The Coronavirus

[Eric the Green]

(05-29-2020, 12:44 AM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(05-28-2020, 10:28 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: The interesting thing about 4th turnings, is that they are social moments. 2nd turnings are supposed to be totally opposite, but that's not always true. Often there is some of the opposite trend within the other. They are both social moments.

The transcendentalists came out in force with their writings in the 1850s, and Whitman's poetry in the 1860s; and the romantic movement got going in Europe in the French Revolution. Even in the 1930s and 40s there were some religious and metaphysical interests going.

It's even more clear that 2nd turnings also include movements to change society, and they are often effective. And it's not just about freedom movements for individuals; especially in the more "apollonian" 2nd turning the progressive movement pushed for a lot of reforms of bad practices by industry, and labor unions and socialist parties advanced as they never have before or since. And although there were huge rights movements in the 60s and 70s, the environment and peace movements of the 1960s were not just about rights, but as John Lennon said a world where we could be one. And at the 2nd turning's beginning, the Great Society completed the New Deal.

In the 2nd turning, there is more prosperity, but often the economy is unstable, and more recessions occur than during 1st and 3rd turnings. But it's not a time when we face destruction of we don't take action, which is the case in 4th turnings. In 2nd turnings institutions still work but changes are being demanded of them. In 4th turnings they fall apart and have to be rebuilt in a different way.

But sometimes in 4th turnings, as we face the crisis, we also turn toward spiritual sources for answers too. Not so much to find self-reliance, as in a typical USA 2nd or 3rd turning, but to find a spiritual basis for building a community which serves human needs, including spiritual and aesthetic needs. America tends to separate these too much, but that's why our society is sick. The more we can combine 2nd and 4th turnings in our social moments, the healthier we will be as a society and culture.

We have no leadership now in the covid crisis, as Mr. Howe pointed out (and as I point out). We have not taken a stand and are not planning out any solutions, but waxing and waning from one direction to the next, even from day to day. One think our 4T needs to teach us, is to respect government and leadership again. I hope we are ready to learn that lesson, and vote Democratic in November, and then continue to be civially active and pressuring our leaders to serve the people. "We're all in this together" has been a Democratic Party slogan used by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Now everyone except the crazy resisters is using it. It's a 4T mood, and I hope it sticks around for a while and determines our votes for a while.

Unfortunately, the we are in this together slogan isn't going to last much longer. We are seeing your sides leadership in Minneapolis RIGHT NOW and it sucks. Personally, I don't care if your blue folks loot and burn the fucking place to the ground.

Ironically, the blue leadership in Minneapolis is on the side of Mr. Floyd and his family, with the mayor asking for what should be done, charging his murderer, and the police chief seems sympathetic. But African Americans have been frustrated over and over that police get away with murdering a black man. Police have a greater responsibility than anyone to obey the law, and they should be MORE severely punished, not less, for disobeying it and committing crimes-- especially murder. It is understandable that they riot. I don't think it's good strategy, or justified, for a few to loot and burn, especially when they have some officials on their side, but I understand why it happens. Remember what JFK said: when the rights of one are violated, the rights of all are threatened. If police can violate the rights of a man and kill him because he is black, then they can do the same to you. And it does happen too.

The question is why does this kind of police crime still happen after all the incidents we've seen now on video and such. It really shows how pervasive racism is, especially on your side of the aisle, and among policemen. Police are trained to kill, and yet your side requires that police be the only social workers in town. That is one reason for these crimes; police are not trained to handle people with respect, but only to kill them, and they are sometimes racist. The blue side needs to win so that social workers exist again, and police are trained to help and not kill people. Police work for the people, and deserve respect, but they also have to earn respect, which they have lost among the black community because of their poor conduct.