…it didn’t occur to them to even start learning Russian before they went?!

More of a callback, I think: https://www.reddit.com/r/grilledcheese/comments/2or1p3/you_people_make_me_sick/

I do think some of this is just fatigue. The usual way to deal with this is to either pick one or a few things to try to actively address, or just buckle down and wait for things to improve. Both lead naturally to a situation where it’s hard to get a critical mass of people to respond on any one subject.

As I understand it, the rate of post-hormone regret for these kids is extremely low. Like, single or double digits low.

Wasn’t aware of that; so I’m glad you mentioned it! I always just rolled my eyes at it and moved on.

Evangelical advertising, talking about Jesus’s experiences in a way that relates to what “everyday people” deal with.

As a 41 year old, when I call someone in their early-mid 20s a kid, there’s no derision intended. Think about how you relate to someone who’s 12 or 16 when you’re 20 or so - they might be quite capable, even fun to hang out with; but their life experiences also give them a clearly different outlook. And, like as not, you feel a little more interest in making sure they’re getting along all right (at least I do!)

As you age, that doesn’t really change - but the “target age” where that comes into play follows you up! So at 26, you feel that way about people just coming into high school; at 30-35, about people getting out of college and starting their careers. My oldest kid is 6; and I feel this way now about most of the parents of my kids’ classmates! Makes for a fun juxtaposition, when they have older kids and know more about what we’re in for than I do :p

It can turn into something condescending, depending on the person; but I think it’s usually more of a statement that “I remember being where you were!”

Leaving aside for the moment the free speech issues inherent here… if you want to control what someone does with a book after you sell it? You can’t sell it. Lend it, rent it, whatever; but if it’s sold, you’ve given up all right to determine what happens with it.

Don’t want to invest in the infrastructure to do that? Then is it really that important to you?