During the academic year, I live in a college dorm. The subjects of chats in the dining hall are not too different from what they were when I was in college: classes, careers, sports, movies and dating. When the conversation gets more serious, I tell my dorm mates that no matter how much older than them I look on the outside, inside I am an angry young man — in fact, far angrier than I was back when actually a young man.
After finishing my own formal education, I went to work on Capitol Hill where I met the original Mr. Conservative, Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater. Years before, he'd declared to a divided nation that "moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."
I didn't agree with the senator on policy very often back in those days, but I wish it weren't too late to tell him that he was right about that: Some things aren't meant to be met with a polite nod or a middle ground compromise.
In the spirit of the late senator, I've compiled my "Unlucky 13" — a list of the things that have pushed the young man inside me from a simmer to a boil over the last year. You likely have your own list, but here is what's making it impossible for me to stay "moderate" today.
The Decay of Institutions
1. Representatives Without Principles: Far too many elected officials are ready to abandon even their most fundamental beliefs to win reelection and power. As Jesus asked his disciples: "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"
2. The Roberts Court: Since John Roberts became chief justice in 2005, the Court has undermined democracy by greenlighting gerrymandered districts, eviscerating the Voting Rights Act, and allowing the money of wealthy citizens and corporations to corrupt American elections.
3. American Higher Education: In 2021, J.D. Vance said, "The universities are the enemy." No, the enemy is ignorance. Diminishing federal support for science, public health and medicine will make us less healthy and die sooner. The number of bachelor degrees granted in the humanities dropped over 20% between 2015 and 2024. Last April, the Trump administration sent layoff notices to 65% of the employees of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a move that makes little sense when a sense of being human and critical thinking are more important than ever.
4. Media Independence: With the support of President Donald Trump, my old boss Larry Ellison and his son David have already taken over CBS News and are eyeing CNN. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos has moved The Washington Post away from "democracy dies in darkness" to the defense of the "free market." And Trump is "thrilled" that chair of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr is threatening to take away broadcast licenses for outlets that criticize the war in Iran, First Amendment be damned.
5. The Department of Justice: Trump has changed the Department of Justice into a weapon to punish, intimidate and wreak vengeance.
The Cost of Greed
6. Wealth Inequality: According to a recent 2026 report from Forbes, the 1,000 or so American billionaires have a collective net worth of about $8.4 trillion. That's nearly double that of the bottom 50% of U.S. households containing 170 million people. Not good for democracy.
7. Money Above All: More and more, Americans are embracing the belief that money is how one measures success. As the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, father of the current cabinet secretary, said during his 1968 presidential campaign, wealth "measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
8. Humanitarian Aid: Last year's termination of the United States's global health programs targeting HIV, TB, malaria, etc., led to over 800,000 deaths worldwide by January 2026. This is not leadership; it is a moral catastrophe.
The War on Reality
9. Disregarding Science: Denying climate change and skipping vaccinations will only lead to more disease and deaths.
10. Israel as Enemy: Israel is attacked for being genocidal when the number of Arabs in Israel has grown over 10 times since 1948 and in Gaza over five times since 1967, for being a settler colonial state when Jews have lived in the Holy Land for over three millennia, and for refusing to agree to a Palestinian Arab state when an offer for one has been rejected four times.
11. Immigration: The current administration is clamping down on the number of legal immigrants. In his last speech as president, Ronald Reagan declared that without new Americans, "Our leadership in the world would soon be lost."
12. American Military Overseas: The lack of foresight, planning, consultation and endgame in the war against Iran must worry even those Americans who see the Tehran regime as reprehensible and evil. Moreover, even while Russia helps Iran target our military personnel, the Trump administration is relaxing sanctions against Russia.
13. Prejudice: Islamophobia and antisemitism are running rampant. In Pennsylvania, the residence of a Jewish governor was firebombed during last year's Passover holiday. In the same state, bullets were fired at a mosque during this year's Ramadan observance.
Next time I walk into the college dining hall, I'll take my tray and join a table of students who may talk about their hopes for a summer internship or the movie they saw over the weekend. Looking at me, they may see a dorm-mate, a mentor or perhaps just a relic of a different era. But I am not the serene elder they could take me for.
I may not have the unwrinkled face of a 20-something, but as long as greed is counted as success and ignorance is codified into law, the angry young man who lives in my gut isn't going anywhere.
A renaissance man, Keith Raffel has served as the senior counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, started a successful internet software company, and had six books published including five novels and a collection of his columns. He currently spends the academic year as a resident scholar at Harvard. You can learn more about him at keithraffel.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at creators.com
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