Second this. Posts prior to yours have stated other causes (lack of leadership, economic issues). But a strong and widely shared/held understanding of civics

Second this. Posts prior to yours have stated other causes (lack of leadership, economic issues). But a strong and widely shared/held understanding of civics would have provided a framework for discussing these issues and potential resolutions. civics to include both the what (how government works) and the why (power arising from the people, leviation so life is worth living, government to secure rights (which includes economic provisions such as a social safety net to ensure delivery of those rights), ...), leading to the responsibility/expectations on all of society, from the individual on up. We today (as a culture) are so advanced in terms of STEM that we think we know it all, and are completely blind to how much we don't know. The founding fathers had much greater wisdom/understanding on how politics and society work and how to make them work, we've lost that. Finally, ALL of the above is completely neutral to "conservative" or "progressive" politics. The founding fathers debated these just as strongly as we do today, on all aspects of every point I raised above.