America was founded with the "ideal" of free, universal public education. But. Responsibility for fulfilling that ideal has been a local matter - usually through some version of “home rule”. Maybe. What’s good for a state? Is good for the republic?

Our fate was sealed the moment we wiggled ashore. Did we deserve it? In a word - yes. And. I’ve made peace with that. Let’s hope in a billion years our fossils serve as a warning for the next species to give it a try.