There’s a popular idea circulating, especially for young Americans, that the highest form of freedom means having no one need you. It usually comes packaged attractively: summers in Europe, spontaneous road trips, disappearing off-grid on weekends, money invested in “experiences.” On its face, this framing sounds harmless—just another lifestyle choice. But it reveals something deeper and far more troubling about the way modern culture has taught us to think about adulthood, fulfillment and especially womanhood. There has been an undeniable shift in the way culture defines freedom—as an absence of responsibility rather than a deeper sense of purpose. Travel is not new, nor is adventure. Leisure, beauty, autonomy are all things women have wanted for as long as we have existed. What is new is the insistence that responsibility is a threat to a good life rather than the very thing that gives it shape. This cultural script doesn’t spare men, who are increasingly encouraged to delay commitment, avoid permanence and treat responsibility as something to be taken on only once every other box is checked. It is reinforced not only by economic pressure and social norms, but also by modern dating expectations, which financial security, status and total readiness as prerequisites for being chosen, rather than qualities built in partnership. However, it lands differently on women, who are more explicitly told motherhood and marriage are something to be escaped. Motherhood, in particular, is now framed as the experience that ends your life rather than deepens it. Children are treated as a cost center, a limitation, a tradeoff that must be justified while consumption, mobility and self-optimization are treated as unquestioned goods. The difference is not moral but material: Women feel the consequences of postponement more directly. They are more expressly pressured to believe that choosing family is a form of self-betrayal rather than self-authorship. The most common rebuttal to critiques like this is predictable: If people without kids are truly happy, why do they need to announce it? But that misses the point entirely. This isn’t about convincing any single individual their life choices are valid. It’s about the story being told to young women who haven’t yet chosen anything at all. Entire generations of women have been trained to believe they are “missing out” on life by choosing to create it. That becoming a mother ruins their lives. These lies have consequences. We tell women explicitly and implicitly that a life oriented around family, service and sacrifice is a smaller life. That they will “find themselves” in consumption rather than creation. And perhaps most corrosively, that needing and being needed is a form of weakness. This framing collapses under even minimal scrutiny. You can see the world and still build one. You can invest and still create something that outlasts you. You can experience freedom and accept responsibility. These are not all opposing paths. The real choice being offered isn’t between children and travel, it’s between a life oriented toward legacy and one optimized to avoid constraint. We should be honest about which of those our culture now celebrates. “Rich,” we are told, means liquid. Flexible. Untethered. But that definition only works if you believe life’s purpose is to remain perpetually available to experiences and upgrades. It assumes that the highest good is optionality. Yet, the things we most admire in every other context are products of people who accept limits. Who tied themselves to others. Who gave up certain freedoms with the understanding that mastery in every craft and pursuit requires constraint, years spent saying no to other paths to build something coherent and meaningful. No serious person would argue a society can sustain itself on consumption alone. Yet, we increasingly ask women to do exactly that at the personal level. I became a mother recently, and nothing about it fits the caricature young women have been sold. My life did not shrink. My sense of time did not flatten. The world didn’t get smaller; it got more serious and important. No trip has ever rearranged my understanding of purpose the way becoming responsible for another human being has. This doesn’t mean that every woman must become a mother, or that childless people live empty lives. Those are lazy counterarguments, and they’re not what’s at stake here. The problem is not individual choice. The problem is a culture that relentlessly frames creation as loss and detachment as elegant sophistication. A society that teaches women to fear responsibility should not be surprised when it struggles to find meaning biologically, culturally, or morally. At some point, we have to ask whether a life optimized only for freedom is actually free and whether avoiding sacrifice is the same thing as flourishing. Deep down, most people instinctively know experiences don’t replace the slow, unglamorous work of building something that doesn’t end with you. One is designed to keep us moving, chasing endless novelty; the other is built to let us stay in contentment. Europe will always be there—and I have heard they let children in! So will the open road. Different priorities are fine. Different definitions of rich are inevitable. But we should be honest about what we are trading and who we are teaching to make that trade before they even know what they’re capable of building The post Young Americans: Pursue Meaning, Not Just Mobility appeared first on The Daily Signal.

