God Requires Blind Obedience to Evil People?

 

Had a conversation with a woman yesterday, which I never intended to, nor imagined would, turn political. She asked what Biden was thinking by pushing one of the most mild items on his evil, destructive agenda. I replied that he is most likely incapable of thought.

She became indignant and attempted to lecture me that God put Biden in power. I called BS on this ridiculous assumption. God allows stuff to happen; but rarely causes it Himself. He allows people to sin; but doesn't commit the sin Himself. He allowed Israel to chase evil and turn utterly corrupt; but He didn't corrupt them.

Nadler's actual wording has been disputed; but his message is the same.

Predictably, she threw Romans 13 in my face. I explained that the people are the legitimate rulers of the USA; not our public servants. When those public servants violate the Constitution, they rebel against the rightful authority of the land. So far, this country has not formally transformed into a monarchy. We are not required to obey any earthly king--nor public servants who try to act like a king.

This went in one ear and out the other, of course. More was said, which consisted of me wasting my time using reason; and her manipulating, deflecting, and finally changing the subject.

The woman is Silent Generation. Silent and Boomers grew up in a world in which there was no penalty for living under delusion (such as a miraculous transformation into a righteous person with sterling moral character, and God's approval, the moment some dirtbag is awarded a government paycheck). They would not pay the consequence for their delinquent stewardship of our republic. Their children and grandchildren have to pay it--all while being chastised by those who are part of the problem when we recognize reality.

That we study and accept the whole counsel of scripture, rather than just the bias-confirming passages selected by the High and Awakening era preachers, looks like heresy to them.

The Turnings, Part 4: The Crisis

 Since I began looking at Generational Theory, with few exceptions, I've tested it against the Bible primarily by looking at the historical books. It's time to change that.

If history interests you, then Generational Theory is fascinating enough just for how it finds patterns in what has already taken place. But it's most valuable aspect is probably how those patterns are predictive of future historical cycles...and how that meshes with what God has told us will occur in the future.

WHAT WE KNOW FROM GENERATIONAL THEORY

The four turnings in the saeculum correlate to the four seasons in a year. The crisis is the historical winter. It's dark and bleak for a while...a time for death...and only after the climax, when the worst of the cold subsides and the days lengthen, do we begin adjusting to the favorable weather of the spring and new life.

Since the USA has existed, it has gone through three Crises/Fourth Turnings. The first was when our republic was born--the War of Independence up until the ratification of our Constitution. It was an existential crisis to be sure. Had we not driven the British away, our country would not exist. After that, any number of wrong turns could have also doomed the republic. We could have sputtered on under the Articles of Confederation until it became necessary for the states to splinter. The states might not have insisted on a Bill of Rights, and freedom would have been lost much sooner and much more rapidly. Or we could have become just another monarchy with George Washington as our first king.

The next Crisis was our first civil war. It was kind of existential, and kind of not. The USA would have continued to exist (at least for a while) if the southern states had won and never been reconciled; but would likely be a much different country today, whatever the fate of the Confederacy. But the Union did survive, albeit significantly changed. States' rights were curtailed; federal power increased; and the political landscape was revamped. The fledgling Republican Party of Lincoln would rise to dominate for seven decades, while the pro-slavery Democrats took a back seat (with occasional exceptions like the Woodrow Wilson Administration).

The Civil War of 1861-65 was especially brutal. Contemporary observers remarked that up until then, wars had been fought by gentlemen. Sherman's rampage through Georgia and the burning of Atlanta are just two factors to support their claim. Had either side possessed weapons of mass destruction, they might very well have used them.

Most notably, historians Strauss and Howe point out that the Crisis came too soon that time. As a result, there was no Barn-Raiser (AKA Hero/Civic) generation  in that saeculum. Nomads fought the Civil War, picked up the pieces afterwards, and rebuilt society themselves. The generational cycle skipped from the Nomads straight to the Custodians (AKA Artist/Adaptive). The resolution of the Crisis didn't seem like a victory to the average American. There were no winners--just survivors.

Our last Crisis encompassed the Great Depression and Second World War. That crisis wasn't existential, but was widely perceived as such. Unprecedented tampering with the free market turned the Stock Market crash into the Depression. But politicians, mainstream media, and later, historians, have kept nearly everyone deceived about what caused it, from then until now. Also, there was no realistic chance that any of the Axis Powers could have successfully invaded the USA--much less conquered it. Yet that was believed at the time to have been a credible threat--therefore the crisis was perceived to be existential.

