[November 1, 2025] As I write this book review, all sorts of little kids are running throughout the local neighborhoods hunting down the best sources of candy treats and showing off their most outrageous outfits. What a great time of year, especially to those of us who are more comfortable with lower temperatures and less humidity. Speaking of kids, today’s book, Them Before Us, written by Katy Faust and her dear friend Stacy Manning, is all about our adult-centric world and how our narcissism harms children by depriving them of their “fundamental rights.” As most regular readers know, I’ve already proposed that protecting unborn children as the greatest Civil Rights effort of the 21st century. My eyes were opened by Katy Faust and I’ll be adding children to the Civil Rights issue, as she does in her fine book. But, before we get into the book and what I like about it, first a few words about my Book Review section of this leadership blog. I’ve been hearing lately that young adults no longer know how to read – oh yes, they can read words but not put those into ideas – and that is due to the social media dumbing down their content into podcasts, YouTube videos, audio book, and into other forms of social media. Reading does require effort. I know from firsthand experience that sometimes, reading a paragraph over several times to get a grasp on its meaning, can be frustrating. So, what are my thoughts about Katy Faust’s book “Them Before Us?”
Them Before Us: Why We Need a Global Children’s Rights Movement, Kathy Faust and Stacy Manning, 2022.
I have not finished reading “Them Before Us.” Before I write a review, not only do I 
typically read the entire book, but I also read a number of reviews online. This helps me better understand the book and give more educated comments. I’ve not done this here. Okay, I’m a slacker. Nonetheless, Katy’s book is easy reading, she makes her arguments clearly and unambiguously, and with plenty of evidence to back up her positions. She is meticulous in her research because her claims hit directly at the heart of modern, Western society’s increasingly narcissistic ways. She is not the first to make the claim that our world is very adult-centered, of course it is. Katy believes that not only are adults in control but have taken their existence and ideas of luxury, fun, and popularity that they now impinge upon the very existence of children. Children are being sacrificed on the altar of adult hedonism. She writes, “We live in a world that increasingly believes adult happiness and personal fulfillment are the highest pursuits.”
The well-being of a child should come before the adults in their lives. I’m devastated by the harm being done to children who are forced by adults to live in households that do not contain their biological parents. Katy is explicit here. The best place for a child is with his or her biological parents. And, she does accept that sometimes this is not in the best interest of the child and that there are exceptions to this general rule. However, she is brutal in the takedown of arguments that say any household is good enough as long as the child is loved. Wrong! Children have a hole in their hearts for their biological parents and it has been this way since the beginning of time. Katy offers a compelling argument for marriage, and this is a non-partisan issue that should be taken up by both political parties. When families fail, as they are increasingly doing (especially with more fatherless families), the children are being raised in non-intact families, and consequently are in poverty both as children and as adults. If you are concerned about the well-being of children, this book is for you. Katy has been called a trailblazer in this field. She and her friend Stacey are to be congratulated on their efforts to bring forward the fundamental rights of children.
Highly Recommended.
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Please read my books:
A great book, easy to read and understand. Get yourself a copy and you will not regret it.
I ordered the book yesterday, and I’m looking forward to reading it. Gen. Satterfield has already convinced me to read more on the subject of children, as well as unborn children. Both are in need of good people to protect them.
Looks like I’m about to purchase another book, recommended by Gen. Satterfield. I read some reviews online about “Them Before Us” and most agree that the information in the book is right on target. I also noticed that there were a number of folks who have it the lowest rating of “1.” I can understand that feminists (see yesterdays’ article on Dr. Camilia Paglia) are opposed to saving children because they have bought into the propaganda that children are NOT above adult pleasures and happiness. Of course, this is exactly backwards. Children should not be spoiled, but they must be showed the right way to a successful future and protesting in the streets and hating men is not the way that feminism wants women to be. Men, watch out for a feminist. They have red flags all over them.
A highly recommended book especially if you believe in the proper care of our future. 👍
Great book review on an overlooked book on the proper rights of children, and children today are overlooked to our own detriment.
😁 “I’m a slacker.” – Gen. Satterfield 😁
Just too funny that he would admit what most of us practice daily.
Yeah, Anya, I was thinking the same thing when I read it. Gen. Satterfield is pretty open about his difficulty growing up in what today we would call poor, but at the time, the 1950s and 60s, his family was pretty normal. Both parents, dad working, kids going to school, etc. Never seeing divorce, and so on. Plus none of the crazies like we have today and the dangerous immigrants that our political leaders have willingly allowed into the country. This is a great blog on leadership and Gen. Satterfield’s book reviews help me better find good books to read. And by “good” I mean books that significantly add to my understanding of the world and do so more efficiently.
Well said, jasmine. And I do love the blog too. This is where you can more information than any other so-called leadership website and for free and without all the annoying ads.
Katy Faust is a trailblazer for sure.
“However, she is brutal in the takedown of arguments that say any household is good enough as long as the child is loved. Wrong! Children have a hole in their hearts for their biological parents and it has been this way since the beginning of time. Katy offers a compelling argument for marriage, and this is a non-partisan issue that should be taken up by both political parties. When families fail, as they are increasingly doing (especially with more fatherless families), the children are being raised in non-intact families, and consequently are in poverty both as children and as adults. If you are concerned about the well-being of children, this book is for you.” — Gen. Doug Satterfield
A great book to read. Easy to follow and easy to read. ✅
If your life priorities includes children, which it definitely should, then this book is for you. It is all about how we should, as a good culture, have children’s fundamental, natural rights in mind when we make adult decisions. Now, one would think this is a noncontroversial idea, but NOOOOOO, the feminists have made family life all about the wife (or female “partner”) and the last person(s) are children in a relationship.. Katy Faust does a great job documenting all the scientific research on the topic, and it is no wonder why. She knew she would get hard pushback from Feminists who never like their lifestyle questioned. Well, here we are. And Katy does us all a big favor by giving us this book that I will be using as a reference when i debate the issue of children and their rights.
EXCELLENT BOOK
Yep, and I think most of us would fully agree with you SWEENEY.
😁😁😁😁😁
Gen. Satterfield, indeed, an excellent book that is all about the fundamental rights of children. It’s not about “legal” rights per se, but about the rights to be with their biological parents. But given our narcissistic world we live in, adults are about their “well-being” and screw the kids as long as adults are “happy.” As Gen. Satterfield has repeatedly written, the world is not about being happy.
Very true, Lady Hawk. Children are the future and when the future is irrelevant because a person cannot plan beyond today, then children are mere toys and money from the gov’ment.
Get Gen. Satterfield’s book “55 Rules for a Good Life.” In the upcoming update to this book, I hope he addresses children in it. 🙏
Indeed, children are obviously our future. The issue here as gen. Satterfield says, when we talk about the success of a culture, those that prioritize children will always survive and Florida.
https://www.amazon.com/55-Rules-Good-Life-Responsibility/dp/1737915529/