The amount of mental illness among our young people is a growing problem because they are acting out in violent ways.

We have more kids exacting carnage with guns – something that wasn’t a problem when I was a kid in the 1970s. Case in point the troubled Jonathan Sapirman, 20, who opened fire on three innocent souls last week in the Greenwood Mall of Minneapolis but who was promptly and flawlessly “neutralized” by a brave young man with a gun. (Of course the liberals bashed the hero who undoubtedly prevented more deaths). There was the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., coldly executed by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz. Consider the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter Adam Lanza, 20; or the Uvalde shooting of May 24 by Salvador Ramos, 18.

Something clearly is going wrong with a lot of young men.

Why is this happening?

You can blame the pandemic or increased marijuana use.

You can blame crappy parenting or broken homes.

You can blame a lack of religious influence (I haven’t heard of any shooter who attends church).

You can blame a culture that raises expectations of young people that things are to be acquired without working for it and the anger that results from being “denied.”

I sense that social media is destroying our youth far greater than anyone realizes. People have stopped having face-to-face conversation. It leaves some feeling alone and isolated.

TikTok is truly toxic and encourages people to disregard the bounds of propriety and civility for a click. 

The American Psychological Association in March 2019 wrote: “The percentage of young Americans experiencing certain types of mental health disorders has risen significantly over the past decade, with no corresponding increase in older adults.” They point to “cultural trends” partially due to increased use of electronic communication and digital media and its effect on mood disorders and suicide-related outcomes. They note the use of digital media interferes with sleep.

If only we could just set the phones aside and realize it’s really not where the rewarding life is happening.

* * * * *

As the homeless tweaker population continues to burn down our buildings and acreage and cost the taxpayers a lot of money dealing with medical emergencies and crime, it’s time to point out the obvious. The kid glove and permissive treatment of the Newsom administration clearly is not working.

I walked into a bike shop last week and the doors were locked. A note said knock to come in as they are being ripped off royally.

I asked about it but I accurately predicted the answer. I was told “tweakers” have been stealing. One bike that walked out the door was worth $10,000.

The owner – who has every right to be steamed at the situation – said the answer is to “punish criminals.” As it stands if you steal up to $999, it’s a misdemeanor.

And we used to hang thieves who stole horses who were worth less than that.

See what permissiveness that results from electing bleeding heart progressives like Newsom and Rob Bonta gets you?

* * * * *

There has been a rash of solo vehicles in Stanislaus County resulting in fatalities. The CHP commonly reports “for some unknown reason” the car drifted, the driver overcorrected, the car flips, the driver dies.

My suspicion is that the “for some unknown reason” is that the driver was looking at his or her cell phone instead of the road.

If I were a liberal I’d say let’s propose cell phone control legislation instead of making people responsible for their own reckless behavior.

* * * * *

America seems to be unraveling at the seams – due to the radical elements of our country.

The Left cannot respect the rule of law so they go lawless. They didn’t like the overturning of Rowe v. Wade so they have unleashed their furor at conservatives on the Supreme Court. Fortunately, a man intent on killing Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was discovered and arrested.

Last week Congressman Lee Zeldin, the Republican running for governor of New York, was attacked by a David Jakubonis who told the candidate: “You’re done!”

Even the so-called intellectuals on the Left have lost it. Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo tweeted on June 25, that the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade “should never know peace again. It is our civic duty to accost them every time they are in public. They are pariahs. Since women don’t have their rights, these justices should never have a peaceful moment in public again.”

Can you believe this? And she feels like right-wingers are leading the country “down a truly dark path”?

For the record Caraballo is actually a he and also a Democrat socialist. She is also a Black Lives Matter protestor.

* * * * *

Speaking of BLM, I suppose that you read that BLM was out protesting the Minneapolis Police shooting death of Andrew “Tekle” Sundberg. Sundberg was an armed black man who fired multiple gunshots inside an apartment building the night of July 13, and a neighbor, Arabella Yarbrough, called 911 saying a bullet went through her wall. Sundberg died for his stupidity.

