What are your specialities?

[Eric the Green]

(10-05-2019, 11:26 AM)Ldr Wrote:

(09-29-2019, 08:15 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: The Saeculum is troublesome, but I can imagine far worse, as in a society that goes off in a way that becomes increasingly inhuman and destructive over time. Those of us who live reasonably-long lives get to see everything.

It's not the society. It's the humans who create and sustain the society. The society does not sustain itself, this is a pure fantasy, and a pretty dangerous one. This is also the biggest flaw of the social dynamic theory that the Strauss-Howe generational theory heavily relies on. It's foolish to think that one knows (HOW) societal phenomenon are created, if one doesn't even understand his own motives. And we don't, there is not a single human being on this planet who truly understands his own psyche. If there is someone, please tell me who it is.

This is why I never believed in the reasoning of the Strauss-Howe generational theory. I never take commonly repeated truths as truths, since if everybody seems to agree on something but no one can prove it, the explanations are probably false. There may be a grain of truth in all the explanations, which makes them sound appealing and thus socially acceptable explanations, but they are not the root cause. (This is the reason why I never believe in the explanations that pollution and chemical cause the decreasing testosterone and sperm levels, which have been observed for decades now. Testosterone levels have been low during past era's, this is nothing new, so the explanations are on very shaky ground, and nobody can show any real proof that the explanations are correct. Pollution and chemicals are the witches of the 21st century, a nice tale that everyone can believe in and point their finger at. A scapegoat)

People don't even understand what empathy is at its roots, but they still use the word repeatedly. And how could they, since the science isn't settled yet. Science is just scratching the surface of the human psyche, but humans think they understand societal events and how they are formed. This is an illusion, and I think the generational dynamics fall into this category of an illusion.

Socrates understood that he was considered the wisest man in Greece, and considered that the reason is was so wise, is that he knew that he knew nothing. Pretty good, wouldn't you agree?


Pollution and chemicals have harmful effects which have been proven. When coal is dumped into rivers, as it is in West Virginia, disease increases. The problem with the people of West Virginia, apparently, is that pollution has so ruined their minds, that they can't put things together enough to vote out the Republicans who cause their pollution and their disease. Some kind of hormone must be driving them to vote on the basis of fear of diversity and religious fanaticism, and fear of what their bosses might do to them if they vote against them, rather than on their own real interests. The same thing is happening in other places like Louisiana. These people are just willfully stupid and ignorant, and they pay the price, and keep on being stupid and ignorant anyway. Climate change is a fact, and denying it is denying science. And the very people who deny it the most, those who live in the South near the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the agricultural heartlands further north and west of those coasts, are suffering the worst effects. And they go on denying it. About 40-45% of Americans, we must conclude, are just really, really stupid. What hormone could explain the astoundingly-high level of willful stupidity in red flyover states, pray tell?

It's true that we can't understand society unless we understand humans. There is some understanding of this, but it is limited in Western society by materialism and physicalism, and also by religious dogmas prevalent in The West as well. One can only understand the psyche by observing and exploring the psyche, not by looking at its outward manifestations seen through the senses by other people, or by what your preacher screams at you. If we want to understand ourselves, then we had better put down our microscopes and our bibles and look within. The Eastern sages know far more about the human psyche than Western scientists, but there is wisdom in the repressed esoteric hermetic and occult traditions of The West.

The Strauss and Howe theory is based on this tradition, although they don't always admit it, and it's not solely based on it. More than on sociology, their ideas are based on their studies of people and their biographies. This isn't a study of the human psyche, but it's a study of what people thought and what they did. They also know history. 

Rather than just a sociological statistical study, they used their esoteric knowledge of archetypes to see patterns and cycles in the behavior of individuals and the moods of history. It does not provide details of predicted events, but mainly just the prediction of a general mood that was due in society starting in about 2005-2008 and extending to the mid or late 2020s. It appears that Howe favored a later date than Strauss, to which I agree. This fourth turning has come about since the great recession, and now our country is in danger of losing its foundations because of the Republican Party and whom it is backing. The inequality produced by the 3T mood and philosophy of trickle-down economics is hurting the people and caused the great recession. This winter-like season, the metaphor they use for a 4th turning, is also a literal coming of winter due to climate change, which is becoming a crisis during this 4T, and will continue to be for some decades to come. But now it requires a big change in society and in industry and a green new deal, in this 4T era. We either face these crises in the 2020s, or America dies. That's what a 4T implies. It is a struggle for survival of the country, and it has always been so. Historical correlations to cycles work, and are important to heed.

Their other prediction was about the nature of the millennial generation, for which they coined the name. Their prediction seems fulfilled to me. Millennials are collegeal networkers and are tech and science friendly. That is what they predicted. They are also more willing to respond to the collective needs of society, while boomers and Xers were more about individual fulfillment and dedication to ideals, including spiritual ones (Boomers), and financial security and advancement, practical skill and risk-taking (Xers). And of course, Xers are cynics. And so are some millennials.