I’m sure I’m not alone in knowing several families that are prosperous, hard-working and deeply religious and yet lose children to the world of drugs, out-of-wedlock birth, welfare dependence and hopelessness.

It’s also increasingly common to see solidly middle-class couples who, after 20 or 30 years of seemingly successful marriage, suddenly break up, causing pain to themselves, their children and even their grandchildren. In spite of a booming economy and increased opportunity, so-called “deaths of despair”—through suicide, alcoholism or drug overdoses—have reached unprecedented levels.

This explains the seeming disconnect between our prevailing prosperity and the big majorities who believe America’s on the wrong track for our future.

The essential problem involves the collapse of family life, and with neither liberals nor conservatives addressing the issue in meaningful ways, our politics seems to offer only a sideshow rather than a solution.