01/25/2026
If You’re Wondering Why the World Feels Like It Has Gone Mad, Start Here.
by Michael McCune
A lot of people feel it right now, even if they can’t quite explain it.
Things don’t just feel divided, they feel irrational.
Like common sense left the room and nobody noticed. So let’s start somewhere familiar.
If you’re a parent, think back to your child at 17 years old. Now, depending on your age, this may be harder than it sounds.
If you’re over 65, your 17-year-old likely grew up with real conversations, real consequences, real-world experiences, and a mostly offline childhood. They learned how to navigate life face-to-face, not through a screen. So you’ll need to stretch a bit to connect the dots.
For this example, I’m going to use Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — not to pick on her, but to create a parallel people can understand.
AOC enrolled at Boston University at 17 years old, in 2007.
𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
2007 was the year the first iPhone was released. Facebook was just taking off. Social media hadn’t merely entered society yet, it was about to replace real life itself.
From that point forward, an entire generation didn’t just use social media. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭.
We moved from real conversations, real feedback, real consequences, and five-sense experiences, to a digital world where validation, outrage, and belief systems are curated by algorithms.
Back to the example.
AOC entered college studying international relations and economics — political and ideological subjects — before she had lived any real adult life at all. At that stage, her worldview was shaped almost entirely by institutions, professors, academic theory, and emerging media narratives.
Her bartending job came later. At the time she entered college, she wasn’t even old enough to legally enter a bar, let alone gain meaningful real-world experience from one.
𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
Some of you don’t have kids.
So think about yourself.
What were you like at 20? At 30? At 40?
Maybe even 50?
People say kind things to me all the time. “Michael, you’re wise.” And while I appreciate that, I can promise you, that was not true of me in my 20s. Probably not my 30s either. And I’m willing to bet that’s true for most of you reading this.
𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬.
𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.
From love and loss.
From trial and error.
From success and failure.
From getting things wrong, paying the price, and learning something real.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝.
But the people seeking to run our country today aren’t people who ever put themselves out into the real world long enough to have those experiences.
AOC, for example, can never fully understand the world, not because she is unintelligent, but because she never allowed herself to experience it. And she grew up at a time when real-world experience was barely even an option anymore.
She now publicly dismisses Elon Musk, a self-made man who built multiple world-changing companies, as unintelligent.
𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬.
Here we have a young woman who has never built anything of consequence herself, yet cannot even recognize intelligence when it is demonstrated through creation, ex*****on, and results. You don’t have to like Elon Musk. You don’t have to agree with him. But being unable to recognize competence when it’s staring you in the face is a failure of judgment, not morality.
History makes this distinction very clear.
We do not have to agree with, admire, or support Adolf Hi**er — and to be absolutely clear, his ideology was evil and catastrophic — to recognize that he still managed, through strategy, manipulation, and force, to turn Germany into a world power for a time. Recognizing how something happened is not endorsement. It’s discernment.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫.
She routinely criticizes Donald Trump, another self-made man who currently leads the most powerful nation on Earth — and has done so with measurable success.
If you are promising to lead this country, yet you are unwilling — or unable — to honestly acknowledge the strengths and successes of the sitting leader of your own nation, then you are not demonstrating leadership. You are demonstrating immaturity.
If I were running for office — which I am not — and I truly believed I was the best person for the job, I would begin by openly recognizing what my opponent had done right. Then I would explain how I would build upon those successes to take the country even further.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲.
𝐈𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲.
But we see none of that.
No such wisdom.
No such awareness.
No such calm or rationality.
Now bring this back to what we’re seeing today.
When you see chaos in the streets, including places like Minneapolis, don’t focus so much on who is protesting.
𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬.
People with jobs.
People with families.
People with responsibilities.
People with experience, perspective, and yes, intelligence.
They don’t stand outside in freezing temperatures throwing rocks and bricks at authorized federal officers doing the job the American people mandated them to do.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬.
It comes from young anarchists, disconnected from real-world responsibility, convinced that chaos, filmed and shared, can replace lived experience and persuade older, wiser Americans to abandon what they already know to be true.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 — 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞.
For those of you who have lived a full life, who are nearing retirement or already there, I understand the fatigue. You’ve worked hard, raised families, built careers, and earned the right to enjoy the years ahead. You want to pass the nation forward and finally rest.
𝐔𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.
It means we must remain vigilant and diligent.
It means we cannot fall into the traps being set — traps designed to exhaust you, anger you, and make you uncomfortable.
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲.
When people are uncomfortable, they tend to vote against whoever is currently in charge. In this case, that’s Donald Trump.
𝐒𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬.
If we hold the House and the Senate, this chaos will lose its power quickly — because it will no longer have leverage over the court of public opinion.
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.
𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬.
𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 — 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫.