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department released more than 300,000 pages of records from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, bowing to pressure from lawmakers who forced their disclosure with a new law. The release follows months of political wrangling amid rebellion by some of President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters over his administration’s reluctance to make public all records tied to probes into Epstein. It was not immediately clear how substantive the new materials were, given that many Epstein-related documents have previously been made public since his 2019 death in jail, which was ruled a suicide. Reuters is in the process of reviewing the latest release. The files included several photos of Democratic former President Bill Clinton, which could conflict with Justice Department policy not to release material related to ongoing investigations. Trump, a Republican, has ordered the Justice Department to investigate Clinton’s ties to Epstein, in what critics viewed as an effort to shift the focus away from his own relationship with Epstein. In one image, Clinton can be seen in a swimming pool with Epstein’s partner and co-defendant, Ghislaine Maxwell, and another person whose face is blocked out. Clinton, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has previously expressed regret for socializing with Epstein and has said he was not aware of any criminal activity. The Justice Department added a note to the webpage where it posted links to the documents that said “all reasonable efforts have been made” to redact victims’ personal information, but warned that some could be disclosed inadvertently. Not All Documents to be Released In a letter to Congress, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department had released hundreds of thousands of pages of material and was still reviewing other documents for potential release. He said he thought it would take an additional two weeks to review the rest of the material. There are more than 1,200 names identified as victims or their relatives in the files, he added. Trump had initially urged fellow Republicans in Congress to oppose the new law, warning that releasing potentially sensitive internal investigative records could set a dangerous precedent. But many Trump voters accused his administration of covering up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscuring details surrounding his death in a Manhattan jail, where he was awaiting trial on charges of trafficking and abusing underage girls. Trump, who promised on the 2024 election campaign trail to declassify the government’s Epstein files if elected, has been seeking to move beyond the affair so that he can concentrate on a more pressing concern for Americans – the cost of living – ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections. Just 44% of American adults who identify as Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the Epstein issue, compared to his 82% overall approval rating among the group, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. “By releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have,” the White House said in a statement on Friday. Last month, Democrats in the House of Representatives released thousands of emails obtained from Epstein’s estate, including one in which Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls,” without clarifying what that meant. Trump, in response, accused Democrats of promoting the “Epstein Hoax” as a distraction. House Republicans released more emails the same day, including one saying Trump visited Epstein’s house many times but “never got a massage.” Two days after those disclosures, Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s connections to Clinton and JPMorgan bank JPM.N. The following week, despite White House pressure to delay the vote, U.S. lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill forcing the release of the Justice Department records, which Trump then signed into law. New Epstein images released by U.S. Justice DepartmentDownload Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and a woman are seen in this image from the estate of late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, released by the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., U.S., on December 19, 2025. U.S. Justice Department/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY REDACTED AREAS FROM SOURCE. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Trump Denied Knowledge of Epstein’s Alleged Sex Trafficking Trump was once friendly with Epstein until they had a falling out in the mid-2000s, before Epstein’s first conviction in 2008. