Rate the Millennial Saeculum

[Blazkovitz]

I am Bill the Piper, but I lost my password and e-mail needed to login, so I created a new account. Anyway, this is the username I use elsewhere on the Net.

Politics 4/10

A large number of countries became democracies, especially in Europe and South America. Bolshevism was eliminated from the global political scene and discredited intellectually. Two reasons to rejoice. Otherwise, the saeculum was quite disappointing. Democracy did not progress, we are still doing 18th century politics rather than switch to something more advanced like liquid democracy. Reagan and Thatcher reversed the economic progress of the last saeculum. Even more worrisome is the growth of identity politics, both on the right and the left.

In the last saeculum there was strong interest in global unity. Anationalism and cosmopolitanism were hot topics among the Missionary generation. The UN was meant as a means to further this end, but it soon become a shiftless bureaucracy with no moral clarity. The 1950s and 1960s saw an explosion of nationalism in Africa and the Middle East, and the 2010s saw the same thing happening in the West. Overall I think there is less cosmopolitan sentiment in today's politics than during the previous cycle.

Culture 2/10

This was a very bad saeculum for culture. I'm afraid this cycle was mostly about popularising casual sex, drugs, junk food, rampant nudity and everyday use of vulgar language. It gave us some exciting entertainment, but I think very little will be remembered in 2100. Personally I would save Star Trek, Rocky movies and Tolkien's mythology, as well as classic rock music from the 1980s. Rap, heavy metal and techno need to die!

Racial prejudice and sexism lost moral acceptance, and I don't need to convince anyone it's a good thing.

Technology 7/10

Here I have some kind words for the Millennial Saeculum. It failed to produce a breakthrough comparable to what Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein have done, but few eras experience one. Practical application of principles discovered the previous cycle allowed enormous progress in computing. Everyone can afford a pocket computer, known as a smart phone. Space related tech also started very well, and the landing on the Moon was a success that will be remembered forever. Unfortunately spaceflight came to a halt in the 1970s. By 2020 we should have first colonies on Mars.

[Warren Dew]

"Millenial" saeculum? Millenials weren't even here for half of it.

[tg63]

I think people have referred to it this way simply because it crossed a millenial boundary.

[sbarrera]

(03-22-2020, 07:29 AM)tg63 Wrote: I think people have referred to it this way simply because it crossed a millenial boundary.

It's the official name from Strauss & Howe. It's a generic name (same as for the generation) that tells you only about the historical location on the calendar.

https://www.lifecourse.com/about/method/...nings.html

[Eric the Green]

(03-21-2020, 04:55 AM)Blazkovitz Wrote: I am Bill the Piper, but I lost my password and e-mail needed to login, so I created a new account. Anyway, this is the username I use elsewhere on the Net.

Politics 4/10

A large number of countries became democracies, especially in Europe and South America. Bolshevism was eliminated from the global political scene and discredited intellectually. Two reasons to rejoice. Otherwise, the saeculum was quite disappointing. Democracy did not progress, we are still doing 18th century politics rather than switch to something more advanced like liquid democracy. Reagan and Thatcher reversed the economic progress of the last saeculum. Even more worrisome is the growth of identity politics, both on the right and the left.

In the last saeculum there was strong interest in global unity. Anationalism and cosmopolitanism were hot topics among the Missionary generation. The UN was meant as a means to further this end, but it soon become a shiftless bureaucracy with no moral clarity. The 1950s and 1960s saw an explosion of nationalism in Africa and the Middle East, and the 2010s saw the same thing happening in the West. Overall I think there is less cosmopolitan sentiment in today's politics than during the previous cycle.

Culture 2/10

This was a very bad saeculum for culture. I'm afraid this cycle was mostly about popularising casual sex, drugs, junk food, rampant nudity and everyday use of vulgar language. It gave us some exciting entertainment, but I think very little will be remembered in 2100. Personally I would save Star Trek, Rocky movies and Tolkien's mythology, as well as classic rock music from the 1980s. Rap, heavy metal and techno need to die!

Racial prejudice and sexism lost moral acceptance, and I don't need to convince anyone it's a good thing.

Technology 7/10

Here I have some kind words for the Millennial Saeculum. It failed to produce a breakthrough comparable to what Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein have done, but few eras experience one. Practical application of principles discovered the previous cycle allowed enormous progress in computing. Everyone can afford a pocket computer, known as a smart phone. Space related tech also started very well, and the landing on the Moon was a success that will be remembered forever. Unfortunately spaceflight  came to a halt in the 1970s. By 2020 we should have first colonies on Mars.

