American Capitalism

The battlefields in our culture war have been and still are confrontations between clashing zero-sum theories of the good life:

• Transcendent/objective morality vs. constructed/evolving morality

• Individual citizenship vs. group-based identity

• Equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcomes

• Trust vs. mistrust

• American exceptionalism vs. historical reckoning for the sins of a White colonial past

• Freedom from interference (free speech, religion, markets) vs. government regulation of behaviors and subsidies of socioeconomic benefits

• Freedom of thought vs. regulation of ideas deserving restriction or deplatforming

• Moral formation to be a good citizen vs. expressive individualism

The seeds of America’s culture war were planted by the Baby Boomer generation seeking to live not so much as Americans, but as consumers of self-serving indulgences sheltered from the impositions of responsibility. The contesting sides of the culture war arose from the movement against the war in Vietnam, when many young American men from privileged families said, “Hell no, I won’t go,” and many young American women responded, “Girls say yes to boys who say no.”

The anti-war movement captured the Democratic Party in 1972, setting up 50 years of right/left confrontation in our politics between “good guys” on one side and “bad guys” on the other, a trope left over from movie Westerns of the 1950s, like High Noon. Thus was the stage set for the rise of Donald Trump in 2016 and the furious opposition to him from the country’s cultural and managerial elite.

All wars come at a cost. Wars leave casualties behind. The American culture war has been very destructive of younger Americans in Gen Y and Gen Z, who make up the rising generations staffing corporate America.

But the casualties in our culture war have been wounds to the soul, not the body.

The culture war has taken no prisoners and has left young Americans uncertain, anxious, lonely, depressed, desperate, bereft of happiness and without the social skills to live fulfilling lives.

We might therefore think of growing up in America during these past decades as leading to post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSDs).

These suffering young Americans, in turn, fitfully and petulantly seek to fix what they feel is wrong with their lives in their careers. But they don’t fit well in capitalist enterprises. They make demands that corporations are not designed to meet. Capitalism then has become collateral damage in our culture war.

A Quiet and Urgent Crisis of Confidence

This crisis is not rooted in rebellion. It is rooted in a longing for moral authority, trustworthy systems, and a workplace where purpose and performance are aligned. The workplace is asked to provide what society has not. What young professionals want is moral structure, where the individual experiences purpose in life.

While trust has declined across every institution in society, the disengagement of young professionals from business reflects several specific forces.

Moral and institutional discontinuity. Today, many institutions present one face in public and another in private. The gap between stated values and operating behavior creates a form of institutional dissonance. Young professionals notice it immediately. When people experience inconsistency, they often conclude that the institution is guided by expediency rather than principle.

Fatigue in coping with performative cultures. In the last decade, many organizations have responded to public pressures around sustainability, diversity, ethics and social issues. They see big announcements without follow-through, values that are not enforced and programs that do not connect to daily behavior. When everything is only performative, who wants to commit themselves to an environment of opportunism?

Work that feels incoherent. Inside many organizations, the daily employee experience is marked by unclear priorities, shifting expectations and inconsistent decision pathways. When strategy is interpreted differently by different leaders, or when decisions are reactive rather than anchored, employees lose trust in the system. People can endure pressure. They cannot endure ongoing incoherence.

Anxiety and ambiguity around AI. AI has accelerated every existing tension. Expectations move faster. Skill disruption is constant. Roles are evolving. Many young professionals do not fear technology. They fear navigating technology inside organizations that lack clarity and steadiness. AI is revealing whether leadership teams have the alignment and moral seriousness required to guide a workforce through rapid change. When that alignment is missing, younger employees feel tremendous uncertainty.

A hunger for meaning. Young professionals are not rejecting ambition. They want meaningful work, principled leadership and environments where they can contribute to something larger than themselves. They want coherence, fairness and leaders who act with moral authority.

For America’s young professionals, their parents, culture and society have failed them.

In education, the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress assessment of high school graduate abilities reported that 65% were not proficient in reading and 32% were below basic levels of learning. In math, 78% were not proficient (a historic low) and 45% were below basic skill levels. Only 35% of 12th graders met standards for college readiness in both subjects. Eighty-four percent of Gen Z believe men­tal health is a cri­sis in the Unit­ed States, and they are more than 80% more like­ly to report deal­ing with anx­i­ety or depres­sion com­pared to old­er gen­er­a­tions, accord­ing to recent Gen Z studies. More than one-third of young adults ages 18 to 23 — the older members of Gen Z — said their mental health was worse right now than in 2019, according to the American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) “Stress in America” survey.

Despite digital connectivity, many Millennials report feeling isolated and lacking genuine community, notes Trust Mental Health. Studies show higher rates of major depression, anxiety and ADHD in Millennials compared to Gen X and Boomers at the same age.

According to APA’s 2023 “Stress in America” survey, there’s a rising concern about “deaths of despair” (suicide, overdose, alcohol-related issues) in this cohort, potentially linked to worsening health trends, with 18- to 34-year-olds saying their average stress level is a six out of 10, compared with a 3.4 among people ages 65 and older.

Specifically, the survey found 18-to-34- and 35-to-44-year-olds were more likely than those 65 and older to report they feel “consumed” by their worries about money (67% and 63% vs. 13%, respectively). Money is an easy psychological substitute for any shortfall in self-confidence.

In May 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called loneliness a public health epidemic. The latest Healthy Minds Monthly Poll from the APA finds that, early in 2024, 30% of adults say they have experienced feelings of loneliness at least once a week over the past year, while 10% say they are lonely every day. Younger people were more likely to experience these feelings, with 30% of Americans aged 18-to-34 saying they were lonely every day or several times a week. Single adults are nearly twice as likely as married adults to say they have been lonely on a weekly basis over the past year (39% vs. 22%). Twenty-five percent of U.S. men aged 15-to-34 reported feeling lonely “a lot” in a 2025 Gallup poll, compared to 18% of young women and the overall U.S. average.

A 2023 study found two-thirds of young men aged 18-to-23 felt no one knew them well and 15% of men overall reported having no close friends, a significant increase from 1990. Was it merely happenstance that New York City Mayor (and Millennial) Zohran Mamdani said so passionately that “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism”?

Many in Gen Z have turned to self-medication of wounds to their souls with alcohol, marijuana, stimulants, opioids, nicotine — substances used to numb pain or boost focus. Other compensatory remediations include overeating, excessive social media/screen time, compulsive behaviors and avoiding activities.