Full Description
Every child in America deserves to know that a path to a successful life exists and that they have the power to follow it. But many never set foot on that path because they grow up hearing the message that systemic forces control their destinies, or that they are at fault for everything that has gone wrong in their lives.
These children often come from difficult circumstances. Many are raised by young, single parents, live in disadvantaged neighborhoods, attend substandard schools, and lack the moral safeguards of religious and civic institutions. As a result, they can be dispirited into cycles of learned helplessness rather than inspired to pursue their own possibilities.
Yet this phenomenon is not universal. Some children thrive where others do not. Why? Are there personal behaviors and institutional supports that have proven to make a difference in helping young people chart a course for their futures? Agency answers with a loud and clear "yes!"
This book describes four pillars that can uplift every young person as they make the passage into adulthood: Family, Religion, Education, and Entrepreneurship. Together, these pillars embody the true meaning of freedom, wherein people are motivated to embrace the ennobling responsibilities of building healthy social structures and shaping the outcomes of their own lives.
For that reason, Ian Rowe calls the four pillars the FREE framework. With this framework in place, children are empowered to develop agency, which Rowe defines as the force of one's free will, guided by moral discernment. Developing agency is the alternative to the debilitating 'blame-the-system' and 'blame-the-victim' narratives. It transcends our political differences and beckons all who dare to envision lives unshackled by present realities.
In addition to making the case for agency, Rowe shares his personal story of success coming from an immigrant family. He defends America as an ever-improving country worthy of our esteem. He corrects misguided calls for "anti-racism" and "equity," and champions a game plan for creating new agents of agency, dedicated to promoting the aspirational spirit of America's children, and showing them the path that will set them FREE.
Contents
Foreword / xi
Introduction / 3
PART 1 What Is Agency and Why Do We Need It Today?
1 What Is Agency and Why Is It So Crucial to Human Flourishing? / 15
2 Two Competing Visions of What Impedes the American Dream and the Effort to Build Agency / 25
3 The Third Way: Revitalizing Mediating Institutions to Strengthen Civil Society and Spark Individual Agency / 37
4 How Believing You Live in a Good, If Not Great, Country Helps Build Agency / 47
5 How the Hard Bigotry of "Antiracist" Expectations and the Pursuit of "Equity" Erode Agency for All / 57
PART 2 How My Story of Discovering the Importance of Family Structure Opened the Door for Me to View Agency as the Path Forward for Young Americans
6 Who's Your Daddy? The Moment I Realized Schools Were Not Enough to Build Agency / 79
7 Robbing Our Young People of Agency: Silence or Denial about the Importance of Family Structure / 91
8 How America Has Changed Young Hearts and Minds in the Past: Teen Pregnancy / 105
9 Dan Quayle Was Right, But His Strategy Was Wrong / 129
10 The Success Sequence: The Empowering Alternative and the Other Building Blocks of Agency / 139
11 The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Foundation of Family / 149
PART 3 How FREE Can Usher in a New "Age of Agency" for Young Americans
12 The FREE Framework to Build Agency / 157
13 Family / 165
14 Religion / 175
15 Education / 185
16 Entrepreneurship / 205
17 A New Age of Agency / 213
Afterword / 223
Appendix / 227
Acknowledgments / 241
