Daniel Greenfield / Sultan Knish Articles at DanielGreenfield.org

Since 2001, suicide rates increased by around 40% and religious identity fell by 25%. These seemingly random statistics are data points in a web defining America’s postmodern malaise. Within a generation a nation that had been a global model of a modern society has imploded. Old demons like racism have come roaring back in a country that is more divided than ever. Another civil war, once a farfetched science fiction tale, now seems almost inevitable. In nearly every statistic that touches on our social bonds, America has become a disaster area. From individuals to our families to our cities to our nation, we are coming apart. Suicide rates, drug overdoses, urban collapse, crime waves, hate, violence, fear and economic decline are everywhere. The majority of Americans don’t believe that the future holds anything better. There are many explanations for what is happening, but a basic one is that we are the plane plummeting from the sky after all the rivets holding it together had come out...

Senator Chris Murphy has proposed combating widespread loneliness in the country by creating a National Office of Loneliness. This new arm of the government would use the CDC to track loneliness statistics and develop a national strategy to fight loneliness including creating guidelines telling Americans how many friends they should have to be less lonely. The only ones keeping company with the National Office of Loneliness would be the myriad of other White House offices including the Office of Public Engagement, the Office of Neighborhood Partnerships, and the Office of Communications which all claim to talk to the public. With so many government offices talking to us, how can we possibly be lonely? Inviting the CDC to fight loneliness is like ushering an arsonist into a house party. Loneliness increased dramatically after the CDC’s lockdowns isolated people, tore apart families and broke down communities. There are still family members who are not speaking to each other due to the h...

There is both bad news and good news for Planned Parenthood these days. Even while abortion made a brief stop once again at the Supreme Court, its numbers are dropping. A few years ago, abortion hit its lowest rate since it was legalized. The drop in abortion rates parallels the fall in birth rates. Both stem from a decline in pregnancies. America isn’t becoming more moral, only more lonely. A recent New York Times headline declared, “The Married Will Soon Be the Minority”. But it’s not just the married, but anyone in a relationship or who is connected to other people. Marriage rates hit an all-time low around the same time, with the single population rising sharply. But the singles weren’t just postponing marriage in favor of extended relationships, because there was also a sharp drop in the rates of physical intimacy between men and women. Americans were becoming more lonely even before the pandemic. The arrival of the pandemic divided families, cut off grandparents from grandchildre...

We live in a highly moral society. And we know this is true because our guardians of public morality, our politicians, professors and professional entertainers remind us of this at every possible occasion. Just like the guardians of public morality in Iran, China and Pakistan assure their people that they are the very best and most moral people in the world. Once upon a time we used to have benchmarks for that sort of thing. We were the best people in the world because we would be willing to die to defend those who disagree with us. We were the best people in the world because we cured Polio. We were the best people in the world because we tolerated religious dissent. We were the best people in the world because we embraced knowledge. We were the best people in the world because we wouldn't let any government push us around. Now we don't have benchmarks anymore. Certainly not those benchmarks. We would be willing to die to silence those who disagree with us. We don't cure...