Will a Prophet Assume Command?

In The Fourth Turning (1997), authors Strauss and Howe predicted the arrival of a crisis in our current time frame. This wasn’t guesswork on their part. They understood the dynamics of how generations interact and how the mood of the country shifts every 20 years or so, based on the generational alignment that occurs as predictably as the changing of the seasons. The generation that lived through the previous crisis (1929 to 1946) has virtually died off. This always signals the onset of the next Fourth Turning.

The housing bubble and its ultimate implosion created the spark for the current crisis that began in September 2008 with the near meltdown of the worldwide financial system. Just as the stock market crash of 1929, the election of Lincoln in 1860 and the Boston Tea Party in 1773 catalyzed a dramatic mood change in the country, the Wall Street-created financial collapse in 2008 has ushered in a 20-year period of agony, suffering, war and ultimately the annihilation of the existing social order.

For those who doubt generational theory and believe history is a linear path of human progress, consider the week of chaos suffered by those who didn’t prepare for Superstorm Sandy as a prelude to the coming crisis. The lack of preparation by citizens and government officials is a perfect analogy to preparing for the Fourth Turning. Building mansions yards from a dangerous, unpredictable sea is akin to allowing Wall Street bankers to create interconnected financial derivatives that will ultimately result in a worldwide flood obliterating billions in wealth. Going decades without upgrading power grids, transportation systems or storm protection is akin to allowing unfunded entitlement liabilities to accumulate to such an extreme level that they will be impossible to honour, and the coming storm will swamp those depending on those promises. The lack of foresight in not having food, water and backup sources of power and heat in case of an emergency is akin to the millions of people who have lived the good life in debt up to their eyeballs while never saving for a rainy day or their retirement.

Winter has arrived. The gathering storm is about to strike. Are you prepared?

To read The Burning Platform article: Will a Prophet Assume Command?

Tagged as: crisis, economy, financial