The American High Command had no intention of accepting anything less than unconditional surrender. By that time, weapons of mass destruction were available, and were, in fact, used.

Even more radical changes came about from that Crisis. States and individuals lost more rights, while federal power skyrocketed. And the political landscape shifted in the opposite direction: the Democrats have dominated Congress since 1932--including a 62 year stretch wherein they never lost control of the House of Representatives. This--and how the Supreme Court was realigned during that period, are largely responsible for the political, economic, and cultural reality facing us today.

That brings us to the current Crisis, which began in 2008 according to Strauss and Howe; and began its climax in 2020. The climax might last until 2025 or even 2030, according to Generational Theory.

HOW DOES ALL THIS MESH WITH BIBLE PROPHECY?

Some Christians are in the habit of denying prophecy. Other Christians have been assuming the end times were already upon us...since the First Century. I'm guilty of it, too. As a kid in the 1980s, I was sure I would be obliterated in an atomic blast during a nuclear war between the USA and Soviet Union. In the 1990s, and around 2000, I interpreted current events in a way that convinced me we were almost ready to enter the Tribulation period. So with that on my rap sheet, I don't want to cry wolf or "the sky is falling!" yet again.

However, there are some developments which are worth pondering.

The nations noticeably absent in the Magog Invasion prophesied by Ezekiel are signing treaties with Israel...perhaps paving the way for Israelis to "dwell securely" in the Land. The Russia/Iran Axis is still in place. But not only is Turkey now beating its chest as a regional power, but there are signs the Turks are putting aside their traditional rivalry with the Russians--just as Ezekiel seems to have warned when listing the nations in the Magog coalition. Furthermore, the rising nationalism among Europeans (including Gomer/Germany) suggests that it's going to require at least one more major international crisis before they're ready to permanently embrace the globalism that was prophesied by John in Revelation. And therefore, we might not be far away from Gomer joining the Magog coalition, instead of remaining a part of the European Union aligned against Russia.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I consider the Magog Invasion to be World War III. It might coincide with the Fourth Seal and the death of a quarter of the Earth's human population. I also believe it is the global catastrophe that will make people so desperate for "world peace" that they will clamor for a strong international dictator to take over everything. (You can already see that attitude rising to prominence on "both sides" of the political spectrum.) In other words; I believe the Magog Invasion will immediately precede "Daniel's 70th Week" (often referred to as "the Tribulation").

Deep State politician Rahm Immanuel once gave voice to a tried-and-true ploy by globalists: "Never let a crisis go to waste." With an adequate crisis, exploited effectively, human beings will surrender freedoms and subject themselves to oppression they never would have accepted otherwise. This adage has served Satan well throughout history. Crisis brought the Soviets to power. Crisis (or perceived crisis) allowed Chancellor Hitler to become Der Fuhrer. Crisis made Americans accept the New Deal; then membership in the United Nations; later the "Patriot Act;" and uncountable other violations of our rights as free men. It only makes sense that the mother of all crises will be used to make every nation, tribe and tongue to accept the Beast and his global system. A whole lot of people are clamoring for a socialist dictator already. Only the Elect will resist one, after an adequate crisis.

Up until the 1990s, it was rather a stretch to refer to Red China as "the kings of the East." But it's perfectly logical now that suicidal and treasonous US policy (in addition to their own cheating and theft) has turned that enemy into a military and economic superpower.

* It's hardly a stretch at all to anticipate that the debit card will be replaced by "the mark."

* Financial organizations like PayPal and the credit card companies have already begun preventing people from buying or selling, if they don't agree with the correct ideology.

* Livestreaming is commonplace around the world right now--no technical advancement is required for people in every country to watch the bodies of the two witnesses lying dead in Jerusalem, when that happens.

And then there's the United States of America--which plays no significant role during Daniel's 70th Week, so far as we can infer from the prophecies revealed to Daniel, John, and others. It's remarkable that a country as rich, powerful, and influential as the USA just doesn't show up in the End Time scenario. Obviously, by the time of the Tribulation, either America is destroyed, or has been rendered so insignificant as to not be worth mentioning.

If you've read my posts on the old Wordpress blog, you may recall my theory that the USA (or at least New York City) is one part of the tripartite Mystery Babylon. If I'm right about that, then she gets destroyed prior to the Tribulation period. A sudden world power vacuum potentially explains some of the turmoil prophesied.

