Volume 5, Issue 44
There have been three Great Turnings in American history, points of crisis wherein business as usual was unmaintainable politically. And therefore, the Establishment wall had to be broken down. The first was in 1776. King George III was the Establishment. His government was oppressive and restricted the people’s hope. Thomas Paine, in Common Sense, opined that business as usual will end badly. He argued for independence from the crown. Independence was declared, and the Revolutionary War ensued. A new order was set in motion.
The second Great Turning was the Civil War. The then current political compromises could not be maintained. Solutions were sought. Yet the issues became intractable. The South seceded from the Union, and the Civil War ensued. A new order was set in motion.
The third Great Turning was World War II. The United States was caught up in a great world turning wherein the remnants of kings and principalities could not serve the world’s economic needs. Germany pursued a course of cultural isolation and purity that left Western civilization with no choice but to defend democracy, and World War II ensued. A new order was set in motion.
We now find ourselves in a time where the Establishment is again hapless. The current leadership of government is in question and appears dysfunctional. The people have lost confidence in their institutions and their elected government leaders.
The United States is entering its fourth Great Turning.
Dr. Lance Wallnau, noted author and CEO of Lance Learning Systems, addresses these salient circumstances in what he calls the Fourth Turning. It was Dr. Wallnau who first coined the term “Chaos Candidate” in reference to Donald Trump in the Presidential primaries of 2016. He has further referenced President Trump as the “Wrecking Ball President.” President Trump is determined to change business as usual. Changing the Establishment order is never easy. And, as in the past, such change will not occur without consequences.
At critical times in society’s journey, turning points are forced through the discontent or concerns of the people. Government leadership seldom sees the need for change, and further, opposes it as if not in the Establishment’s best interest.
Why?
Because government does not lead, it only maintains business as usual. Government is a reflection of the people’s will at a given point in time. The new order, driven by the will of the people, becomes the Establishment order. The needs of the people change at a greater pace than the government’s ability to accommodate change. Entrenched government becomes inflexible as it serves the status quo. Elected government officials enter into a comfort zone of familiarity of Establishment order. Governments then, even in their own denial, claim that they are meeting the needs of the people through the Establishment maintenance, when in fact, they are restricting the people’s hope.
Turning points come when the people realize that business as usual will end badly.
Following 1776, the colonies, under the Articles of Confederation, struggled to form a government. Trade wars, insurrections, and tax collections resulted. It was not until 1789, with the ratification of a new Constitution and the election of George Washington as a true national consensus leader, did America start to grow as a nation.
After the Civil War in 1865, the agrarian society of the south had been destroyed. Carpetbagging, corruption, and Jim Crow laws prevailed. It was not until the Industrial Revolution that the south fully recovered.
At the conclusion of World War II, the entire world’s order was recalibrated. Europe was in ruin. The Marshall Plan provided capital for the rebuilding of a decimated Europa. The dollar was established as the world’s reserve currency at the Bretton Woods Conference. It was not until 1974 that the world realized recovery from the massive devastation caused by the third Great Turning.
We are now living in the fourth Great Turning. A new order will be set in motion. And change will have consequences.
World governments have accumulated excessive debt. Most countries continue to deficit spend to provide government services at a pace greater than the growth of their economies. The banking systems of the United States and China are diametrically opposed in structure, rendering free floating exchange rates between the yuan and the dollar impossible. President Xi of China has completed an unprecedented takeover of the communist party of China. He now possesses unchecked authority for Chinese economic, military, and government policy.
In the United States, government services, including healthcare, have reached a point of unsustainability. Government regulation, political correctness, and cultural divides threaten the very existence of democracy and freedom as we know it. Common sense is disregarded in reference to obvious facts, defaulting into the deceitful allegory that government can be all things to all people at all times. Citizens instinctively know, by and through their inherent common sense, that business as usual will end badly.
In 1860, the best diplomats gave their best efforts to avoid civil war. The problem was that no solution was available that maintained the moral and economic order of both the North and South. A turning point resulted in a war that restructured the societal order. Both sides believed in God. Both sides prayed to God that their cause would reign supreme. And yet the turning point came. Restructuring without war requires a consciousness that God has a stake in all men’s destiny. No cause is greater than the unifying cause of eternal principles.
What Then Does This Mean?
- The United States is entering into the fourth Great Turning. The status quo of the Establishment will be changed. Without leadership, disruption in services will occur.
- The Establishment order, by design and definition, can only maintain itself. It cannot execute substantive change.
- Local officials are holding the fabric of society together. Educators, policemen, county sheriffs, first responders, mayors, healthcare providers, and charitable institutional volunteers are on the front lines of providing government services to society and the needy. The opioid crisis, drug abuse, foster care, and senior citizen support are being met. The continuity of service is bound by dedicated public officials.
- Each responsible citizen must face the reality that the United States of America is in her fourth Great Turning. Change will come. What change, in fact, is to be defined by the reflection of an individual’s values?
In high school, wrestling was my sport. It was a well-attended event fifty years ago and a good cross-section representation of the town. I remember being on bottom on the mat trying to escape when the crowd in unison would yell, “Get up! Get up!” I was not surprised by the advice I got. The crowd wanted the best for me and the team. Their ability and desire to provide solutions was basic and genuine. What I was amazed about was that they thought it was good advice. Of course I was trying to get up!
It is critical to remember that elected officials in control of the current order cannot, and will not, change. Telling them to get along, fix it, do your job, do what we elected you to do, is not calculable in their mental orientation. There is an equal counter-force keeping them from getting up off the mat.
We the people must decide for ourselves, working with our local officials, what the design, structure and implementation of the new order will be. The motto on the dollar bill, given by the Founding Fathers as the reason to declare independence to avoid “business as usual ending badly,” was Novus Ordo Seclorum, a new order for the generations.
Once our determinations are clear and cogent, Congress will act to ratify our principles. They, in fact, will welcome leadership from the people. For, in a democracy, it is the people who designate the values for the generations, not the government.
In this time of our country’s fourth Great Turning, each of us must “stand in the gates” for the generations, seizing the opportunity to protect freedom. Ignoring the reality of these times will only result in the wrecking ball conundrum being left to chance.
And, our values will be abandoned to circumstance.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?