Here's a tiny excerpt from the book's introduction:

To be clear, we need a sense of urgency. We need incentives that inspire excellence. We need to compete globally, we need to cooperate locally and we need to work harder to make change. Yes, our schools are struggling, our economic underpinnings are shaky, our political culture is filled with rancor and cynicism, and our popular culture is fixated on celebrity and easy pleasures. Yet success in the 21st century depends on brains and speed, innovation and new partnerships. It requires long-range thinking and a reinvigorated commitment to hard work, excellence and purposeful action.

And we need this now. Before it's too late. Because we still have something to prove.