So, look at where Americans are today: Our present Crisis began with the Great Recession of 2008, and is moving into the climax right now as I write this. The quarantines/lockdowns are wrecking what is left of our economy. The death blow to small business (and therefore our middle class) may be imminent, though the woke anti-American megacorporations are profiting like never before. That fits. We are also teetering right on the brink of a descent into socialist despotism and/or civil war. A foreign war might be closer than any of us realize, as well. All that fits, too. This Crisis is, without a doubt, existential. Everything hangs in the balance right now. The stakes could not be higher for the American republic. To survive, we have to handle each aspect of the Crisis the right way...and that's leaving foreign enemies out of the equation.

If the theft of our election stands (which it very well might, since most of the Republican party is nothing but controlled opposition today--neither the Supreme Court, nor the state legislatures can be trusted), then the fundamental transformation of our constitutional republic into a third-world police state will soon be complete. Freedom once lost is seldom regained; and despite all the trash-talking, it's still unclear whether enough Americans are willing to die on their feet rather than live on their knees. Remember: it is the Millennials who are of fighting age right now.

If the theft of the election is thwarted, then the rioting we saw over the spring and summer will prove to be just a preview of a full-blown color revolution. And our Armed Forces seem to be hopelessly woke and corrupt now, too.

Looking at the pattern of American history, we know that economic upheaval is a fixture of fourth turnings. And there has been a war in every Crisis we've experienced as a country. What's worse: wars during a Crisis tend to be total wars. We have nukes, by the way...as well as biological and chemical weapons.

Look at the frothing hatred on the left for people like us. You can bet they will use the nastiest weapons in their arsenal if they have the chance. Meanwhile, patriots seem to be backed into a corner. If our choice is liberty or death, then our choice must therefore be victory or death. It's war to the knife. 

The last two Horsemen (Death and Hades) must be licking their chops at how this is shaping up.

Before speculating further on what might play out, it's important to consider that God has not promised us a Pre-Inconvenience Rapture.

Let's consider two different directions for the USA.

Scenario One: 

Joe Biden is installed in the White House. At that point, whether it was the courts, the state legislatures, and/or the electors who allowed the fraudulent, stolen election to stand, it will all be moot. Biden may be retired in a matter of months, and Harris elevated to become our Pied Piper. Her handlers will have her begin the final phase of the transition of the USA into an unexceptional  socialist regime (and eventually a territorial kingdom of the New World Order). A series of false flags and crises will be manufactured to justify the consolidation of power via "temporary" suspension of individual rights and the rule of law.

The only way to stop the descent, or even just slow it down, will be by way of the 2nd Amendment. There is a question, for some, which side the military and police will come down on. There's little doubt in my mind: the police will side with whoever signs their paychecks and holds their pensions. The military was going NPC woke when I served. It would only make sense that it's far worse, now. Perhaps some in the combat arms would mutiny rather than attack their uncles, fathers, and grandfathers. But again, these are Millennials. They've been raised under the same cultural and psychological conditioning as the BLM/Antifa NPCs fighting for "justice" by stealing iPhones, burning down Auto Zone and murdering people for the crime of wearing MAGA hats. These are not the stout, barefoot and hungry patriot-soldiers who endured the winter at Valley Forge, obeying strange orders only when Baron Von Steuben explained the lawfulness and utility of the task given them.

Hot civil war would be the best-case scenario at that point.

According to the pattern, old institutions die during the Crisis, to be replaced or rebuilt and assigned new purposes. Every single institution has been thoroughly corrupted (and many of them weaponized against political dissidents) already, so change doesn't need to be as radical in Scenario One. The mission of the corrupt institutions will become more explicit, since plausible deniability is only necessary in a free country. The people will no longer be able to hold the ruling class accountable in any way. Their vote will no longer mean anything, and the law will be whatever the ruling class says it is...until they say it's something different. The most noticeable perversions of institutions will likely be against the Church and the nuclear family. The Swamp has been telegraphing this. It's also openly bragging about the compiling of vendetta lists. Anybody who had the audacity to oppose their agenda is being put on those lists, and targeted for "accountability." If this sounds like a prelude to the Night of the Long Knives, that's because it is.

