Second, the feminization of our society and in particular our schools. Women have pretty much taken over our country, and especially the education of the young. It is a biological fact that women tend to emphasize security and men are more oriented to risk-taking. But most kids don’t have a lot to do with men. The institutions that historically have exposed them to men, like, for example, the Boy Scouts, tend to be in decline.

Third, the philosophy of Safetyism. This is, I think, closely linked to feminization, but the ubiquity of this emphasis on safety above all, the attempted exclusion of all risk–as though one could get up in the morning without taking numerous risks–stands as a causal factor on its own.

[Safetyism is an expression of how frightened the *adults* have become. I’m not sure that’s a progression from feminization so much as it is the impact of the online world (which John addresses in his first point) but we have one generation of neurotics raising the next one. — Ed]