Ask A Genius 1314: Political Extremism, Gun Culture, and the Aging Divide in America

Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/03/25

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Being a sociopath is also a form of stupidity.

Put it this way: If you look at the generational trends, you see something interesting. From Boomers to Gen X to Millennials to Gen Z, men and women were trending toward parity—more gender equality, more progressive values. But by the time you get to Gen Z, things collapse.

For younger Millennials and all of Gen Z men, they’ve backslid. Gen Z men are now almost as conservative as Boomers. That was a huge surprise in the election.

The biggest trend was that women continued moving toward feminism and gender equality, while men veered the other way. What used to be a small divide has now turned into a massive generational gap.

Men and women coming of age right now are essentially 25-50 years apart in sociopolitical perspective.

Rosner: And Musk? He calls himself a moderate, but he’s pre-Boomer conservative. The young men who follow him see him as a genius, and he reinforces their traditionalist views. He’s a tech hero to a lot of young guys.

And he’s also sucked in a lot of STEM people. On X, I’ve noticed that engineers, computer science guys, Star Trek fans—people in technical fields—idolize him. They see him as the coolest thing ever, even if they have political reservations about his behavior. And that overwhelms their reservations.

Rosner: Do you think the U.S. is at risk of getting shooty?

Jacobsen: That implies it isn’t already shooty.

The current stats show that, on average, 100 people die from guns every day. Half of those are suicides.

I’ll say this: The U.S. is already shooty. it’s going to get shootier.

It’s a matter of degree.

America already has extremes. The extremes have taken over a couple of the outer concentric circles of what used to be the center. with that, you get amplification—Twitter, media figures, peopleKanye West proudly calling himself a Nazi, unapologetically, not even blaming it on Hennessy this time.

That tells you how extremist rhetoric has been mainstreamed.

So, yes—people are going to react to that. The more radicalized the rhetoric gets, the more radical actions we’ll see.

If the extreme has become more centralized, even by 10%, you’re going to get more radical incidents.

Because ideology drives motivation.

And when you get millions of people in informational bubbles, radicalized in incremental steps, they’re going to act on it.

All we’ve done is increase the number of those people.

Jacobsen: You should expect more extreme weather events. It’s wet; it’s the climate. When you raise global temperatures, you increase the likelihood of severe weather events and their frequency. That is the reality of climate science. Rising temperatures mean more energy in the atmosphere, which results in stronger storms, heavier rainfall, and more erratic weather patterns.

Rosner: Let me ask you this. You have been to one of the world’s most dangerous countries twice—Ukraine. Given that experience, if you lived in America—

Jacobsen: I have lived in America. I have lived in America before.

Rosner: What was your longest stint in America?

Jacobsen: A month. Maybe twice or three times, for a total of two months or three months or so. Plus, I was in one of the safest places in the country—a gated community inside one of the safest cities in the United States: Irvine, California.

Rosner: Right. Irvine is not particularly dangerous. But if you lived in a more typical part of America—say, Ohio—would you get yourself a Kevlar vest?

Jacobsen: No. If I had to live in Ohio, I would probably choose Youngstown. It seems like an interesting place.

Rosner: So, you would choose where to live based at least in part on how safe it felt?

Jacobsen: Yes. Or at least based on whether or not it felt too chaotic.

Rosner: That’s fair.

Jacobsen: Yes. I have only seen one bullet in my life ricochet off the pavement. That was at a shooting range. I have fired a lot of guns there—from a high-caliber sniper rifle to a Beretta. The Beretta was the most fun to fire because it is such a terrible gun—cheap, unreliable, but still enjoyable to shoot.

Rosner: The sniper rifle, though—that thing is so heavy that carrying it is a workout in itself. It is not practical for anything other than precision shooting. I have only shot a BB gun. I have fired a pistol a few times, but never a rifle. I do not know. I would want extensive training before I felt comfortable handling a firearm on my own.

Jacobsen: That is a responsible approach.

Rosner: If I did get a gun, I would want something small. A .22 caliber would be my choice. Unless things got bad—then maybe I would move up to a .357 Magnum. But honestly, I have no idea what I would do in that situation.

Jacobsen: If things got to the point where you needed to carry a gun to feel safe, it would probably be time to start thinking about moving to Canada. Do you think Canada is now seeing an influx of Americans moving there, either legally or illegally? During the Vietnam War, there were a lot of draft dodgers who went to Canada to avoid conscription.

Rosner: That is an interesting question. It is hard to say for sure, but I would not be surprised if some Americans were trying to move to Canada, legally or otherwise. It is tough to immigrate to Canada. But if my wife, Carole, and I sold our house and had a good amount of money, we could live quietly in a medium-sized Canadian city in.

Rosner: Yes. Calgary is probably a good option. It has a more libertarian, Texas-like culture, the taxes are lower, and the cost of living is more reasonable than in other major Canadian citiesVancouver or Toronto. But I am gray-haired—almost completely white-haired now. Carole just turned 60.

