U.S. Senator Ben Sasse is a fifth-generation Nebraskan. The son of a football and wrestling coach, he attended public school in Fremont, Neb., and spent his summers working soybean and corn fields. He was recruited to wrestle at Harvard before attending Oxford and later earning a Ph.D. in American history from Yale. Prior to the Senate, Sasse spent five years as president of Midland University back in his hometown. As perhaps the only commuting family in the U.S. Senate, Ben and his wife, Melissa, live in Nebraska but are homeschooling their three children as they commute weekly back and forth to Washington, DC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
* AN INSTANT\u00a0NEW YORK TIMES<\/i>\u00a0BESTSELLER *<\/b><\/p>\n
From the\u00a0<\/b>New York Times<\/b>\u00a0bestselling author of\u00a0<\/b><\/i>The Vanishing American Adult<\/b>, an intimate and urgent assessment of the existential crisis facing our nation.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n
Something is wrong. We all know it.<\/p>\n
American life expectancy is declining for a third straight year. Birth rates are dropping. Nearly half of us think the other political party isn\u2019t just wrong; they\u2019re evil. We\u2019re the richest country in history, but we\u2019ve never been more pessimistic.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s causing the despair?<\/p>\n
In\u00a0Them<\/i>, bestselling author and U.S. senator Ben Sasse argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, our crisis isn\u2019t really about politics. It\u2019s that we\u2019re so lonely we can\u2019t see straight\u2015and it bubbles out as anger.<\/p>\n
Local communities are collapsing. Across the nation, little leagues are disappearing, Rotary clubs are dwindling, and in all likelihood, we don\u2019t know the neighbor two doors down. Work isn\u2019t what we\u2019d hoped: less certainty, few lifelong coworkers, shallow purpose. Stable families and enduring friendships\u2015life\u2019s fundamental pillars\u2015are in statistical freefall.<\/p>\n
As traditional tribes of place evaporate, we rally against common enemies so we can feel part of a team. No institutions command widespread public trust, enabling foreign intelligence agencies to use technology to pick the scabs on our toxic divisions. We\u2019re in danger of half of us believing different facts than the other half, and the digital revolution throws gas on the fire.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a path forward\u2015but reversing our decline requires something radical: a rediscovery of real places and human-to-human relationships. Even as technology nudges us to become\u00a0rootless<\/i>, Sasse shows how only a recovery of\u00a0rootedness<\/i>\u00a0can heal our lonely souls.<\/p>\n
America wants you to be happy, but more urgently, America needs you to love your neighbor and connect with your community. Fixing what’s wrong with the country depends on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"product_cat":[25],"product_tag":[],"yoast_head":"\n