And indeed, what political engagement we do see is of the adolescent variety: 'you can't tell me what to do!' rather 'what ought I do?'; 'you should give me X, Y and Z' rather than 'I should give A, B ad C.'

For a generation so deeply self-interested, we don't do a lot of self-examination.

Growing up has always been difficult; our culture, our politics, our technology and our way of life make it avoidable. The result is unsurprising.

Says a grown man sitting alone in his boxers on a computer from a hotel room on a Sunday morning rather than surrounded by the family he never fathered, in the suit he doesn't own, at the church he doesn't attend.