The Fourth Turning

Strong men make good times.
Good times make weak men.
Weak men make hard times.
Hard times make strong men.

Most of us have heard this saying at some point. But have you thought of the implications of this? Is there reason to believe this is even true?

The authors have taken the time to look into this and recognize there is a recurrent pattern through the history of Anglo-American civilization. Generations have characteristics based on where they are in the cycle (which turning). Cycles come in roughly 80 to 100-year periods (called saeculum). Our saeculum started with WW2.

This book was written in 1997 and is remarkably prescient and accurate on timing. As I've read through it, I've been amazed at the things they point out and predicted. It somewhat reminds me of Asimov's concept of psychohistory from the Foundation books. It's hard to predict what specifically will happen, but they do predict that something significant will happen in the early 2000's to end the 3rd turning and send us into the 4th turning and that in 2020-2025 there will be a major crisis.

We're right on time, folks. One of the most interesting sections of the book was the end where they talk about what actions we should consider taking these things into account. Sadly, it appears our world's leadership haven't read the book as they're not doing ANY of the things mentioned. Sadly, on a more local and individual level people aren't either. At least that can be attributed to ignorance. Now that you've read this review, don't let yourself fall into that category. I wish I had read this 10-15 years ago.