I have long admired Kristof's persuasive writing; but persuasion is a curse when he uses his gift to mislead.
This is a bait-and-switch narrative.
The first two paragraphs falsely lead us to believe this was an idyllic happy family and later in the piece it's 'revealed' the REAL cause of their downfall is society and an uncaring, heartless economic system that chews up families and spits them out.
The problems in this family are found within this family. Families went through the Depression and survived intact because the parents maintained stability and taught their children how to be upstanding individuals.
Who Killed the Knapp Family? Self-centered parents who cared more about their own drug use than they did about rearing morally upright children.
I have siblings and their families living west of the Cascades. Most of them are druggies. I love them because they are FAMILY. But they too blame their ‘circumstances’ on everybody else.