[TTP:  Let’s start this week with a laugh. No one trolls like our POTUS! And no one does a predictable knee-jerk like a Leftist.]

On Thursday, President Trump dropped what appeared to be a ranking of presidents that featured himself as the best and Obama, Biden among the worst.

Many people, this author among them, began to scoff at Trump's list.

FDR and Woodrow Wilson "great"?

What a horrible list!

Where's Reagan? Where's Nixon?

Tens of thousands of conservatives and liberals were very upset by this list because, well, let's be honest, it sucks.

The thing is – It's not Trump's actual list.

Capitalism is under attack from classrooms to town halls to voting booths.

According to polls, a rising segment of the population is calling for socialism or even communism as young people embrace a radical chic in the country.

And this week, another socialist looks ready to join a growing “squad” in Congress.

On our 250th anniversary, the fight over capitalism and economic freedom could prove critical to the future of this republic.

However, there is an unexpected change that could help reverse this trend.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently announced that one million families have already signed up for the new tax-privileged Trump Accounts, which will be seeded with $1,000 in taxpayer funds for children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028.

With an anticipated 25 million participants, the initiative is one of the most ambitious and potentially impactful in U.S. history.

But its true impact may be far greater than the wealth that it could generate for families. It may just be the determinative factor in preserving this Republic in this century.

“In vain are schools, academies, and universities instituted if loose principles and licentious habits are impressed upon children in their earliest years.”  —John Adams (1778)

Recently, I published good news about higher education — some colleges and universities are endeavoring to restore campus civility.

As the fall academic semester gets underway, some schools are attempting to contain the small cadres of adolescents who are responsible for most campus incivility.

How? By endeavoring to instill values in students that, in most cases, parents failed to imbue. And that is a heavy lift.

Too many young people arrive for their freshman year without a solid mooring of values, and consequently are malleable. They can be shaped into whatever form that comports with the dominant campus cultural influence.

It is difficult enough for students with solid faith and values roots to withstand the campus peer culture, but those without strong roots are at high risk.

A longtime friend, Brian Beckley, has devoted his career to mentoring high school students so they can pursue their purpose with wisdom, character, and courage once in college.

He focuses on fortifying their values so they can join others who stand for what is good and right on college campuses, rather than falling into the leftist abyss.

I asked Brian for his perspective on why students are susceptible.

Western civilization is often defined by its accomplishments. Democracy, individual rights, religious liberty, and scientific advancement are all commonly associated with the West.

But simply listing these achievements misses the more important question:

What actually makes Western civilization different?

The answer cannot simply be that the West has been morally superior to every civilization that came before it. Western history includes slavery, war, persecution, and countless other injustices.

But none of these things are uniquely Western either. Nearly every major civilization throughout human history has experienced slavery and other forms of oppression.

What distinguishes the West is not the absence of injustice, but the development of principles that allow injustice to be recognized and challenged.

If you’re a Baby Boomer and a socially-conservative Christian, and you don’t understand young men nowadays, I’m writing for you.

I also have something to ask of you at the end of this essay.

It recently came to my attention that some of you don’t understand why a large number of young men have become shut-ins, often addicts, without career or romantic prospects.

The term used for this now is “NEET.”

That is, they are Not in Education, Employment or Training. Men described as NEETS are those who were once simply called slackers, basement-dwellers, and so on.

I’d like to explain how this happened. 

First, a little about me

I’m a young man, somewhere between a Millennial and a Gen Z. I’m Christian, had good grades in school, worked hard, and finished college.

I was raised well, too. I don’t want everything handed to me, and I don’t like those who do. You’d think that would help me in life.

It doesn’t.