That said, they posit that we run through four generations; some weak, some strong.
TFT was written in 1997. The timeframe for the the fourth turning Crisis Era would be approximately 2005-2025, which would be a severe economic crisis coupled with a severe geo-political crisis, similar to the first Great Depression and WW-II.
The millenials would be coming of age during that same general timeframe, 2005-2025.
Many liberals have glommed onto TFT as the Last Great Hope for instituting totalitarian control over the masses, i.e. the ultimate conquest of evil over worthless humanity.
Conservatives can read it, and see it as an opportunity for restoration of national sanity, individual freedom, and a rebuilding of the previously great America.
The authors left that much interpretation up to the readers, and they took great pains to not inject any personal political bias they might have held.
That said, 9-11 was too early to have been the main catalyst for the Fourth Turning (but it could have a minor catalyst), and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not the sort that would define a fourth turning Great War (i.e. sufficient to undeniably change the course of history, forever).
However, what this administration is deliberately doing to our economy and culture could absolutely lead to the sort of economic disaster that would fit that part of the fourth turning scenario (much, much worse than FDR did).
The geo-political disaster likely to come as a result of this ongoing economic disaster definitely would fit the TFT description of a Total War.
I highly recommend the book. I read it toward the end of 2003, when the real estate bubble and the predicted derivatives gambling disaster were being discussed here on FR (and only a very few other places), and those didn't fully explode until 2008.
The Fourth Turning does not provide a magic key to power and control, as the liberals wish it to be. It does provide a well-documented guide to observing generational trends in relation to political developments, and this combination could serve as a guide for those who wish to prepare themselves to be of maximum service to God and country as this Fourth Turning cluster-bungle progresses.
“However, what this administration is deliberately doing to our economy and culture could absolutely lead to the sort of economic disaster that would fit that part of the fourth turning scenario (much, much worse than FDR did).”
Thanks for a great review of the book! I’m glad I asked my wife for it for Christmas. Your above sentence reminded me of a line from the TV show The Walking Dead last night. A guy in a tank is pointed at where the good guys are living, as one of the good guys is trying to negotiate with the bad guys. The guy in the tank says:
“What you have, is what we want. Period.”
Sounded very similar to the “The insurance you have you can keep. Period.”
I’m wondering if the writer was aware of that. But that idea is what Obama and the Liberals really think.
For an interesting read on FDR written by a conservative in 1938 see the link in my tagline. It outlines what FDR did, and what is happening all over again. One can even hear Obama’s phrasing in some of FDR’s old speeches.