vision2020
RE: The Truth!
My beloved friends,
It is clear in my mind that history is cyclical. In fact, we have had
discussions in the past about that. The cyclical history, however, does not
mean that humanity is not advancing. Our entire life is a cycle... day and
night, seasons, and youth to becoming old... from dust to dust. In longer
terms civilizations are borne, mature, get lazy and wither away. My
assertion for a long time has been that our civilization is in one of those
decay cycles. I, however, look at it in a positive light. I believe that we
do learn from the past; after it repeats a hundred times... but we do
improve. Societies dip to their lowest then they flower in a renaissance of
civilization. Look at Europe in the dark ages... then came renaissance.
We have to focus on improving the future by having the past in mind. I love
my past! I had a wonderful childhood... perhaps this is why I am so critical
of our society so much. I miss the simplicity and purity of my childhood
when I was protected and lived a privileged life. I am, however, clear
minded enough to know that I would never trade this life with that one! I do
not have good memories because the world was better then... I have good
memories because I did not see the world! I did not see the injustice. I did
not see people starving to death while others ate out of gold plates. I was
ignorant... the world was simple. Now the world and fate has scarred my
sole. I have seen death. I have seen injustice. I have seen hate. I have
seen sorrow. But my sole is also rejuvenated! I have seen love. I have seen
cooperation. I have seen people making a difference. I have seen people
learn and grow... to shed the garb of materialism, selfishness and gluttony
to elevate themselves to a higher state of existence. I have seen people of
every color and creed gather and truly love one another. Where your
political party is as important as your race or color or which pebble is
stuck to the bottom of your shoes! I have seen acts of complete
selflessness. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes!
Friends... we must improve. We have to wake each and every day and do our
part to improve the world. If we don't... who will? It is our
responsibility... it is our destiny. This country will be the spiritual
leader of the world! We will dip low in the abyss of despair and rise
triumphant to a higher civilization the likes of which the earth has never
seen. We will have heaven on earth... all we have to do is to want it!
Your brother in arms,
Shahab...
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Hoffmann [mailto:escape@alt-escape.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 9:51 AM
To: Vision2020 Listserver
Subject: Re: The Truth!
At 10:14 PM 2/12/2001 -0800, Travis & Julie Tonn wrote:
>Why can't we wise up as a society and learn from the past?
It looks like this whole discussion is taking place under the assumption
that history is linear, that things have a tendency to get better
(optimistic) or worse (pessimistic), or even chaotic (history is a
struggle, where any outcome is achievable). Socrates, or one of his
colleagues, is also on the record talking about how the world is going to
hell in a hand basket; youth has no respect for elders, etc. If the world
had gone steadily worse since then, the human race would have long ceased
to exist.
Yet, there is another way of analyzing history, and that is to view history
as cyclical. This view is predominant in China, but there are many
analyses of Western history using this method. The most recent is a book
called "The Fourth Turning" by Stauss & Howe (Web site at
http://www.fourthturning.com/). Basically, a generation lasts about 20-25
years, and there are four generational archetypes that cycle through
history in sequence. So the Heroes of World War II had one type of
attitude, but their children were not carbon copies, but the "Artists" of
the 1960s who had a whole different kind of attitude and who influenced
American history as decisively as their parents, but in a radically
different way. Children of the Artists have their own archetype
("Prophet"), and if you are a child of the '60's, you know that you've
changed your slogan from "don't trust any one over 30" to "don't trust any
one UNDER 30." Our children are not our mirror images; why would we expect
them to be? The generation to follow the Prophets are characterized by
Strauss and Howe as Nomads. The names are somewhat contrived; the point is
that there is a 4-phase cycle that runs through history, and the book makes
a very strong argument that these cycles are very regular, and these
generational types arise predictably and influence our culture and history
as predicably.
What does this have to do with the posting "The Truth!"? There is much
truth to the original posting, but it overlooks the point that grandpa's
generation was part of a trend, for good or bad, and so are current events
and attitudes. Things will swing back again. Strauss and Howe predict
that by 2005, we will enter a Crisis, the type of period in which the Hero
generation is born. While there is no telling what kind of crisis will
arise, the generation that deals with it will be just as sacrificing,
obedient, and proud as the GI's who fought the Second World War.
I think it is also necessary to point out that "The Truth!" is already
losing its relevance as a commentary on society; it is a much better
commentary on the situation of 5-10 years ago. But (as Strauss & Howe
point out), the signs of societal "decay" are receding. Teenage pregnancy
is declining, as are rates of divorce, violent crime, drug use, and various
forms of malaise that have affected our society. Marriage is getting more
popular, and women are increasingly likely to stay at home and raise their
children than be part of a two-income latch-key family or a single-parent
household. Please note that I am not placing value judgements on this; all
I am saying is that the pendulum is swinging in the other direction.
Nostalgia is sweet, but any psychologist will tell you that memories become
fonder as they get more distant. That is another issue at play here.
Bob Hoffmann
846 Mabelle St.
Moscow, ID 83843
Tel: 208 883-0642
Fax: 877 495-2279
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