Speaking of Books

While I was home, of course, a big topic of conversation was the bailout and the state of the economy. I am so grateful that all my family is OK so far, but there were many not-so-funny jokes flying around about Old People Lemonade Stands. Seeing as our seniors are really the ones who will be the hardest hit, being unable to wait for the stock market to stabilize itself. Personally, I think my mother and aunt could make a killing on Etsy seeing as both are outrageously talented with the needle, but that is another topic for another day.

Oddly enough, one of the things I brought up during our conversations was the thought that all this seems cyclical. That our grand and great-grandparents went through the Depression and the further away we get, the less we remember their lessons. My last comment was, “I think I need to do some more research on that.”

Monday at breakfast, out of the blue, my business partner started telling me about a book she just finished reading called The Fourth Turning.

Here is the description of the book, written in 1997:

Just after the millennium, America will enter a new era that will culminate with a crisis comparable to the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and World War II. The survival of the nation will almost certainly be at stake.

Strauss and Howe base this vision on a provocative theory of American history as a series of recurring 80- to 100-year cycles. Each cycle has four “turnings”- a High, an Awakening, an Unraveling, and a Crisis. The authors locate today’s America as midway through an Unraveling, roughly a decade away from the next Crisis (or Fourth Turning).

Kinda creepy, huh?

This article has 13 comments

  1. Megan

    wild.

  2. wheremytruthlives

    Creepy but not surprising. Other books like En Route To Global Occupation predicted it too. I’ll have to check this one out.

  3. Deeleea

    I really recommend the book. I heard someone speaking on it a few months back. It’s fascinating.

  4. Aimee Greeblemonkey

    She said it was very good. One point that struck me was that there are generation who are sacrificers for the excesses of previous generations, an that Declan was going to be in the sacrifice generation. Sigh.

  5. Meghann

    I keep saying that I am going to use our savings to buy gold and bury it in the back yard.

  6. Celia

    Aimee – I’ve been following you on Twitter for a few weeks and finally had a moment to visit your blog. It is beautiful!

    So glad I finally came to visit.

  7. Tina

    VERY creepy. I’ll look for it, although I’m not entirely sure it’s something I want to read…more of a “should” read, I guess. What did your partner think of the book?

  8. Mrs. Davis

    Oh, yes….I read this years ago, and have quoted these guys in a couple of presentations I used to give when I worked in higher ed. I love Strauss and Howe, but this is pretty eerie to read now.

  9. Suzanne

    Must put that on the reserve list at the library. Sounds interesting.

  10. carrie

    Very creepy. And you are right, it is the elderly that will suffer the most, I’ve seen the looks on my grandparent’s faces lately as they watch what they’ve worked so hard for disappear within days. DAYS. Thousands of their hard earned dollars as we all scramble to get what they have left out and put somewhere safe so that they can continue to be cared for at the levels they need as they age together.

  11. nutmeg

    Ice in my veins right now!

  12. Shutter Bitch

    Holy shit, that’s prophetic. Have you finished it yet? What’s your take?

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