The Generations of Men: How the Cycles of History Shape Your Values and Your Future

• The postwar boom between 1948 and 1963 was America’s most recent High.
• Crisis (Fourth Turning). This is an era in which America’s institutional life is destroyed and rebuilt in response to a perceived threat to the nation’s survival. This threat can take numerous forms: economic distress caused by defaulting on national debt, hyper inflation, or widespread unemployment; social distress caused by class or race warfare; ecological distress caused by natural or man-made disasters; energy or water shortages; epidemics/pandemics; secessionism and civil revolts; and traditional, nuclear, or cyber warfare are some of the possibilities. The Crisis can be caused by one large threat, or by the many little things that a society failed to deal with during the Unraveling finally coming to a head.
• The Artist generation’s main societal contributions are in the area of expertise and due process.
• The Nomad’s main societal contributions are liberty, survival, and honor
• High follows the Crisis era. It is a time with strong civic values: institutions are strong and individualism is weak. Ideals that were valued during a crisis are institutionalized. The emphasis during a High is on planning and building — doing big things. Society is confident about where it wants to go collectively, though those outside the majority often feel stifled by the conformity. Culture is friendly, but bland and lacks spiritual depth. Big technological advances are often made during High eras. The amount of structure/protection/nurturing given children begins to diminish towards the end of the turning
• Unraveling begins as a society embraces the liberating cultural forces set loose by the Awakening. Individualism and personal satisfaction are at their highest, while community and trust in public institutions are at their lowest. Pleasure seeking and extreme lifestyles emerge. Society fragments into polarizing groups which become increasingly entrenched in their respective ideologies, making the reaching of consensus and the taking of decisive public action difficult. Instead of addressing problems, businesses and government leaders just kick the can down the road. Confidence in society’s future darkens, and the culture feels used up and worn out. Civic and moral paralysis and apathy set in. Art reflects the growing pessimism as themes of dreary realism take center stage. Child-rearing begins to move back towards protection and structure
• Artists grow up overprotected by adults during a Crisis. Children are expected to stay out of the way and be well behaved, and for the most part Artist children comply. Taught from a young age to please adults, Artists enter adulthood as one of the most conformist but also most well-off youth generations. Young adult Artists often take a supportive role to midlife Heroes. Those who find their generation’s conformity to elder expectations stifling, begin to explore a “fresher, more fulfilling role.” Rebellious young adult Artists are frequently the leaders of youth movements filled with teenage Prophets (e.g., MLK).. In midlife, Artists become known for their flexible, consensus-building leadership. They put a premium on expertise, process, and statistics.
• Awakening changes a society’s culture; a Crisis changes its public life
• Nomad generations are born and nurtured during a spiritual Awakening and grow up as unprotected children. Often seen as a nuisance by Artist and Prophet adults, Nomad children are left to find their own norms and are exposed to the world of adult dangers and anxieties at a young age. Consequently, Nomad children grow up fast and often engage in risky behavior.
• last five centuries of Anglo-American history can be explained by the existence of four generational archetypes that repeat sequentially in a fixed pattern every 80-100 years, the length of a long human life, or what the ancients called a “saeculum.” These generational archetypes are: Prophet, Nomad, Hero, and Artist
• The Prophet Generation’s main societal contributions are vision, values, and religion.
• A generation reaches it apex of influence when it moves into midlife and begins to take leadership positions of power within society. Thus every 20 years as a new generation fills the midlife rung of the age ladder, and the generation that previously occupied that rung moves into less influential elderhood, the mood of the culture shifts
• turnings:. . Prophet. Nomad. Hero. Artist. High. Childhood. Elderhood. Midlife. Young Adult. Awakening. Young Adult. Childhood. Elderhood. Midlife. Unraveling. Midlife. Young Adult. Childhood. Elderhood. Crisis. Elderhood. Midlife. Young Adult. Childhood
• the next Fourth Turning began with the 2008 economic crisis and may last 22 years — until the end of the 2020s
• Most Recent Generations:. Heroes: G.I. Generation (born 1901-1924) Artists: Silent Generation (born 1925–1942) Prophets: Baby Boom Generation (born 1943-1960) Nomads: Generation X (born 1961-1981) Next Heroes: Millennial Generation (born 1982-2004). Most Recent Turnings:. Crisis (Fourth Turning): Great Depression/WWII (1925-1945) High (First Turning): Postwar Boom (1946-1960) Awakening (Second Turning): Consciousness Revolution (1961-1981) Unraveling (Third Turning): Reagan Revolution/Culture Wars (1982-2006) Next Crisis (Fourth Turning): ? (2008?-2028?). Before we move on, we should note that a cyclical view of history does not preclude the idea of a society progressing or regressing; the cycle may be spiraling up or spiraling down
• They are molded by four historical turnings that reoccur every 80-100 years as well. The four historical turnings are: High (First Turning), Awakening (Second Turning), Unraveling (Third Turning), and Crisis (Fourth Turning).
• Awakening (Second Turning). The focus of society shifts from building institutions to developing an individual’s inner life. New social ideals emerge during this time and experimentation with utopian communities is common.
• in every generation there are three groups of people: those who set the tone for the generation, those who follow the tone-setters’ lead, and those who rebel against the generational mood altogether.
• The Consciousness Revolution of the 1960s,
• Hero generation’s main societal contributions are community, technology, and affluence
• Prophet generations are born after a Crisis Turning, and grow up increasingly indulged as children and youth, which imparts a sense of narcissism to this generation. They come of age as passionate young crusaders during an Awakening era and rebel against their elders’ spiritually sterile society. Self-discovery and authenticity are valued by Prophets throughout their lives,
• Hero generations grow up as increasingly protected post-Awakening children. Prophet parents see their Hero children as instruments to fulfill their inner visions. Community and teamwork are instilled in Heroes at a young # “Why to Care About Privacy After Years of Sharing Data”
• If you’re doing something wrong out of ignorance, personally I think there’s no shame in that. But once you know better, continuing to do it wrong is a choice, and usually a bad one