...”Social policy has made them a no-lose proposition for teens”...
Yes! Society gets more of what brings reward without consequences and less of what is punished. Think of rewards as something “tax free,” and punishment as “increased taxation.” Never mind that the rewards are short lived. “Political Correctness” has stifled any judgment of destructive behavior in America, so, all of these things will increase dramatically which will bring broad suffering to everyone. Strong self-discipline is required to make something of oneself and that fact alone insures that fewer and fewer people are going to be around to support all of this increasing poverty.
Shove this in any lib’s face, however, and you’ll get outright denial that people act rationally in the face of incentives.
This is why they hate and fear the free market, it works on this principle, and they think it’s just magic, or that someone at the top (President Bush) is manipulating pricing and supplies.