Zero Hedge — Fourth Turning's Neil Howe: Why Millennials Aren't So Unique

Neil Howe looks at the economic aspect of demographics.

Zero Hedge
Fourth Turning's Neil Howe: Why Millennials Aren't So Unique

Tyler Durden

Neil Howe — Are We Reliving The 1930s?

The confluence of all these trends is not accidental. In general, each trend happens because most of the others are happening at the same time. The era as a whole, therefore, has its own internal logic, which doesn’t allow the component pieces to change much until the whole system changes and transforms into a new era. In my writings on generations and history, I call these sequential eras “seasons” or “turnings.” And right now, America and most of the rest of the world is in the winter season or the “Fourth Turning.” 

These parallels between eras are so numerous and striking that they are hard to miss once we look broadly at the direction of events. That’s why connecting the economic challenges of the 1930s with those of the 2010s, and seeing them as comparable in some respects, makes a difference. When we are connected to history, we can comprehend better what else is happening in the 2010s, predict better what is likely to happen next, and to figure out, if necessary, how we can avoid an outcome that we regard as especially dangerous.

Forbes
Are We Reliving The 1930s?
Neil Howe, co-author of The Fourth Turning

Peak Prosperity — Neil Howe: The Fourth Turning Has Arrived

Neil Howe of Strauss and Howe thinks that the Fourth Turning started in 2008 with the global financial crisis and the election of President Obama.

He is completely off his rocker about the economics of it though. Sociologists should stick with sociology and not do pop economics.

We cannot possibly afford the government we have promised ourselves. And, that will be a painful process of deleveraging, and it is not just deleveraging the explicit debt that we have already actually formally borrowed, it is all the implicit debt. And, I think we will deal with it, because we have no other choice.

I don't disagree with this analysis factually, however. Even though it doesn't have to happen, as a proper understanding of economics shows, the likelihood of it coming to pass is high due to ignorance, vested interests, and systemic hysteresis due to persistence of failed ideology and institutional arrangements. Neil Howe is unknowingly trapped in it himself.

Peak Prosperity
Neil Howe: The Fourth Turning Has Arrived
Interview with Neil Howe
(h/t Zero Hedge)

Fabius Maximus — News from the front lines of the battle to create a New America

Summary: One of the biggest stories of our time is the evolution of the America-that-once-was into The New America. It’s so slow to be easily missed, especially since it’s a melody the news media cannot hear. And those they look to for advice, the courtiers of the Versailles-on-the-Potomac, will not hear it. Here are the some of the latest reports on this grand theme. These were all reported on our twitter feed, @FabiusMaximus01. Subscribe to give yourself a front seat on this battle (it will become a battle if we decide to fight back).

News from the front lines of the battle to create a New America.
Fabius Maximus

The Millennial Declaration

Generation WE : The Movement Begins...

Generation-We.org

This was made in October, 2008, but it is still making the rounds. I just encountered it on FaceBook through the son of an old friend of mine. If you are into the analysis of Strauss & Howe, e.g., in The Fourth Turning, it will be of special interest. 

This is generational change in the making, and this generation is poised to take over as the largest voting bloc. They are represented as typically progressive, which has been my experience of millennials. But they also have a completely wrong notion of the national debt. MMT to the rescue!