The Republic of Technology by Daniel Boorstin.

In 1978, Boorstin examined the tech stack that drives the United States, which he finds to be the people and the rules by which they associate. ie. Immigrants, Education, and the Constitution did the heavy lifting. By 1978, America's Open Door Policy had been closed for decades, Public schooling converted into child parking lots, and the Constitution amended a number of times. What started with the potential for experimentation, had drifted into a unified complacency.

Scared of Cheap Labor, the citizenry had voted themselves out of a Middle Class and into a land of rising inequality. Instead of rolling out experiments across the States, what was the solution? More of what hasn't worked, ie. restrictions on people's work.

Likely without many changes, this book will survive a re-printing at the Tricentennial.

Spoiled by righteous unification.

In the beginning was Jefferson's hope for a rational exploration of how best to govern:

as an answer to Adams' complaint on the dearth of prior experiment:

However, hic sunt dracones!

College Preparatory / High schools in the 1800s were the middle class of the 2000s: not enough, and no solutions were actually aimed at the problem.

The Doors of Opportunity were open only a scarce while...

Before the forces of evil worked to close them. Here is the list of mis-guided souls: