Echoing the sentiments of Neil Howe’s new book The Fourth Turning Is Here, President Biden said this week: “There comes a time maybe every 6, 8 generations where the world changes in a very short time. We are at that time now, and I think what happens in the next 2-3 years is going to determine what the world looks like for the next 5 or 6 decades.” Our president is so right. This is a crisis moment for democracy around the world, as in country after country wealthy oligarchs rise up and seize control of entire governments. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance just published a report noting that democratic norms and standards are falling back in nearly half of the 173 countries it looked at. Like here in the US, the cause is the same in most other countries: weakening government checks and balances, corruption, gerrymandered and voter-purged elections, and elected leaders following the example of Orbán and Trump and flouting the law with impunity. Thank G-d Joe Biden — who […]
For another take on this issue, may I recommend “Storm Before the Calm” by George Friedman? Though he admits to not taking into account climate change (wasn’t sure how to do it), he presents a very compelling picture of our historical cycles of crisis/change that are converging in the next decade or two. I would be interested in the anysis by Schwartz Report, if you haven’t already done so (book was published a few years ago).
I am reading that book now. It gives detailed background on how we got where we are today in these barely United States.