Go to college. Find a high-paying job as a knowledge worker. Buy a house in a safe neighborhood and hire good people to maintain it.

This is the carrot Americans have chased since the 1980s. But what if it's the wrong goal? What if skilled knowledge work no longer unlocks the American Dream we were promised?

A nation of too many thinkers and not enough doers leaves us all vulnerable. Vulnerable to layoffs and economic uncertainty. Vulnerable to crowded job markets. Vulnerable to breakdowns in our homes and our nation's infrastructure.

Is this really how we want to live?

In The Trade Gap, author Zachary Hanson proposes a balanced approach to education that merges intellectual pursuits with hands-on capabilities. Through self-reliance, deeper skill sets, and a greater emphasis on trade work, we can close the widening skills gap and strengthen our resilience in the process.

The future of America is in your hands. How will you help to build it?