HBO host Bill Maher said that many young Americans wrongly think they have it worse than past generations and turn to political extremism because they would “rather be a martyr than nobody.” On Friday’s broadcast of “Real Time,” Maher argued this is the best time to be alive and that many young people lack perspective about true oppression and authoritarianism. “Gen Z lives are not that bad,” Maher said. “Most of our lives here in America are not. How we live right now, in the year we’re actually living in, in the country we’re actually living in, doesn’t warrant condoning political violence. I can see it if you live under a truly oppressive regime, communism, fascism, Catholicism. But that’s not where we are now. You’re not storming the beaches at Normandy.” “Get real. Stop blaming America for all your f*ck-ups. What this is really about for today’s young assassins, is when life lets you down and doesn’t properly reward you for being the awesome person you’re sure you are, there’s one big save left,” Maher also said. <\/p>\n
BILL MAHER: New Rule, Luigi Mangione, Cole Thomas Allen, Tyler Robinson, and the ghost of Thomas Crooks must form a boy band called New Kids on the Glock. Just to, just to drive home the point, these are not your father’s political assassins. Things have changed. For one thing, today’s assassins have popular support with the kids. Up to 40 percent of America’s young adults say violence is okay to achieve a political goal. Wow. Seems like five minutes ago when one of the big causes of the left was gun control, but now guns are the answer? I guess, because Luigi is a f*cking rock star. He’s the OG hot assassin. The young assassins coming up even name check him in their manifestos. When this guy was arrested for burning down a giant warehouse, he said it was like when Luigi popped that motherf*cker. Before this college student threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s mansion, he talked about Luigi-ing some tech CEOs. And the a**hole currently on trial for allegedly starting the big fire out here last year was Luigi’s biggest fanboy. Good to see the kids have role models, huh? Another way this new breed of content creator assassins is different, they have jokes. Cole Allen called himself a friendly federal assassin and told his friends he was going to D.C. for a personal emergency, wink wink. His manifesto opens with, hello everybody. It sounded like that form letter I get every Christmas telling me how everyone is doing in a family I don’t care about. Tyler Robinson wrote little jokes on the bullets he fired at Charlie Kirk. Things like, if you’re reading this, you’re gay lol. I mean, John Wilkes Booth was an a**hole, but at least when he did the deed, he said something serious. Sic semper tyrannis. Not I f*cked your mom. Cole Allen took selfies before enacting his diabolically clever plan of running fast. You know, Cole, why do I think this is more about you than the cause? You’re running through the metal detector, but maybe you’re really chasing clout. Allen wrote that he was consumed by rage-thinking about everything this administration has done Yeah, join the club. Donald Trump is infuriating. I know this personally. That’s why whenever I’m around him, I’m so nervous I need a drink right away. If you’re doing that much rage-thinking about Trump, you’re not really mad at him. You’re mad at your life. This is about being 31 and still living with your mom in Torrance. Life was supposed to come out better. This guy went to Caltech for Christ’s sake. He dreamed of being a video game designer, but really was a substitute teacher. Do you think if he’d ever sold, actually, a video game and got rich, he’d be doing this? Look, I feel for that generation. You guys grew up with the iPhone, which f*cks people up, and now AI. No wonder you’re always wearing a hoodie in the fetal position. Plus, as long as you can remember, the president has either been dead, or this guy. So, sympathy for you, yes. But also, it’s always been thus. Sadly, your parents and teachers didn’t prepare you for this. So you have no idea how hard or easy you have it. But because you’re so entitled, you just assume you have it tougher than anybody ever did. You don’t. In fact, your generation lives an historically easy life. You can get sushi or a weighted blanket delivered in hours. You can do your banking sitting on the toilet. They sell weed in a store now. In a financial pinch, you can sell pictures of your feet. Your biggest hardship is when the Wi-Fi drops, and you have to briefly experience the 20th century. And yet you’ve convinced yourselves that your current level of discomfort justifies revolutionary violence. Cole Allen’s life only sucked by his parents. He lived by his own unreasonable standards. He wasn’t on welfare. He was on LinkedIn. For his assassination attempt, he stayed at the Hilton. If your assassination comes with Hilton Honors Rewards points… Gen Z lives are not that bad. Most of our lives here in America are not. How we live right now, in the year we’re actually living in, in the country we’re actually living in, doesn’t warrant condoning political violence. I can see it if you live under a truly oppressive regime, communism, fascism, Catholicism. But that’s not where we are now. You’re not storming the beaches at Normandy. You’re not standing in bread lines. You know, just like our no kings we had here, the protests, they also had them in Iran. But over there, the protesters got shot in the street. And yes, ICE did that too, twice. The Iranian thugs did it 30,000 times. Have some perspective. Get real. Stop blaming America for all your f*ck-ups. What this is really about for today’s young assassins, is when life lets you down and doesn’t properly reward you for being the awesome person you’re sure you are, there’s one big save left. Convince yourself you were meant for a cause bigger than yourself. And for Cole Thomas Allen, it was, I’m fighting Hitler. And I get why that’s a tempting thing to cosplay. If Trump is Hitler, then you’re Tom Cruise in Valkyrie. Nobody trying to take him out. I can mistake it for confidence. It’s a theme show, what can I say? But Trump isn’t Hitler, and you’re not Tom Cruise. And you don’t really live on the desert moon of an evil empire. You live in Torrance, which I understand is not exactly L.A. or London, but please, you’re not in Haiti or Afghanistan. You’re at Coachella. Life doesn’t really suck so bad. You would just rather be a martyr than nobody. The whole tone of Cole Allen’s manifesto was, sorry guys, but America needs me. A hero has risen. You’re not a hero. You’re just the guy who runs out into the field during a baseball game to get attention and in ten seconds gets tackled by security, except in your case, no, that’s exactly your case.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n