03-03-2018, 11:53 AM
(02-28-2018, 03:42 PM)David Horn Wrote: > The new paradigm is always a change from the current paradigm, and
> only a faint echo of any before it. In this case, the rapid
> change from the Industrial Age to the Information Age to a
> Post-Modern Age, replete with post-humanism, makes any guessing of
> long term change nearly impossible.
> My son ('77) and his wife ('79) are now considered Xennials. They
> aren't Xers; I know that for certain. But they were born early
> enough to have knowledge of the analog world, yet fit comfortably
> in the digital one. Their children are 13, so they fit well in
> this equally cuspy period between Millies and TBD. I understand
> my children fairly well, and love my grandchildren, but I don't
> claim to understand them -- not entirely. We're leaving them a
> very messy world, but your assumption that a major war is needed
> to reset it to normalcy is rejected by my children and
> incomprehensible to theirs.
> Neither of us will live to see how this plays-out in the long
> run. We can do our best to make it as beneficial as possible in
> the near term. After that, it's theirs.
Your saying that "a major war is needed ... is rejected by my children
and incomprehensible to theirs" is an interesting statement
because it's a microcosm of why generational theory works.
A couple of times in the last year or two, I've been questioned by
someone 80 or so years old, and I said, "If you're really 80 years
old, then you know what's coming as well as I do." In both cases, the
response was just a silent acknowledgment because they do, in fact,
know what's coming as well as I do.
People in younger generations really do reject the concept of a world
war, or find it incomprehensible. That's why people in the 1930s
found Winston Churchill incomprehensible (and it's also a good part of
the reason why people today find Donald Trump incomprehensible).
Until nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles actually begin landing on Los
Angeles, Washington and Boston, the minds of people in younger
generations are simply incapable of grasping what's going to happen,
and then they get completely traumatized when it does happen.
The same thing is true on the financial side. I watch financial shows
on CNBC, Bloomberg and FBN, and it's always the same. The stock
market is always going to keep going up, and the worst that will
happen is a 10-20% correction before the market goes up again. If an
older person comes on and talks about a major crash, he's humored and
patronized, and quickly removed from the set.
Here's a joke from the 1950s:
> Stock broker: In the 1920s, they used to believe that stocks would
> just go up and up and up
> Client: Really? What do they believe now?
To most people today, that isn't a joke so much as two random
statements that don't mean anything. In other words, it's just as
totally incomprehensible as the concept of a world war.
As for making things "as beneficial as possible" for younger people, I
believe the best way to do that is to give them the tools they
can use to make what's coming comprehensible to them, so that
they can prepare for it.
I used to write the following at the end of some of my articles:
> No one can stop what's coming, any more than anyone can stop a
> tsunami. You can't stop what's coming, but you can prepare for
> it. Treasure the time you have left, and use the time to prepare
> yourself, your family, your community and your nation.
I don't write that anymore, but it's still good advice.
