“It's not just that government has failed us. It's not just that we hav...” — J. D. Vance Quote

It's not just that government has failed us. It's not just that we have failed ourselves. It's government. It's individuals. It's sort of everything in between, from families and communities and neighborhoods, churches and so forth.

It's not easy, especially in our politically polarized world, to recognize both the structural and the cultural barriers that so many poor kids face. But I think that if you don't recognize both, you risk being heartless or condescending, and often both.

The transition after the Vietnam War to an all-volunteer force created the world's finest professional military. But it also reinforced geographic and cultural divisions that reveal themselves in our voting.

If you're graduating from high school, and you come from a lower income family, you're effectively given two options. One is get a four-year college degree; two is work at a low-wage job, potentially for the rest of your life. We've got to do better on that front. We have to provide more options.

I would love to one day see the rock churches in Ethiopia and learn about the history of Rastafari in the country, as well as see the amazing landscapes of Iceland.

Most churches are run by preachers who went to seminaries, who decided to be preachers when they were 18, 19, 20 years old. These preachers never met a payroll. They don't know how the world works.

In schools, churches and local communities, Americans are participating in their democracy by getting others to as well.

When I see Tiffany windows in churches across the United States, I get a sense of spiritual upliftment from that.