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Carl Higbie’s blunt assessment — “I wouldn’t pick Gen Z for a kickball game, let alone war” — landed like a cold bucket of reality on his Newsmax FRONTLINE audience this week as he warned that patriotism and toughness are slipping from the American character. The former Navy SEAL framed his critique as more than a punchy line; he said it was a symptom of a generation raised on safetyism, grievance and social media virtue-signaling rather than duty and nation-first pride.
Look, we don’t need to sugarcoat it: the institutions that once forged strong Americans — our homes, our churches, our schools and our civic traditions — are under assault, and the results are visible in attitude and aptitude. Reports even show younger Americans increasingly skeptical of traditional higher education and basic patriotic narratives, a predictable fallout when universities prioritize ideology over competence and character.
Higbie’s point about military readiness hits conservatives where it matters: national defense depends on grit, commitment and a shared identity worth defending, not hashtag activism. As a veteran who’s been in the mud and seen what real sacrifice looks like, his scorn for manufactured sensitivity and pampered youth is not merely theatrical — it’s a warning that cultural softness has real strategic costs.
The media and the left have spent decades normalizing an outlook that puts feelings over facts and faction over country, and now we’re surprised when a generation raised in that stew shies away from responsibility. Networks that launder anti-American narratives and campus programs that celebrate victimhood instead of virtue have eroded the moral confidence needed for a free republic to endure.
Conservatives should welcome Higbie’s provocation as a call to action, not a point to wring hands over. If a generation is flinching, the remedy is clear: restore character education, expand school choice, bolster faith-based and vocational paths, and make service — not slogans — the currency of civic life.
That means promoting policies that reward hard work, respect the flag, and teach history honestly, while rejecting the cowardly elites who have outsourced patriotism to social media influencers and bureaucrats. We must stop infantilizing young Americans and instead invite them into manly service, principled labor, and the dignity of defending something larger than themselves.
This is not about generational shaming; it’s about accountability and rescue. We can rebuild a culture that produces citizens willing to stand in harm’s way for the nation, but it requires leadership, institutions that expect excellence, and a conservative movement ready to lead with both conviction and compassion.
Hardworking Americans know what true patriotism looks like: sacrifice, loyalty, and toughness wrapped in decency. Let Carl Higbie’s blunt words be the spark that nudges a tired country back toward pride, purpose, and a future where being worth dying for once again means being worth living for.