So, we would not need to work. We could be quiet retirees. Eventually, some Canadian media outlets might start noticing an increase in American retirees and question how many of them have legal residency. But realistically, how often do you have to show ID or a passport if you are living a quiet life in a rented condo?

Jacobsen: I do not know, man.

Rosner: I know some older couples—some old Jewish couples—who are quiet now, but they were active in their younger years. They lived through a lot, and their activism shaped their lives. 

Jacobsen: Do you feel old?

Rosner: No. Right now, I feel a little beat up. I have some issues with my rotator cuff—my right shoulder—and I am hoping it will heal on its own. Surgery for that kind of injury puts you out of commission for at least four to six weeks, and I would rather avoid it if possible.

One of the gyms I go to has an escalator, but it is always broken. The other day, I had to walk up the escalator manually. It was raining, and I slipped. I banged myself up a little bit because those metal stairs are brutal. But aside from that, I am still able to do the things I used to do.

I can still lift weights, run across the street, and maintain decent posture. I cannot jerk off every night. At least, I do not. Most nights, I try, but about half the time, I give up and fall asleep. My eyesight is a little worse than it used to be, but I can still read.

So, no—I do not feel old. I can still do most of the things I used to do. My body is holding up. My mind is still sharp. I am a little more tired at the end of the day.

My eyes are better than most people my age. I still have most of my teeth—31, to be exact. Many people only have 28 because they get their wisdom teeth removed, but I still have mine. One of my teeth is an implant, which was an expensive, months-long pain in the ass. Three of them are part of a bridge—a procedure where one tooth was removed, and the adjacent teeth were filed down to support a three-tooth replacement. If you count the implant and the bridge as teeth, then I have 31, which is better than most people who aren’t even as old as I am.

Rosner: What do you think other old people have that you don’t?

Jacobsen: Do you mean things that make them seem older than me?

Rosner: Yes.

Jacobsen: People lose mental fluidity as they age. Maybe I have lost some of that—or mental acuity, or both. But I started with a lot of that, so I have plenty to lose before it becomes noticeable. I still feel sharp. It’s mostly people older than me that I see struggling with it. I consider myself “young old.” I’m not even 65 yet. But when I look at people in their seventies, I notice how their expressions become less animated, their faces more slack.  someone is in rough shape when they can’t keep their mouth closed anymore. How that will play out for me since I’m a mouth breather anyway, so my mouth is probably open a lot regardless. Then there’s the loss of physical spryness. People become slower, more hunched over. There’s a shift in posture, loose skin, and stringy limbs. I’m skinnier than I used to be, but I don’t have that crepey, sagging skin yet. A lot of that is probably coming for me, but it’s not here yet.

Then there’s what I call “mushy ass syndrome.” As people age, their muscle and skin tone weaken, so their clothes press into their bodies differently. If you’re wearing underwear, it digs into your backside more than it would on a younger person. But I’ve never had much of an ass to begin with, so maybe it’s less obvious on me. That said, when I’m naked, I do have what I call an “elephant ass.” I’ve turned around and looked at it in the mirror a couple of times, and I can see it—the folds that develop around where the legs meet the torso, an elephant. That’s aging.

Jacobsen: Are there any benefits to getting older?

Rosner: You accumulate experience. I often fantasize about going back to junior high or high school knowing everything I know now—about life and about the future. If I went back to 1979, I could warn people about Trump. Trump is the worst thing that has happened to America in my lifetime. The country would be in much better shape if he had never come to power. We are in a perilous time.

Another benefit of being older is having more financial stability. Carole and I have accumulated resources. Our house is paid off, we don’t have to work, and I have a pension. If I wanted to, I could start collecting Social Security—the government pension that every American is entitled to.

This next part isn’t necessarily something I consider a benefit, but some people might: I’m out of the game when it comes to trying to get laid. That was a major focus in my teens and twenties. Now, I’m invisible to anyone besides my wife. I haven’t pursued anyone other than Carole since we got married. Some people might see that as a relief—being freed from that pursuit.

I’ve also seen a lot in my lifetime. I’ve read a ton of books. Carole has too. We’ve watched an incredible number of movies and TV shows. That means we can usually predict where a story is going. It’s both a blessing and a curse—most entertainment has to work  hard to surprise us or keep us engaged. It has to be exceptionally good; otherwise, we dismiss it as predictable or low-quality. But that’s the trade-off. You gain wisdom and experience, but the world starts to feel a little less surprising.

But that’s a pleasure—to have that experience base. I’ve written 20,000 jokes, and I’ve read half a million. So developing taste based on experience is something I consider an advantage of being older. You could argue the other way—that if I hadn’t seen all these jokes, TV shows, and books, I might be easier to entertain with mediocre stuff. But I prefer having the ability to recognize quality when I see it.

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