But the even stupider protestors – many of whom were guilty-feeling white men – decided Sundberg needed to be lionized like George Floyd. They staged a protest and the woman who was nearly hit by Sundberg’s bullets lashed out at them. She tearfully yelled what they were doing was wrong – elevating Sundberg as a martyr – while they yelled back, “You’re alive; shut up! No bullet holes in you, though.” And then some dismissive young man spoke: “She’s obviously having a moment.”

Good for her for speaking up for truth but why have people become so cold in their heart and blinded from seeing the truth?

The Left has done well to brainwash people into believing there should be no consequences for shooting up an apartment building or other similar criminal acts.

We truly have entered the days that the biblical prophet Isaiah spoke of: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

It also reminds you of what was proclaimed in Romans 1:21: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

* * * * *

Former GOP congressional candiate Ted Howze pointed to the July 13 murder of NASCAR legend Bobby East as a direct cause of legislation passed by the state Legislature and the governor.

The 32-year-old race car driver was filling up his car at a Union 76 gas station in Westminster and was accosted by a dirtbag named Trent Millsap. Millsap ended up stabbing East in the chest and died in an Anaheim hospital.

Police did us all a favor by permanently removing the vermin from California streets by shooting him. Millsap, who should have stayed locked up, had been released from prison for armed robbery and violated his parole.

Howze posted on his Facebook page: “As NASCAR fans mourn the death of Bobby East we can’t help but remember this took place in Gavin Newsom’s California. Newsom and his fellow Democrats have turned CA into a third world state where homeless felons like Trent Millsap, a 27 year old paroled murderer, prowl our streets in search of their next victim.

“Democrats want to extend this living hell to every state in America.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile the Democrat-controlled Congress has declared war on the traditional marriage, seeking to redefine what marriage is. And they have the audacity to call it the “Respect for Marriage Act.” The appalling fact is that 47 gutless Republicans voted in favor of it. This act and their rush to call aborting fetus as a healthcare right is a direct act on the family unit.

We certainly have regressed from the time Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden all declared marriage was only between a man and woman.

* * * * *

A lot of people and pundits are having a good time making fun of Joe Biden. They might as well make fun of the half of America who voted for him. The fact that Biden got into office is really  an indictment on the American voter. Biden is a seriously flawed leader but the ones who bear the most responsibility are those who cast a vote for him. Those who always vote for a candidate with a “D” behind the name and the soccer moms who thought Trump was a meanie sure didn’t do their homework did they?

* * * * *

No surprise here. The California Teachers Association came out in support of Prop. 1 which would amend the state constitution to guarantee a woman’s right to abort the future students that would be educated in their classrooms. Nothing like socialists falling in line with the far left ideology.

It shouldn’t surprise me that a group of educators would be standing up and wanting women to snuff out their babies. But it does offend my sensibilities. The CTA has become a powerful force to transform California into a liberal nightmare. The CTA opposes just about everything I support and vice versa. They oppose the right of teachers to carry guns in case police officers decide to spend time on their phones instead of rush into a classroom where a mad gunman is eliminating students. They support illegal aliens sneaking across the border with no repercussions and having us California citizens fund their free medical care. They support every new tax under the sun. They oppose charter schools and home schooling (because they can’t indoctrinate those students).

Instead of falling in line with the progressive agenda, the CTA had better start bearing down on our travesty of an education system. Recent news reports indicate California now ranks as the worst state for illiteracy among adults. Nearly one in four Californians over the age of 15 lack the skills to decipher the words in this sentence. Only 76.9 percent of California adults are considered mid to highly literate, according to the nonpartisan World Population Review. That’s embarrassing!

Compare California’s dismal standing that to New Hampshire, the most literate state in the nation, where only about five out of 100 lack English reading and writing skills. Its literacy rate hovers near 95 percent.

Our education system in California is horrible yet they are concerned about things outside of their purview like abortion rights.

This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com