The author argues that we are failing to prepare today's young people to be responsible American citizens--to the detriment of their life prospects and those of liberty in the United States of the future. He identifies the problems--the declines in civic purpose and patriotism, crises of faith, cynicism, self-absorption, ignorance, indifference to the common good--and shows that our disregard of civic and moral virtue as an educational priority is having a tangible effect on the attitudes, understanding, and behavior of large portions of the youth in our country today.