If you buy into the generational theory of William Strauss and Neil Howe, then we’re headed, in the next few years, for a social and civil crisis on a par with the Great Depression or the Civil War, if we aren’t already in the beginning of said crisis.
(And just to be clear: Strauss and Howe don’t pretend they can predict events, just that their generational-cycle theory of history can sorta take a guess at how people will react, in a general sense, to events that happen to transpire. The idea is that one kind of generation, raised in one kind of way, won’t let some spark turn into a conflagration, while another kind of generation, raised in a different kind of way, will fan the flames. Strauss and Howe don’t pretend to be able to predict how individuals will behave, either -- it’s more about seeing that the general tenor of the times tends to move in a cyclical way that’s predictable in a general way. It’s all totally fascinating, and I highly recommend their books Generations and The Fourth Turning for more info.)
Anyway, hints of the shape of the coming crisis might be right before our eyes, if we’re looking for them. Consider:
President Bush said Monday he believes schools should discuss "intelligent design" alongside evolution when teaching students about the creation of life.
[from SFGate.com]
President Bush assures us that the ongoing twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are worth the sacrifices they entail. Editorialists around the nation agree and say that a steadfast American public was willing to stay the course.
Should anyone be surprised by this national resolve, given that these wars visit no sacrifice of any sort -- neither blood nor angst nor taxes -- on well over 95 percent of the American people?
[from WashingtonPost.com]
Only 40 percent of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments, and a scant half can cite any of the four authors of the Gospels. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.
...
Asking Christians what Christ taught isn’t a trick. When we say we are a Christian nation -- and, overwhelmingly, we do -- it means something. People who go to church absorb lessons there and make real decisions based on those lessons; increasingly, these lessons inform their politics. (One poll found that 11 percent of U.S. churchgoers were urged by their clergy to vote in a particular way in the 2004 election, up from 6 percent in 2000.) When George Bush says that Jesus Christ is his favorite philosopher, he may or may not be sincere, but he is reflecting the sincere beliefs of the vast majority of Americans.
And therein is the paradox. America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior. That paradox -- more important, perhaps, than the much touted ability of French women to stay thin on a diet of chocolate and cheese -- illuminates the hollow at the core of our boastful, careening culture.
[from Harper’s Magazine]
New Yorkers have been so eager to open their bags for NYPD officers at subway entrances that some straphangers are worried that there is no point to the exercise.
"All these people were opening bags before the cops even asked," said one rider who entered a No. 6 train at the 86th Street/Lexington Avenue station. "It defeats the purpose of a random search. Would a terrorist do that?"
But most riders said they just wanted to do their part for safety.
Alba Echevarria opened her bag for cops at the Columbus Circle station, although she was not asked.
"I think it makes their jobs easier," said Echevarria, 53. "Everybody should be doing it."
Wayne Neckles, 41, also offered to open his bag. "Nothing is better than feeling secure," he said.
[from The New York Post]
So, we have an American electoral that is apparently unaware that it enjoys politcal, social, and civil rights that are almost unique on the planet, and hence doesn’t even realize what they’re giving up in exchange for merely the illusion of safety. We have an already embattled educational system -- which produced these ignoramuses in the first place -- that the president of the United States believes must even further dilute itself, as if the U.S.’s passing on the baton of scientific supremacy hadn’t yet gone far enough. And we have the leadership of our country doing things in our collective name that are reshaping entire regions of the world in ways that we cannot yet foresee and yet apparently fully support because it isn’t affecting us directly... at least not yet.
This combination of enforced ignorance and superpower might seems like a perfect storm for... something. But it can’t be good. And Xers are going to be the generals charged with dealing with the crisis, whatever form it takes.