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing and has denied knowing about Epstein’s sex trafficking. The law ordering the files’ release allowed the Justice Department to withhold personal information about Epstein’s victims as well as material that would jeopardize an active investigation. Previous disclosures of Epstein records have revealed that even after his 2008 conviction he continued corresponding with high-profile figures, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, Clinton’s former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, PayPal founder Peter Thiel and Britain’s former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal title over revelations about his links to Epstein. Spokespeople and lawyers for Bannon, Thiel and Mountbatten-Windsor have not responded to Reuters’ requests for comment about their interactions with Epstein. Summers stepped back from positions at Harvard University, OpenAI and other institutions and said he was deeply ashamed of his actions after documents released by House Democrats in November showed that Summers corresponded with Epstein up through 2019, even seeking relationship advice from him. JPMorgan paid some of Epstein’s victims $290 million in 2023 to settle claims that it had overlooked his sex trafficking. The bank kept Epstein on as a client for five years after he was convicted of soliciting a minor in 2008. This is a developing story. The post US Justice Department Releases New Cache of Epstein Records appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts told TPUSA’s America Fest on Friday about what will underpin America’s golden age. America may be on the cusp of a golden age, but Americans still have to choose it for themselves. “As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we ought to ask the question: What is America going to be like in the next 250 years?” Roberts asked the crowd of 10,000. For Roberts, that question is in response to another question Roberts fields as he travels the country. “The most common question that I’m asked as I travel the country,” Roberts told the audience, “is, ‘Kevin, are you still optimistic about the United States?'” “I give them three answers,” Roberts said. First, “how could you not be optimistic given all of the great successes of the Trump-Vance administration?” “The second reason is,” Roberts continued, that “the future of America is actually here at America Fest.” “The third reason is,” Roberts added, “don’t discount that God hasn’t given up on the American republic.” Coming up next! I hope you’ll tune in. ? https://t.co/9Ijz8xuWYm pic.twitter.com/xkvlndgzHd— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) December 19, 2025 “There are four big ideas that we’re working on,” Roberts said, previewing Heritage 2.0, a mission recently announced by the think tank that looks forward to America’s next 250 years. Heritage 2.0 encompasses four main policy ideas: The American Family The Dignity of Work and the Future of Free Enterprise National Security The American Heritage and Citizenship “We have to be focused on the future of the American family,” Roberts said, in “all of our policies.” “We have to make sure that we are focused on the dignity of work and free enterprise,” Roberts continued, because “those of you who are in college or high school or just out of college know that the free market, as great a concept as it is, has been dominated by corporate welfare—by the big companies being in collusion with big government.” To that, Roberts said, “we need you, and small businesses, to be the successes.” For Roberts, national security is not just international, but, “when we walk out of our own front doors in all of the cities where we live.” Finally, Roberts said American heritage and citizenship seeks to answer the question, “what does it mean to be an American?” Prior to Roberts’ speech, the conference watch an ad made by The Heritage Foundation honoring Charlie and Erika Kirk. God Bless @MrsErikaKirk for showing America the strength, grace, and resolve that comes with salvation. Her testimony and work to continue her husband’s mission should inspire all of us.@Heritage is proud to honor Charlie and Erika with this video airing during tonight’s… pic.twitter.com/bmhf65By1s— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) December 13, 2025 The Golden Age, “is a choice to prioritize families and empower local communities,” the ad says, accompanied by soaring music and a montage of American scenes. “A choice to find dignity in prosperous and honorable work. A choice to prioritize our nation’s safety, protecting our homeland and standing strong against foreign threats. A choice to cherish the greatest gift we’ve been given—waking up every day an American citizen.” The post What Will Bring About America’s Golden Age? Heritage President Responds appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Trump administration made a series of moves this week to crack down on the fraud which has allegedly occurred in Minnesota under Democrat Gov. Tim Walz’s watch. “Under President Trump’s leadership, the federal government is fully exposing and aggressively prosecuting the rampant fraud that was allowed to happen for years under failed Democrat leadership in the great state of Minnesota,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told The Daily Signal. “The Trump administration will not rest until all the damaged caused by incompetent Tim Walz and his Democrat allies has been reversed,” Huston continued. Five executive agencies took actions against Minnesota this week: 1. Department of Agriculture The Department of Agriculture sent a letter to Walz requiring Minnesota to conduct recertifications for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients in four counties. Secretary Brooke Rollins demanded Minnesota participate in a pilot program to root out fraud and abuse.  Rollins took this action after the Department of Justice found that members of the Somali community through the fake nonprofit Feeding Our Future allegedly defrauded taxpayers of at least $1 billion under Walz’s administration. 2. Health and Human Services HHS sent eight letters to Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and the largest Head Start provider in Minneapolis requiring citizenship or incoming eligibility data for recipients of benefits.  