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Generations as bridges. Nice little commentary from Mike Bonetto at Oregonlive. Notice how even though he criticizes his own Gen-X for lack of civic engagement, he also acknowledges that its entrepreneurial spirit has contributed to the country's historical development. And since that spirit could only fluorish in the prosperity created by the victories of World War II and the Cold War, there is a connection between our generation and the Greatest Generation! Posted by Steve at 3:07 PM
What an impact Katrina has made. The biggest news story since the fall of the twin towers keeps generating waves across the internet. Could it also be that this is the moment - when the generational constellation gels and our society shifts into the Fourth Turning era? You can give your opinion on that question at a poll on the T4T discussion board - just the sheer volume of posts there since the event is telling. There have been a number of editorials comparing this disaster to past incidents, such as the famous San Francisco earthquake of 1906 - to which there was a more rapid federal response - the 1927 flood in New Orleans - in which the poor African-American community was similarly abandoned - and the 1930s drought - which created a similar large number of refugees. Sometimes these pieces seem almost nostalgic, as if it's a shame those Wal-Mart looters didn't all get shot dead, or as if we really miss the golden days before FEMA-issued debit cards for disaster victims. I think we're past all that, and - assuming we will witness a restoration of the bonds of civic trust in our society - we will also see the birth of a new level of development of political authority in response to the perceived weaknesses revealed by the Katrina disaster. One important area which will be transformed by this experience is the role of the military in domestic situations where there is a widespread breakdown of law and order. There have been comparisons out there on the net of New Orleans in the days after the levee broke to Baghdad. And the way things calmed down once thousands of National Guard troops showed up, that doesn't seem so off base. Tom Barnett sheds some light on what transformations might be in store, in his strategic terms - here and here. Another question is the political ramifications of the plight of so many poor Americans, as David Brooks deftly points out. Frist has temporarily shelved the estate tax cuts, but does this action presage a permament shift in the nation's priorities? Guess we'll have to wait until the 2006 elections to find out. Posted by Steve at 4:14 PM
Nation’s soul laid bare by hurricane force winds. The impact of the tremendous natural disaster that is hurricane Katrina and its aftermath has exposed the deep Unraveling-era priorities of American society. The pathetic inability of our society to respond quickly to the horrific plight of so many desperate citizens in New Orleans – except to witness their suffering and death on television and the Internet – as well as their exploitation of the state of lawlessness for a spree of looting – shows how much the world of media and commerce has outpaced politics and civics in our society. Government was just paralyzed at all levels there, and this is four years after 9/11. Worse, the rapid and precipitous descent into anarchic, Third World conditions within the city showed the awful extent to which community life had deteriorated there. And the way that the very poorest residents of the region were so adversely affected by this disaster and were callously ignored by authorities underscores the huge disparities in wealth and opportunity that have been allowed to form in our society. Three excellent Katrina, generations and turnings threads are up at the Fourth Turning discussion board: join them here, here and here. Posted by Steve at 10:03 PM |
| Lost | 106+ |
| G.I. | 82-106 |
| Silent | 64-82 |
| Boomer | 46-64 |
| Gen-X | 25-46 |
| Millennial | ?-25 |
| Homeland | ? |
| High | 1946-1964 |
| Awakening | 1964-1984 |
| Unraveling | 1984-? |
| Crisis | ?- |
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Strauss & Howe Generations Sites
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The Fourth Turning Discussion Boards
Generations at jamesgoulding.com Generations on Wikipedia Model for the Saeculum The TimePage LifeCourse Associates |
Blogroll
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Aging Hipsters
Generational Dynamics Generations in Conversation Generation Next TimeLog Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow Ypulse |
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Where noted, background information on generations theory is copyright 1996 Broadway Books. All other content on this web site is copyright 2002-2007 Generation Watch and Steve Barrera. All rights reserved. |