Of course, before the left goes full Storm Trooper, they will go all-in on disarming the people. They will certainly cut off water and electricity to their political enemies. Autocratic governors have already begun such against citizens who don't obey their unconstitutional decrees. You can extrapolate from what is already happening and assume that you won't be able to buy or sell if they identify you as an enemy. You certainly won't enjoy freedom of speech, press, religion, or peaceful assembly. Fourth and Fifth Amendment protections are already selectively nullified thanks to the "Patriot Act," NDAA 2012, FISA Courts, etc. Kiss them goodbye forever, for everyone, under a Harris Administration and what follows. Harris hasn't been exactly subtle about her attitude towards the Bill of Rights. You can bet there will be genocide, theocide, and mass relocations. The scale will depend on the quality and quantity of resistance encountered.

While our countrymen are tearing each other apart, this might be a good time for our foreign enemies to undertake a Middle East invasion with no fear of American interference. This could be easily justified by way of a false flag event. The hatred for Israel is already present, and widespread. Once the USA is sufficiently weakened and distracted, Israel is fresh out of allies on the world stage.

I've mentioned before about the quantum leaps humanity will likely take due to the Magog Invasion. According to Ezekiel, the Lord will intervene in such spectacular fashion that atheism/Darwinism will no longer be a viable belief system. Everyone will know the God of Israel exists. (Of course, the devil will then simply move the goalposts, as always when his lies are exposed. "You're finally mature enough to accept that there is a supreme being...and I'm am He. Now follow my Anointed One and his Prophet, without question.")

The Beast will make war against the saints, and overcome them. If whatever country still exists here has not already been absorbed by the arising global government, it will be at that point. War from a foreign enemy probably won't even be necessary in this scenario, but might happen anyway.

Resolution of the Crisis (completion of the fundamental transformation) would normally be followed by the High. The pseudo-peace of the Beast's reign could fit the bill nicely.

Then again, the American republic could be history for an entire saeculum or more before the Magog Invasion, and the following Tribulation period. God's timetable is His alone to supervise.

In fact, God could decide to disrupt the historical cycle and trigger the end irrespective of where we are in the saeculum. He's God, and can do whatever He wants. I suspect He won't, though. As I mentioned in my very first post on Generational Theory, He follows patterns. And the world He created operates in distinct patterns.

Scenario Two:

The republic prevails. In the short-term, that means Trump remains in the White House. So either the courts, the legislatures, or the electors refuse to be bought, show some guts, and do their jobs. Tall order; but let's imagine they do it...or there's some other method to stop the theft of our election I'm unaware of.

Best case scenario: Team Trump doesn't just do enough to secure his next four years; but he has laid a trap for the traitors and criminals, and begins surgically removing them from the reins of power. It's hard for us to imagine our side actually taking full measures; doing more than taking a few weak, meaningless, token jabs at some minor symptoms of the problem; or slapping a penny-ante henchman or two on the wrist while letting the kingpins remain at large, because we've watched the RINO Establishment sell us out and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory all our lives. But fourth turnings being what they are, major heads should roll before it's all over.

Whether evil heads roll or not...no matter what happens in this scenario...if Trump remains in office, the riots resume. There's a good chance that they merge into the color revolution the CIA has been rehearsing for; or the civil war their useful idiots believe that they want.

In this scenario, it's much more likely that the police, and a good portion of the military, are allied with the patriots. That could result in a shorter (but still bloody) domestic conflict, stopping only when the enemy unconditionally surrenders. Unconditional surrender in this conflict would probably include trials for high crimes and treason, followed by prison terms, deportations, and executions.

Remember: old institutions will be rebuilt, replaced, or disbanded, no matter which side prevails. Some of the institutions just begging to be rebuilt, replaced or disbanded are:

CIA

FBI

IRS

Most other alphabet agencies

The Pentagon/JCS

The Federal Reserve

Planned Parenthood

The existing "justice" system

Big Tech

MSM

Hollywood

Academia

Public Education

Both political parties

Will they be? Can't say for sure; but it would definitely be a better world if all of them were burned to the ground, and only the absolutely necessary ones replaced with new institutions built from scratch.

This scenario is not without its dangers, even if the God-haters suffer a crushing defeat.

America's enemies aren't just internal. There are plenty of external enemies, too. Chaos on the home front could convince a foreign country to engage in a shooting war with us as well, knowing it might be their best chance to achieve regional or global objectives.

Plus, there is plenty of room for disaster even if the Deplorables win both domestic and foreign conflicts. Many among them fantasize about being ruled by a strong man dictator and abolishing individual rights. Many of them claim to be Christian, but are too ignorant of history to recognize the danger of state control over the Church. And, of course, there seems to be no shortage of cultural Marxist/LGBT advocates, and National Socialists/supremacists (worshipers of genetics) who have infiltrated the Deplorables. Satan will offer whatever sin you're susceptible to, and build from there. If the evil isn't purged out, then any initial victory will prove to be just a delay of the same descent into despotism and debauchery.

