“I believe our nation is in the midst of a collective coming-of-age crisis without parallel in our history. We are living in an America of perpetual adolescence. Our kids simply don’t know what an adult is anymore–or how to become one. Perhaps more problematic, the older generations have forgotten that we need to teach them. It’s our fault more than it is theirs ” The Vanishing American Adult, Ben Sasse (US Senate), 2017, St. Martins Press.
“I offered my employee more money, benefits and he didn’t want to work more than necessary” or “So and so just didn’t show up for the shift, said she had better things to do.” I hear this story in various iterations over and over as I knock on doors.
Our capacity to govern and provide essential services to those in need is dependent on our ability to work, innovate, educate/train and reward productive work. The taxes collected contribute to an alarming high number of MT. citizens lacking health care, needing nursing home assistance, a citizen with a disability requiring a case worker to navigate a complex system.
I’ll read Sasse’s book with interest especially as one interested in improving outcomes and public policy.