How The Viral “Everyone Is 12 Now” Theory Just Might Explain Everything That’s Happening In America Today

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On a random Sunday night in September, Bluesky user and musician Patrick Cosmos (@veryimportant.lawyer) shared an observation that quickly spread across the whole internet. He wrote, “working on a new unified theory of american reality i’m calling ‘everyone is twelve now.'”

He followed up, writing, “‘I’m strong and I want to have like fifty kids and a farm’ of course you do. You’re twelve.”

“‘I don’t want to eat vegetables I think steak and French fries is the only meal’ hell yeah homie you’re twelve.”

“‘Maybe if there’s crime we should just send the army’ bless your heart my twelve year old buddy.”

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It’s already being called “the most important political thread of our time.”

And someone else wrote that this will become a resistance slogan of the Trump 2.0 era in the same way that “the cruelty is the point” dominated discourse during his first term.

People are already applying the theory to everything from anti-vaxers to users of generative AI.

The post has spread beyond Bluesky, reaching users on Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, and other platforms, and it’s gotten quite a workout in the month and half since it was first posted.

People referenced the post after President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video of himself dropping what appears to be molten poop out of a plane onto No Kings protestors.

And it was referenced again after Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt answered a HuffPost reporter’s serious question with, “Your mom did.”

It’s come up in relation to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s unproven claims about circumcision and autism.

And when Eric Trump described himself as “a good boy” on national television.
brenbelike / CNN / Via Twitter: @brenbelike

And it popped up in response to the MAGA freakout over Bad Bunny being announced as 2026’s Super Bowl performer.

It also regularly comes up in response to social media posts from the Trump administration, like this post from the Department of Homeland Security using imagery of knights to urge people to join ICE.

The “everyone is 12” theory seems to be catching on because it feels deeply resonant right now, both in our politics and our culture. But what might explain the sudden surge in grown adults acting like middle schoolers?

Some, like political commentator Will Stancil, believe that it’s a consequence of leaders seeking popularity on social media rather than affecting principled change in the real world. Childish and outrageous behavior tends to garner more engagement in the algorithm, and holding the attention of the masses is its own kind of power.

Others argue that the ahistorical nostalgia that dominates the MAGA movement and its yearning for a non-existent time when everything was great is inherently childish.

As one Reddit user put it: “An ideology specially crafted to appeal to nostalgia kinda has to be childish. The world was never perfect, so to pretend it was, you have to appeal to childlike innocence. Trump could get RFK to officially announce that ‘eating ice cream for dinner is healthier than seed oils’ and it would win him another election.”

Or there’s the literacy theory. According to the National Literacy Institute, 54% of US adults read at a level below the 6th-grade level. Lacking the ability to read about and understand complex issues can leave people vulnerable to misinformation and disinformation found on social media.

In conclusion, the “everyone is 12” theory became a load-bearing part of the internet in just a few short weeks, and now that you’ve seen it, you’ll probably start seeing it everywhere.

What are your thoughts about the theory? Let us know in the comments.