The fourth turning
First came the postwar High, then the Awakening of the '60s and '70s, and now the Unraveling. This audacious and provocative book tells us what to expect just beyond the start of the next century. Are you ready for the Fourth Turning?Strauss and Howe will change the way you see the world--and your place in it. In The Fourth Turning, they apply their generational theories to the cycles of history and locate America in the middle of an unraveling period, on the brink of a crisis. How you prepare for this crisis--the Fourth Turning--is intimately connected to the mood and attitude of your particular generation. Are you one of the can-do "GI generation," who triumphed in the last crisis? Do you belong to the mediating "Silent Majority," who enjoyed the 1950s High? Do you fall into the "awakened" Boomer category of the 1970s and 1980s, or are you a Gen-Xer struggling to adapt to our splintering world? Whatever your stage of life, The Fourth Turning offers bold predictions about how all of us can prepare, individually and collectively, for America's next rendezvous with destiny.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Stats for nerds
15recommend
41mentions
37people
2008–2026years
39% recommend51% neutral10% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- 0: I dislike political sides-ism extreme rhetorical tone because it reinforces divided and conquered political gamesmanship rather than addressing an almost universally-greater concern: that ordinary people are so easily set against one another by very few, small cadres of excessively rich+powerful people and their helpers in mass media and political figureheads.
1: I dislike fatalism/doomerism because it reinforces learned helplessness and assumes absence of agency. (And I also detest accelerationism.) No empire/established/civilization is irreversibly doomed to decline or dissolution if the cycle of corruption, power accretion, and/or mismanagement that may occur as a macro trend in a cycle, orthogonal to political parties, can be interrupted and reset. FDR did this once and someone like him can do it again. It's important to read and learn from historical examples of how other empires failed and to avoid rhyming historical patterns of unnecessary chaos.
Suggested reading:
- The Fourth Turning by Howe and Strauss
- The Sorrows of Empire by Chalmers Johnson
- There is no best. Books mean different things at different times in your life. When I was a kid, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Conan Saga, where the greatest books ever written and I still think they were amazing but, my reading interests have changed, here are a few of the best books I've enjoyed reading recently.
The War of Art - Pressfield Outlive - Attia The Fourth Turning - Strauss
- Warriors and Worriers (Benenson)
The Prince (Machiavelli)
Beyond Good And Evil (Nietzche)
A History of Western Philosophy (Russel)
The Fourth Turning (Strauss, Howe)
Also, Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius (Machiavelli) is a fascinating read on human political machinations (albeit fairly slanted by Machiavelli's personal views)
- I highly recommend "The Fourth Turning is Here" by Neil Howe. According to the generational theory he co-developed (1):
"The theory states that a crisis recurs in American history after every fourth generation which is followed by a recovery (high). During this recovery, institutions and communitarian values are strong. Ultimately, succeeding generational archetypes attack and weaken institutions in the name of autonomy and individualism, which eventually creates a tumultuous political environment that ripens conditions for another crisis"
We're in a crisis period now. In all his books have provided the best explanation for the highs and lows in American society
If you can't get to the book, just look him up in any podcast or YouTube. But really the books are where the really detailed, convincing evidence lives.
(1) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generat...
- Read the Fourth Turning, I truly wonder if this is the “there is something in the air” thing.
> The Strauss–Howe generational theory, devised by William Strauss and Neil Howe, describes a theorized recurring generation cycle in American history and Western history. According to the theory, historical events are associated with recurring generational personas (archetypes). Each generational persona unleashes a new era (called a turning) lasting around 20–25 years, in which a new social, political, and economic climate (mood) exists. They are part of a larger cyclical "saeculum" (a long human life, which usually spans between 80 and 100 years, although some saecula have lasted longer). The theory states that a crisis recurs in American history after every saeculum, which is followed by a recovery (high). During this recovery, institutions and communitarian values are strong. Ultimately, succeeding generational archetypes attack and weaken institutions in the name of autonomy and individualism, which eventually creates a tumultuous political environment that ripens conditions for another crisis.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generatio...
- Ray Dalio’s book was helpful in understanding this period of time, as well as The Fourth Turning.
Definitely just part of the cycle of civilization. Might be helpful to pull up that that framework in order to understand what’s happening.
I’d love to hear any other titles like this. I’m almost done with Disunited Nations by Zehan. Some interesting ideas in there, but the book isn’t as interesting as his ongoing YouTube posts have been this far — just got it today so I’m only have way done.
