Introduction -- A crisis of dissolution. The missing links ; From molds to platforms -- Institutions in transition. We the people ; Professional help ; Campus cultures ; The informality machine ; Close to home -- A path to renewal. The case for commitment ; Beyond meritocracy -- Conclusion

"Americans are living through a social crisis. Populist firebrands -- on left and right alike -- propose to address the crisis through acts of tearing down. They describe themselves as destroying oppressive establishments, clearing weeds, draining swamps. But, as acclaimed conservative intellectual Yuval Levin argues, this is a misguided prescription, rooted in a defective diagnosis. The social crisis we confront is defined not by an oppressive presence, but by a debilitating absence of forces that unite us and militate against alienation"--