I agree on a lot of levels, but I have a slightly different take. I would argue that, fundamentally, we are still pursuit predators. It's a deeply engrained cognitive trait to chase a goal over long periods of time, methodically fighting against things that are far larger than ourselves. We can adapt to any circumstances as long as our lives are framed in the context of a greater goal.

To that end, I posit that our ills of today ultimately boil down to two root causes: A lack of a national vision, and our weak public education system.

A national vision is key to strong social cohesion, it's a collective dream gives value to our work and builds a common sense of brotherhood. We overthrew the shackles of an empire chasing our dreams of democracy and freedom, and grew into an empire of our own while chasing manifest destiny. Immigrants flooded in riding industrialization to fulfill their dreams of upward mobility, and fostering a sense of inevitable progress. World War 2 ripped us out of the Great Depression, sending us back to Europe as liberators and defenders of democracy, while we fought back imperialism on the Pacific front. We were liberators and defenders of democracy, a free people united against tyranny. The Cold War coupled our social identity to economic implementations, but it also sent us to the final frontier of space and inspired an entire generation.

It doesn't matter that we were never really united. There was always a sense of direction, movement towards some end, and that was enough to give us something to fight for or against. The fight put our lives in context and gave us meaning, it united us as comrades in that greater fight.

That ended with the USSR collapse. Our imperial democracy suddenly found itself a hegemony that it was culturally unprepared to defend. As many here have experienced in business, the culture of expansion is radically different than the culture of an organization that's holding ground and focused on internal improvements... maintaining position requires greater maturity, a sense of collective ownership and sustainable long-term thinking. The Cold War socioeconomic coupling hindered our ability to transition towards the stability mindset, and, if anything, stigmatized ideas of collectivism just when we needed them the most.

We're left framing our lives in the context of post-Cold War capitalism: Faceless gears in a machine, an inward-facing culture of selfishness and greed that enables the gutting of our nation and our principles. Capitalism is an economic implementation, it is not a socioeconomic system.

I would argue that there are only two things required to put America back on track. Many things are broken, but they are symptoms of much simpler root causes.

* We need an expansive national vision to unite us behind a distant challenge: A new Space Race. Shift billions from defense spending to growing new industries, building a vision around settling the final frontier, and raising the next generation to look upwards in awe. Frame our culture around building the future and leading all of humanity into the great unknown.

* Reform and reinvest in public education as a foundational cultural institution. Focus K-12 on developing strong citizens that embody our democratic ideals of critical thought and cognitive independence. Instill students with principles and skills to navigate the modern world, rather than relying on short-term rote memorization against standardized tests. Work to refactor some careers out of college and into new trade schools, and change the high school narrative to put more emphasis on non-college education paths like tradeschools or civics.

That's all we need. A vision to inspire and put our lives in a greater context, public education to give our citizens the tools to be an educated electorate, and together they foster a culture that's capable of focusing inward and upwards.