"Wherever we look, from L.A. to D.C., from Oklahoma City to Sun City, we see paths to a foreboding future. We yearn for civic character but satisfy ourselves with symbolic gestures and celebrity circuses.

 

"We perceive no greatness in our leaders, a new meanness in ourselves. Small wonder that each new election brings a new jolt, its aftermath a new disappointment.

 

"Not long ago, America was more than the sum of its parts. Now it is less."

So wrote William Strauss and Neil Howe in their 1997 book The Fourth Turning. It remains one of the best modern classics. Yet we have yet to apply most of its recommendations.

Every American should read this book.