OK, everybody knows newspapers are in trouble. But it’s much worse than I thought.

Yesterday Gary North pointed out some figures compiled by the Pew Research Center that I’d never seen before.

Take the 18-24 age range. As recently as 1999, 42% said they read a newspaper. By 2015, that figure had plummeted to 16%.

For 25-34, the figures were 44% and 17%, respectively.

And for 35-44, the percentage fell from 54 down to 21.

Newspapers are finished.

Their fate is symbolic of the fate of the establishment more generally.

Less and less is there a unified source of opinion that can influence people. Sources of information are too numerous and decentralized now.

Could we have imagined such a glorious development? Of course not.

So be of good cheer. Wonderful things are happening even amidst all the bad.

Libertarians don’t seem to like hearing good news. Yesterday’s email, whose subject line indicated that what you’d find inside would make you happy, had the lowest open rate of any email I’ve sent all year.

Cheer up already!