Government did not create our social problems and it can't solve them for us. This book explores in detail the who and how of real social change. The Real Change-Makers: Why Government Is Not the Problem or the Solution is based on a straightforward premise: it is everyday Americans who have always been the real change-makers and whose efforts are now more necessary than ever given the financial squeeze that local, state, and federal governments confront. In this provocative and timely book, Brown explains why solutions to social problems won't come from just more litigation, more legislation, more regulation, or more funding. His focus is not upon theory but everyday social practices—pursuing health care beyond the doctor's office, educating young people beyond the school zone, and pooling resources in new ways that take into account what Americans own, what they know, and what free time they have. Despite living in an age of media distraction, this book calls on citizens to renew their social attention, self-organize, and tackle the social problems that plague us. Most important, it is a book that leads the way to our future.