I've read a little bit about Bannon in recent weeks. He seems to be a fan of S&H, Mencius Moldbug and "big history". He'd be interested in a site like this, I think, were he not successful and powerful.
Bannon was a smart working class kid of an intellectual bent who made good at an early age, retired, and then indulged in his intellectual pursuits. Anyways he correctly sees 4Ts as involving wars. He also sees wars as intrinsic to the 4T, something which was not stated by S&H, but can be (and was) adduced from past examples. Hence, he feels a war is necessary.
I believe he is wrong, but the reason is subtle. The simple answer is for the first three of the four American 4Ts, the war occurred at the beginning of the 4T. The Glorious 4T began with King Phillip’s war. The Revolutionary War broke out in year 3 of a 22 year 4T. The Civil War 4T began with the 4T. This pattern changed for the last 4T: WW II began in year 13 of an 18 year 4T. What this means is that the last 4T was not about WW II, whereas the Civil War and Revolutionary 4Ts were about the associated wars.
So what? Bannon (and you) might think. In Generations p 71, S&H define the 4T as a “reordering” of secular institutions. The idea that there was substantial reordering of the American nation during the previous three 4Ts is obvious. Why did this happen? The answer is because they solved a problem that had emerged as an urgent concern in the previous 3T: American elite’s desire for self-rule, slavery, and the failure of the economic system to promote the general welfare. These problems eventually came to a head triggering a crisis: revolution, civil war, depression. The 4T was then about retooling American institutions to solve the problem.
To solve the 18th century 4T required British elites to capitulate to American elite desires for home rule. They were not willing to do that and so the only solution was force—the Revolutionary war. To solve the 19th century 4T required Southern elites to capitulate to Northern elite demands for the end of slavery. They were not willing to do that and so the only solution was force—the Civil War. To solve the 20th century 4T required that the economy be restructured in such a way as to restore prosperity. Nobody opposed this and so there was no recourse to war. A world war did happen in the 4T, but a world war happened in the previous 3T too, and the subsequent 1T and 2T had their wars.
Bannon was a smart working class kid of an intellectual bent who made good at an early age, retired, and then indulged in his intellectual pursuits. Anyways he correctly sees 4Ts as involving wars. He also sees wars as intrinsic to the 4T, something which was not stated by S&H, but can be (and was) adduced from past examples. Hence, he feels a war is necessary.
I believe he is wrong, but the reason is subtle. The simple answer is for the first three of the four American 4Ts, the war occurred at the beginning of the 4T. The Glorious 4T began with King Phillip’s war. The Revolutionary War broke out in year 3 of a 22 year 4T. The Civil War 4T began with the 4T. This pattern changed for the last 4T: WW II began in year 13 of an 18 year 4T. What this means is that the last 4T was not about WW II, whereas the Civil War and Revolutionary 4Ts were about the associated wars.
So what? Bannon (and you) might think. In Generations p 71, S&H define the 4T as a “reordering” of secular institutions. The idea that there was substantial reordering of the American nation during the previous three 4Ts is obvious. Why did this happen? The answer is because they solved a problem that had emerged as an urgent concern in the previous 3T: American elite’s desire for self-rule, slavery, and the failure of the economic system to promote the general welfare. These problems eventually came to a head triggering a crisis: revolution, civil war, depression. The 4T was then about retooling American institutions to solve the problem.
To solve the 18th century 4T required British elites to capitulate to American elite desires for home rule. They were not willing to do that and so the only solution was force—the Revolutionary war. To solve the 19th century 4T required Southern elites to capitulate to Northern elite demands for the end of slavery. They were not willing to do that and so the only solution was force—the Civil War. To solve the 20th century 4T required that the economy be restructured in such a way as to restore prosperity. Nobody opposed this and so there was no recourse to war. A world war did happen in the 4T, but a world war happened in the previous 3T too, and the subsequent 1T and 2T had their wars.