Hi Blaz...

Welcome back

I mostly agree, although of course I would substitute 1960s and early 70s for your 1980s reference. Rock, folk and pop music reached amazing heights in those years (along with offering the usual crap), but such greatness in a pop field is not saying a whole lot. The psychedelic, new age and human potential cultures had great promise to produce art and spiritual culture like the great mystical arts of the past around the world that are so revered today. But the modern culture of commerce and indulgence eroded that potential away. The prestige of science over culture, and the unwillingness to do hard work such as building and decorating great temples as compared with computer software, did not lend itself to great support and enthusiasm for creating great culture. I might give it 3 points instead of 2, but then again, maybe I wouldn't   I doubt culture per se has ever sunk as low as rap and heavy metal, unless you want to talk about human sacrifice or the nazis or something far worse like that. But there are some hidden gems from throughout this saeculum.

I think the best thing about this saeculum is that at least in The West and the anglosphere life was more comfortable, lawful and peaceful for most of its people, and democracy did make some advances. There was no world war and no holocaust in these areas. You could call this saeculum the second Elizabethan Era, since a rather benevolent if stodgy queen has ruled for virtually the entire time as the titular head of much of the region. All that was not so true in most other places, though, for much of the time. Violence, disease, poverty and tyranny has prevailed in these other places on almost the same scale as before. China has become prosperous, but is still a tyranny.

[Blazkovitz]

(03-23-2020, 02:55 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: The prestige of science over culture, and the unwillingness to do hard work such as building and decorating great temples as compared with computer software, did not lend itself to great support and enthusiasm for creating great culture.

Temples are obsolete because deities don't exist as supernatural beings and they are only useful symbols, but there is certainly a place for beautiful public buildings that would serve as places of social gatherings as well as centres of art and learning. Universities should be the modern equivalents of cathedrals, and aim at the same level of beauty.

Quote:There are some hidden gems from throughout this saeculum.

I think the best thing about this saeculum is that at least in The West and the anglosphere life was more comfortable, lawful and peaceful for most of its people, and democracy did make some advances. There was no world war and no holocaust in these areas. You could call this saeculum the second Elizabethan Era, since a rather benevolent if stodgy queen has ruled for virtually the entire time as the titular head of much of the region.

I agree with all that. I like a lot of music from the 1980s to about 2005, as I said many times. But I started to detest some stuff I liked when I was younger, for example Karate Kid has some cool roundhouse kicks, but it's still a lesson in a naive philosophy.

Second Elizabethan Era is a good name, as the Queen was there throughout this cycle.

Quote:China has become prosperous, but is still a tyranny.

China is a culture dominated by an extreme version of the Civic archetype. It needs an awakening so badly, but is there anything in Chinese culture to spark it? American influence might be necessary to bring down the post-Maoist tyranny. Bill Kristol once elaborated on this idea.

[Eric the Green]

(03-23-2020, 03:58 AM)Blazkovitz Wrote:

(03-23-2020, 02:55 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: The prestige of science over culture, and the unwillingness to do hard work such as building and decorating great temples as compared with computer software, did not lend itself to great support and enthusiasm for creating great culture.

Temples are obsolete because deities don't exist as supernatural beings and they are only useful symbols, but there is certainly a place for beautiful public buildings that would serve as places of social gatherings as well as centres of art and learning. Universities should be the modern equivalents of cathedrals, and aim at the same level of beauty.

Actually, new age culture still offers the chance, probably in the next Awakening era and beyond, or perhaps soon in 2022, for temples to be relevant again, because Spirit still exists and is still supernatural in the sense of beyond mechanical industrial-age explanation. It exists not as god-kings but as god within and as connection to a spiritual organic cosmos in quantum holographic reality. I think such a temple could aim at a modern equivalent of cathedrals, and they also have a mathematical element of sacred number and geometry. But other building types like universities and concert halls could have a revival of this beauty in architecture as well, and inspired by cultural revival, and there were some indications of such a trend in the 1990s era.

Quote:

Quote:There are some hidden gems from throughout this saeculum.

I think the best thing about this saeculum is that at least in The West and the anglosphere life was more comfortable, lawful and peaceful for most of its people, and democracy did make some advances. There was no world war and no holocaust in these areas. You could call this saeculum the second Elizabethan Era, since a rather benevolent if stodgy queen has ruled for virtually the entire time as the titular head of much of the region.

I agree with all that. I like a lot of music from the 1980s to about 2005, as I said many times. But I started to detest some stuff I liked when I was younger, for example Karate Kid has some cool roundhouse kicks, but it's still a lesson in a naive philosophy.

