...why I greatly dislike these young'uns.

What both of them say is correct. What do both have in common? Feelings! We live in an age where feelings seek to rule all. From the pathology of fear to the egocentric mindset to the effort to become the ultimate victim, it all stems from feelings. It is why I say primitivism is making a huge comeback. It is about superstition and what one feels.

The greatest age we've know, the Age of Reason, is in danger of being supplanted by the Age of Feelings. We've always had our feelings and were always in danger of succumbing to them. But, at least in the past, reasoned thought, wisdom, and knowledge were held as the ideals and were tools against feelings running rampant. They are not necessarily held in such high regard any longer. It is how one feels that seeks primacy of place now. That's why the young think their "voices" are as important as anyone else's. After all, feelings, freed from reason, have no order of import. They're all as valid as any other. When feelings are paramount, then those feelings are amplified beyond what is rational. That is why fear is so prevalent now: it is unreasoned feelings let loose in the world. Fear untempered by reason is dangerous.

The dominance of feelings leads to a problem, though. If all feelings are equally valid in this world, how do we decide whose feelings have the most weight? After all, we can't all have our way. The answer, my friends? Victimology. If you are a bigger victim than I am, well, your feelings are more important than mine and I must bend to your will.

So, there you go, my grand theory the age: feelings, unmoored by reason, rule and are the source of many of our current problems.