The conclusion is the point in the essay when the author directs the reader to some ray of hope. I don’t really see such a ray, at least not on the near horizon. The problems and their causes I have attempted to sketch out here are generations in the making. If there is a solution, be it political or educational reform—I suggest both—the effects will not be seen for at least a generation. One hopes at that point there will still be an America with preserving, and we will not have meanly lost the last, best hope of earth.