Second Elizabethan Era is a good name, as the Queen was there throughout this cycle.

Gimme the 60s, man

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...8WXtIToaiV

Quote:

Quote:China has become prosperous, but is still a tyranny.

China is a culture dominated by an extreme version of the Civic archetype. It needs an awakening so badly, but is there anything in Chinese culture to spark it? American influence might be necessary to bring down the post-Maoist tyranny. Bill Kristol once elaborated on this idea.

I doubt America can do anything. Chinese see themselves as the center of the world. A Chinese Awakening already has a foundation, the revival of Chinese culture. It is rich and spiritual, and would encourage more freedom as well. China had an organic view of the world based in Buddhism and Taoism and so is inherently subject to a spiritual revival. It seems to me that karate discipline is part of this. These traditions foster a value for life that an unjust tyranny does not support.

[Blazkovitz]

(03-23-2020, 05:19 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: I doubt America can do anything. Chinese see themselves as the center of the world. A Chinese Awakening already has a foundation, the revival of Chinese culture. It is rich and spiritual, and would encourage more freedom as well. China had an organic view of the world based in Buddhism and Taoism and so is inherently subject to a spiritual revival. It seems to me that karate discipline is part of this. These traditions foster a value for life that an unjust tyranny does not support.

Traditional Chinese culture was always tyrannical, and Buddhism like Taoism cannot really challenge it because they are all about passive withdrawal. Karate / kung-fu is great as a sport and means of self-defence, but the philosophy attached to it is just Chinese, one cannot learn democracy at Shaolin where the master is always right.

[Eric the Green]

(03-23-2020, 06:05 AM)Blazkovitz Wrote:

(03-23-2020, 05:19 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: I doubt America can do anything. Chinese see themselves as the center of the world. A Chinese Awakening already has a foundation, the revival of Chinese culture. It is rich and spiritual, and would encourage more freedom as well. China had an organic view of the world based in Buddhism and Taoism and so is inherently subject to a spiritual revival. It seems to me that karate discipline is part of this. These traditions foster a value for life that an unjust tyranny does not support.

Traditional Chinese culture was always tyrannical, and Buddhism like Taoism cannot really challenge it because they are all about passive withdrawal. Karate / kung-fu is great as a sport and means of self-defence, but the philosophy attached to it is just Chinese, one cannot learn democracy at Shaolin where the master is always right.

The master is just the teacher; just like any teacher. I doubt that's anything to be concerned about. Buddhism and Taoism are great sacred treasures and sources of wisdom, and Gautama was the greatest psychologist who ever lived. China has always been an empire, that's right. It has also been racked by periodic tumultuous and deadly rebellions that happen when the empire loses the "mandate of heaven" and abuses the people. 

An awakening of democracy such as happened in 1989 would be great, and its part of the worldwide revolution that China and all other nations cannot escape. Just as all nations also cannot escape the following two revolution cycles, the socialist and the green, and make progress by mixing and uniting them together. I just don't know what America can do, except to recover its own progress this decade and set a good example once again that the Chinese will want to copy and emulate. That means dumping Trump and electing presidents and congresses that the world can admire and that Americans can be proud of again.

[David Horn]

It would be a miracle if the Chinese altered their direction and became less autocratic. Their culture is built around a top-down compliance model, and most Chinese would be lost if that changed in any significant way. Let's be honest. Autocratic rule offers the solace of simple obedience to the Betas in society -- most who prefer that to self actualization. The Western model of self first and society second is counter intuitive to anyone raised to believe the opposite.

[Blazkovitz]

(03-23-2020, 07:09 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Buddhism and Taoism are great sacred treasures and sources of wisdom, and Gautama was the greatest psychologist who ever lived.

Okay, I admit to being somehow ignorant here. All I know of Buddhism is meditation, compassion and non-violence. I also read some Christian summaries which were certainly biased and didn't represent the real Gautama. Do you know any summary of Buddhist psychology so that I could learn more?

Taoism... I knew one furry and New Age blogger who probably had autism and schizotypal disorder at the same time. He said he was a Taoism, so I'm prejudiced but again I'd love to learn about more wholesome forms of this religion or philosophy.

[Tim Randal Walker]

I think that much of the music of this period will be remembered in the 22nd century.

I recall a suggestion that each saeculum tends to shine in particular fields of art. Perhaps the next one will shine in the visual arts?

[Warren Dew]

(03-23-2020, 06:05 AM)Blazkovitz Wrote: Traditional Chinese culture was always tyrannical

Not really.  "Heaven is high and the emperor far."