Which Path For America?

Scenario One would best fit a segue into WWIII (the Magog Invasion) during the resolution of the Crisis climax. Then the High would likely be the "world peace" which ensues, brokered by the Assyrian Son of Perdition--cut short (or at least soured) by the Trumpet and Bowl judgments. The saeculum and its turnings will likely be shortened and accelerated when the Earth enters its final chapter. The Awakening might occur during the first half of Daniel's 70th Week; and the Unraveling during the second half (the Great Tribulation). The next Crisis, of course, would be Armageddon and the Judgment. Again, the length of the turnings might continue to break the format we're familiar with. The following High may last for centuries. Then again, turnings might resume at their normal intervals and the Millennium might be composed of ten or more full-length saeculi. Or, with the Son of God ruling the Earth, the entire Millennium may be a High, followed by an abbreviated, rapid-fire Awakening, Unraveling, and Crisis once Satan is unleashed one last time.

In Scenario Two, only if Americans make mostly good decisions, fixing more than just superficial issues, would it make sense that there is any sort of lasting recovery in the USA. If we do, then perhaps there might be another full-length saeculum (80-90 years) before the final cascade into the climax of history. If we fail to purge evil (regardless of political affiliation), the cancer will spread, regardless if we win the civil war and/or put down the color revolution. Weakened and weary from our internal struggle, our ignorant and Godless countrymen will embrace the Beast's global government just as readily as in Scenario One.

Suppose the Deplorables win the domestic conflict AND purge the degenerate cancer from their own ranks? The USA could still be attacked by a foreign enemy. And being a Fourth Turning, the attack might very well be NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical). Red China is more than willing to do this, if it seems beneficial to their long-term plans. It's also worth noting that Ezekiel prophesied that during the Magog Invasion, God would call down fire on the land of Magog, and on those who dwell in the coastlands. Whether this is a nuclear exchange being described, or purely supernatural, you have to consider what the prophet meant by "the coastlands." If this takes place during a geopolitical situation resembling the present one, then what "coastlands" might God be ready to judge with fire; and what enemy might a Russo-Turkish/Persian-led coalition want to disable with a first strike in order to carry out a Middle Eastern conquest unopposed?

Remember: the city (or one of the cities) alluded to in John's "Mystery Babylon" vision is destroyed in one hour. I've long suspected that the one-hour destruction of The Great Prostitute (at least the New York aspect of her), the Magog Invasion (especially the nuclear exchange--if that's what it is), the ride of the Second Horseman, and the First Trumpet Judgment all overlap. They're possibly all describing the same event, from different angles.

The only possibility I see for the USA to survive for another full-length saeculum is for God's people inside America to humble themselves, pray, seek God's face, and turn from their wicked ways. Then, circa 2025-2030 the Crisis will finally be resolved and we will enter the next High. If that's how it's gonna go, then if my life hasn't ended already, it probably will during the next Awakening.

There's a possibility the USA can last for another saeculum. I just can't see it lasting longer than that.

For right now, and for what it's worth, that's how I see Biblical prophecy meshing with Generational Theory. There are two major scenarios and different variables within them. In all but one variable, the United States of America, as we know it, falls within the next decade, approximately. In the one remaining variable, it could linger for almost another century. In all variables but that one, it would make sense to me if Daniel's 70th Week begins shortly thereafter. But, of course, that doesn't mean it will.

The Turnings, Part 2: the Awakening

 The 2nd Turning in a saeculum corresponds to the summer. The warming trend that makes the spring so pleasant continues, making the summer somewhat uncomfortable due to the heat. So it is with an Awakening. People begin to question and defy existing institutions, attitudes, and traditions. Prodigals, who enter rising adulthood (20-40) during an Awakening focus inward, rather than forward. They are typically selfish and self-obsessed. A gaping generation gap appears between them and their Barn-Raiser parents. Having been raised with maximum indulgence, the "younger generation" of narcissists reject the conformity of their predecessors, only to adopt an attitude of extreme entitlement. They see themselves as visionaries, and as more "conscious"--and therefore more important--than everyone else. Including their own children. Their focus on self, and on "consciousness" lead them into quests for spiritualism.

In the book of Judges, if not all the historic books of the Old Testament, I think many Awakenings are documented. In my opinion, every period in which the Israelites chased after foreign gods was probably an Awakening.

