The Elephant in the Room

There is such a thing as a business cycle,with sine curves of growth and employment and wealth creation and creative destruction.   That was what most of the Wednesday debate was about -- jobs, the economy, etc., with an occasional foray into the national debt.

Then there is such a thing as civilizational decay.   The debate didn't much touch on this -- it was the proverbial elephant in the room -- and in particular on what is driving it:

Yesterday the federal government released its latest figures on births in the United States, including out-of-wedlock births. The numbers are very close to last year’s: 72.3 percent of non-Hispanic blacks are now born out-of-wedlock; 66.2 percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives; 53.3 percent of Hispanics; 29.1 percent of non-Hispanic whites; and 17.2 percent of Asians/Pacific Islanders. That’s 40.7 percent overall: a disaster.