School Is Not Enough

A rewrite of Sarris's 2021 essay The Most Precious Resource Is Agency. He argues that the early lives of the great — Leonardo apprenticed to Verrocchio at 14, Walt Disney delivering papers at 11, Nabokov publishing poetry at 16, Andrew Carnegie supporting his family by 16 — all share a common feature: they were doing useful, appreciated work, not merely attending school. Today's children, locked into a 20-year inertia of pure schooling, have lost the "useful childhood" that produced reach. Includes practical recommendations for parents.