(03-14-2021, 06:29 AM)Captain Genet Wrote:(06-29-2020, 04:05 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: If there were ever a Golden Age it would be one of a balance between the positive virtues of all four turnings with none of the vices. That is a pipe dream. We are stuck with the generational cycle a s a way of compelling us to adapt to the time and respond as quickly as possible to a needful trait that we neglect. Bad as a 3T goes, it at least forces us to pay attention to the children again so that they not become cynical and helpless and that people enjoy some hedonistic delights that give them some memories just in time for recollection for the upcoming era of stark deprivation.
When we master life extension, there will be a time when all four archetypes are equally active. Maybe that will be a golden age. But this might be stagnation. There is no rapid progress in a society ruled by centenarians.
They won't be equally active. let alone similarly active. The behaviors that promote long lifespans (staying physically fit and intellectually active as long as possible, not smoking, drinking in moderation or not at all, avoiding str4eet drugs and reckless sexuality, and remaining connected) were basically a GI innovation, and the Silent and Boomers in old age ("70" may be the new "50" in many respects if one takes care of oneself, but "90" is still "90") have largely followed the same pattern. Will Generation X do much the same? If so, then the pattern is figuratively set in stone as it has lasted a full cycle and is not simply a consequence of generational identity.
Young adults are typically making the investments in other people's wealth and power by seeking opportunities in which they get to establish their competence and their loyalty to a vile order by being overworked and underpaid. They develop skills that the formal system of education does not teach, such as bowing and scraping to bosses and customers that elites love, and vocational athleticism. Such people are never involved in high-level politics; you see few twenty-something Congressional representatives, let alone Senators and Governors. The few who achieve prominence early include star athletes, actors, and popular musicians. If not born into privilege they endure poverty from which elites prosper. Midlife adults start making appearances in high-paid and high-profile activities. The athleticism fades; note well that one sees few professional athletes in the mid-30's as reflexes slow, injuries increasingly devastate abilities, and spectacular strength for working through an offensive line to get to the quarterback, skating faster than other hockey players, or hitting a baseball, fades.
Reputations build, and in midlife those with some semblance of power are able to force change. Some of that change is welcome and some of it is not so welcome. People have honed their talent into excellence (if ever) and become authorities in the field. Creative activities peak, and people generally cast off the aspects of life that contribute little to their happiness and economic gain. Bowing and scraping proves nothing other than a lack of personal dignity that one must have at once sold out for rent for a dreary flat, clothes necessary for work, and cheap vittles. Incomes from employment typically peak except among unskilled and semi-skilled workers who get little chance to improve their earnings on the job. In old age one may rely more upon investments (such as ownership of gussied-up slums, let alone financial securities and IRA's or 401K's). Maybe a few people can remain influential into old age, such as journalists, politicians, scholars, and artists. This is the emeritus era of life, one that few people used to reach, let alone enjoy.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.