They grew up in Oregon, which has become a Mecca for the radical Leftists. Why did the Knapp children turn to alcohol, drugs and crime? Maybe look at the FAMILY. It won’t be anyone else’s fault.
In all this sympathethic story of multigenerational dysfunction, I recall no mention of the father of those original five kids, or the father of the failed granddaughter Amber's kids.
I have long admired Kristof's persuasive writing; but persuasion is a curse when he uses his gift to mislead. Radical lib/prog globalism is what foisted NAFTA and other offshoring of American manufacturing, depriving the working class of its way of life during the working years of the original Knapp children; yet he overbraodly blames "captitalism" instead of the corruption in DC that saw both parties collaborate to redefine our economy around shareholders instead of families and profits instead of patriotism. Kristof's solution is to covet the soul-numbing socialism of Canada and Europe.