—this time in service to our country.” Bravo.

Another hero of mine is also fully engaged. Her name is Jahnavi Rao. She is 26. When she was a senior in high school, she and some friends got several hundred of her classmates to register to vote, encouraging her classmates to shift from being passive observers of politics, to participants in democracy. Since, then, Jahnaiv graduated from college and started a nonprofit to do this all over the country. Her organization, New Voters, has supported registration drives in more than 500 high schools nationwide. Wow.

And then there is Angie Hinton, Executive Director of PA Youth Vote, who is also working the youth street. After spending roughly twenty successful and accomplished years in financial services, she began to feel pulled toward more purposeful and fulfilling work. After leaving corporate life and a brief period working in politics, she eventually helped build a statewide, nonpartisan effort focused on civic participation among high school and college students. One of the organization’s notable accomplishments has been expanding youth voter registration and civic engagement efforts across Pennsylvania schools and communities, especially by empowering young people themselves to become organizers, ambassadors, and trusted messengers to their peers. Brava!

If there is hope in this moment, it may well lie in young people who are tired of cynicism, exhausted by performative politics, and hungry for something more meaningful than scrolling through outrage. To those young people, I declare that you deserve better than the whirlwind we are handing you. And, take heart: History is full of moments when ordinary people decided that decline was not inevitable. Democracy renews itself when enough people—especially young people—choose to show up again. And many of us are prepared to work alongside you to make things right.