The Fourth Turning Halftime Update

[David Horn]

(07-28-2018, 10:34 AM)sbarrera Wrote: We're halfway into the Fourth Turning, and I think we're really starting to get a feel for the spirit of the age. The Trump shock has pushed us in certain directions from which there is no return. Even if Trump crashes and burns in the near future, there is no way we will find ourselves in a world as it might have been if Clinton had become POTUS in 2016. What 4T changes are with us for good?

I agree that permanent change has occurred, but it’s hard to know what that means. We got here by mistrusting government, and chaos seems to the end product of that way of thinking. Things could reverse, and some new ideal emerge ... or not.

‘sbarrera’ Wrote:1) The end of the U.S.-led post-WWII international order. We used to be the leaders of the Free World; now we're starting Trade Wars and offending our former allies. It's a new age of every Great Power for itself.

I think that any sensible European would see that, but how would she respond? Neofascist parties are doing quite well. I’m not seeing the communalists though. I hold the Eurocrats responsible for most of that. If our rule-based structures are a bit murky, the European ones are downright opaque.

‘sbarrera’ Wrote:2) The corporation maintains control of the commanding heights. If you don't have a corporate safety net beneath you, too bad for you. You will remain in the underprivleged class because good luck getting a New New Deal going, given that...

The obvious corollary to the suppression of communal power is a de facto grant to private power. Unlike communal power, private power tends to ignore the demands of the people.

‘sbarrera’ Wrote:3) Democracy remains broken. The will of the majority is stymied by special interests, dark money, and voter suppression. And that's not even counting Russian inteference.

4) The mariginalized will continue to suffer. With no way to implement a public safety net, there is no hope for those on the periphery of society - the homeless, the undocumented, and the refugees from global chaos.

The old adage that the darkest hour is just before dawn may hold here. If an enraged populace finally sees the truth, things can turn around quickly. Note: can and will are not equivalent.