Western civilization belongs to those who build family

SILK: More Kids, More Wealth

Single Income, Lots of Kids, A Path to Human Flourishing

A new book by Robert Bortins, author of Woke and Weaponized. Foreword by Sam Sorbo.

“America’s fertility collapse is no accident—it is the fruit of disordered priorities that elevate career and comfort over covenant and children. SILK: More Kids, More Wealth offers a clear-eyed, practical alternative. Drawing on hard data, classical wisdom, and the lived success of large, home-centered families, it shows ordinary households—often on a single income—how to raise multiple children well, educate them intentionally, and build real multigenerational strength measured in character, relationships, and lasting capacity.”

— Dr. Carol Swain

Coming Soon

The culture says children are a cost. The math says they are wealth.

What's inside

The DINK Delusion — Why “Dual Income, No Kids” promises fail the test of time.
The Hidden Economics — Why you might be effectively working for $2/hr and don’t even know it.
Father, Mother, and Home — Don’t spend your precious time building someone else’s nest egg. Build your legacy.
The Path Forward — Get out of the rat race, and retire your wife.

“In an age that sells us autonomy and delivers isolation, this book reminds us that the family which works together, plays together, and needs one another across a lifetime isn’t falling behind the culture of independence — it’s quietly surpassing it.”

—Brad Wilcox, Institute for Family Studies; American Enterprise Institute

Why This Matters Now

The U.S. fertility rate fell to an all-time low of 1.599 in 2024 — far below the 2.1 needed to sustain a nation. This is a civilization quietly deciding to be its own last chapter. Is this decision deliberate or based on cultural assumptions that don’t hold water under scrutiny?

The Stakes Have Never Been Higher

We are wealthier but lonelier than any generation before us. SILK argues the deficit isn’t financial — it’s a crisis of the culture we’re building and who will carry it forward.

About the Author

Robert Bortins is the CEO of Classical Conversations, founded by his mother, Leigh Bortins, and the author of Woke and Weaponized. He hosts the Refining Rhetoric podcast and is a leading voice for faith, family, and educational freedom. He and his wife, April, are raising their three children — Lily, Trey, and Jonah — in North Carolina.

“I wrote SILK because I watched my own family multiply into something richer than any spreadsheet could predict, and I got tired of a culture that treats children like a cost center instead of an inheritance. As CEO of the world’s largest classical homeschool community, I’ve watched thousands of families choose abundance over anxiety, and I wanted their wisdom on paper before it got drowned out by fear-based math. This book isn’t a rebuke to anyone still weighing the decision; it’s an invitation from someone who made the leap and found the return was better than promised.”

—Robert Bortins, CEO

Endorsements

“Robert Bortins forces people to reconsider what wealth really means. Modern society and the liberal media have taught us to measure wealth not only by how much stuff we can accumulate, but by how few responsibilities stand in our way. This is an idea that ultimately leads civilization toward its own extinction. Robert presents a powerful case that children are not liabilities, they are the engine of civilization. This book will challenge the way you think about money, family, education, and legacy. More importantly, it will force you to ask the question about wealth that matters most: ‘What are you building that will outlive you?’”

“As an activist defending children’s rights to their mother and father, I watch demographic trends closely. Even young couples who want marriage and children are often dissuaded by economic fears and cultural pressures. Robert Bortins exposes the folly of that advice. Combining classical and biblical wisdom with solid economic data, he dismantles the assumption that maximizing income, comfort, and autonomy produces the richest life. Real wealth is not merely accumulated in bank accounts; it is built around the family table and measured in persons, purpose, and generations. If you care about the flourishing of individual children—and the future of our nation—DINK must decrease and SILK must increase.”

“SILK: More Kids, More Wealth delivers a desperately needed challenge to one of the most destructive lies of our age: that children are burdens, family is an obstacle to personal fulfillment, and outsourcing the formation of the next generation is somehow progress. With compelling arguments drawn from Scripture, history, economics, and common sense, this book turns the conventional wisdom upside down. Real wealth is not measured merely in dollars, possessions, or professional accomplishments, but in strong families, children, faith, wisdom, and a legacy that can bless generations yet unborn. Families are the foundation of civilization—and rebuilding civilization begins at home. This book shows why.”

“Robert Bortins exposes the false narrative that children are a financial liability to families and society. Drawing on compelling evidence, he shows that a return to valuing children is essential not only to human happiness and flourishing, but to the very survival of Western civilization. The principles presented in this book have the power to transform families and shape generations to come.”

“SILK: More Kids, More Wealth is the book to hand a young couple who have been told by a financial advisor that they can’t afford a third child. Robert Bortins takes the USDA’s famous price tag for a child apart line by line, shows what the second income really nets after childcare, taxes, and the commute, and recovers the older truth that Aristotle called oikonomia: a household is meant to produce, not just consume—and children are its most valuable product. I love it.”