Commentary LEBANON, Kansas—There is something uplifting about standing in the center point of the United States of America. It evokes a sense that is both spiritual and patriotic, particularly if you reach this point having traveled on both sides of the monument that marks the spot. There is a restorative energy you absorb, no matter where the back roads take you. You have to take time listening to folks in city neighborhoods, tree-lined suburbs, and small towns. No one person’s story is perfect. No situation or place is perfect. There is plenty of despair among people in towns where automation, industry, and technology have passed them by, a sentiment shared by young people in neighborhoods that sit 100 yards from centers of wealth and power. They can see success from their living room window but cannot access it. But no matter how dire things get, there is always more hope …