Head Start is a program helping children from low-income families to enter kindergarten. 3. Department of Labor The Department of Labor launched an investigation into Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance Program. Labor sent a letter to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development saying that recent reports of fraud, waste, and abuse may compromise the integrity of their Unemployment Insurance Program, which provides temporary financial aid to workers who lose their jobs. “I am appalled at what we are hearing about potential fraud coming from numerous benefits programs in Minnesota. If there has been any related abuse of our UI systems, it will not be tolerated, and I trust our specialized strike team to get to the bottom of this and report their findings directly to me,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said. “Our mission to protect American workers remains unchanged, and I will not allow malicious actors to destroy the integrity of this trusted program.”  4. Department of Justice The DOJ sued Minneapolis Public Schools over allegations of diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring practices. This including a collective bargaining agreement that promised to preference teachers of an “underrepresented population.”  The DOJ claims that since July 1, 2021, MPS has worked with a teacher’s union to provide “black teachers, teachers of color, and ‘underrepresented’ teachers preferential treatment in employment decisions.”  “Discrimination is unacceptable in all forms, especially when it comes to hiring decisions. Our public education system in Minnesota and across the country must be a bastion of merit and equal opportunity—not DEI,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. 5. Department of Education Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a letter to Walz highlighting fraud allegations within the state’s college education system. “In Minnesota, 1,834 ghost students were found to have received $12.5 million in taxpayer-funded grants and loans,” McMahon said. “They collected checks from the federal government, shared a small portion of the money with the college, and pocketed the rest—without attending the college at all. She even called on Walz to resign. “Given your dereliction of the office entrusted to you by Minnesotans, I implore you to resign and make way for more capable leadership,” she said in a Dec. 15 letter. She accused Walz of doing “absolutely nothing” to prevent or stop fraud. The post Five Ways Trump Put Pressure on ‘Rampant Fraud’ in Minnesota This Week appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Trump administration plans to fix the diversity visa program then resume it, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told The Daily Signal Friday. After the alleged shooter of students at Brown University and an MIT professor was found to have entered the country using a diversity visa, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem paused the program. The Daily Signal asked Rubio if the State Department is considering permanent changes to the diversity visa program. “The reason why you suspend this program, it’s not because you argue everybody who came in under that visa is about a person who’s going to shoot a place up,” Rubio said. “It’s because you want to determine whether there’s something in the vetting of that program that’s insufficient, is there a systemic problem, and how those decisions are made that needs to be addressed.” After the Brown/MIT shooter was found to have entered the US through the diversity visa program, I asked @SecRubio if @StateDept is considering changing the program. "I think it's wise to suspend a program until you understand whether there's a deficiency in the program.""You… pic.twitter.com/9AVNwPMu2s— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) December 19, 2025 Noem announced late Thursday that the Trump administration will pause the diversity visa lottery program after it was found to have been used eight years ago by the man accused of killing an MIT professor and two Brown University students, including College Republicans Vice President Ella Cook. The suspected shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, entered the United States through the lottery in 2017 and was issued a green card. NEW: Brown University sophomore Ella Cook, identified as one of the shooting victims, was "a devoted Christian and a committed conservative."The announcement was made during a service at Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama."Some of you haven't heard a lot of… pic.twitter.com/iSHUKodhZy— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 15, 2025 The diversity visa lottery allows 50,000 people per year from countries with low rates of immigration to America to obtain visas. Rubio said it’s “wise” to suspend the program until the administration has determined if there’s a deficiency. “You just had a guy that came in through a certain route, you suspend the program to figure out whether something that came up in the interview process should have been a red flag but wasn’t identified,” Rubio said. “So you can fix that before you restart the program. So I would imagine that’s the process we’re going to go through as well.” The post Rubio Addresses If He’ll End Program Brown University Shooter Used to Enter the United States appeared first on The Daily Signal.