In particular, the account of Samson strikes me as occurring in the late stages of an Awakening. The culture in Israel (specifically in Dan) had already embraced pagan religion, and by the time Samson was born, that had progressed to its logical conclusion: rule by heathens. Samson was a spoiled brat who rejected the council of his indulgent parents. He bossed them around, instead. He was gifted with an access to spiritual power none of us have enjoyed. The manifestation of that power through him, superficially, makes us think of him as strong and masculine. Yet he was dominated by women throughout his tenure as a judge. Females "wore the pants" in his life. His weakness was rather sickening, and tragic. The gift he was granted at birth was magnificent. And all he had to do was uphold his Nazerite vow to keep it. By the end of his life, he had pissed it all away.

The last Awakening America went through began with the JFK assassination and ended during the "Morning in America" period of the early-to-mid 1980s. It included the "Summer of Love;" the moon mission, the Vietnam debacle, Watergate, the Civil Rights movement, the sexual revolution, civil unrest and domestic terrorism.

The Boomers followed the pattern, and actually pushed the boundaries. Probably the most spoiled, indulged children in history; they grew up to be the most ungrateful adults, with the most dramatic generation gap between themselves and their fathers. They questioned and defied institutions like never before--most notably, the Draft. But they despised more than just that institution, including gender norms, marriage, and the family itself. (Of course those are even more despised today, but the slippery slope began in the Awakening.)

While the generation gap widened, the gender gap narrowed. Masculinity was reviled, in men. Males grew their hair out long like women; music featured male vocalists singing in ever-higher voices; sodomy came out of the closet and was celebrated. Young females became as promiscuous as the worst of men in previous times, burned their bras in public, demanded "liberation" from roles as wives and mothers, and increasingly sought their own careers and traditionally masculine pastimes like sports. They cut their hair short, wore business suits, and preferred masculine (or at least androgynous) nicknames.

They took birth control to avoid having children, then aborted children who were conceived, anyway. They got abortion "legalized" via a ruling by a cultural Marxist Supreme Court, which has been treated as law ever since. What children were actually born to them were undervalued, neglected, or abandoned. To compensate for this "baby bust," left-wing activists in government opened the floodgates to the largest, most prolonged invasion in history. Since 1965, the red carpet has been rolled out for hordes of foreigners who value neither our culture, our once-predominant faith, nor our freedom. It was inevitable that, given their unabashed lust for dominance, and our timid "inclusive" philosophy and appeasement, they would one day rule over us, demanding of us the assimilation we never demanded of them.

Rising spiritual awareness led the Boomers to experiment with "mind-expanding" drugs and/or dabble in eastern mysticism/pagan religions, on the quest for "Nirvana" or a "higher plane of consciousness." And within Christianity, they became "Jesus Freaks"--often personalizing their concept of the Savior into an effeminate, pacifist hippie space cadet whose only objectives were peace and love--as Boomers defined it. In other words, their picture of Jesus was nearly identical to their own self-image.

It has been rightly noted that Boomers can't take credit for the Apollo missions. To be fair, neither can they be blamed for Vietnam. However, their reaction to the indecisive, pointless intervention in Vietnam, and Watergate, and Roe v. Wade, etc. has had long-term effects on America to this day, and spurred on the Unraveling.

The Turnings, Part 1: the High

 A "saeculum" is a period of 80-100 years, or roughly equivalent to a (currently) long human life. It comprises four "turnings." A saeculum is a historical cycle that repeats.

Strauss and Howe suggested we could look at history not as a two-dimensional circle that simply spins in place over and over, but as a three-dimensional spiral. I think of it as a spiral, because even though history keeps spinning along through the turnings in the same sequence, and the cycle of archetypes keeps producing generations  (in the same sequence) that generally fit those archetypes, there are linear trends that continue through the spiral of history that make certain qualities of the eras and generations unique.

One of the linear trends is the advance of technology. Another one is wrapped up in gender relations/gender identity/gender confusion. Careful researchers like Strauss and Howe can examine two Barn-Raiser generations like the GIs and Millennials, for instance, and point to several characteristics in the peer personality that are the same. However, stepping back from the trees to look at the forest, the culture of those two generations are radically different. Average members of one could probably never accept what the other was comfortable with.

Christians should not be mystified by this. The god of this world/age grows more powerful all the time. As his power grows, the world becomes more corrupt, and sin more ubiquitous.

I like to compare turnings to seasons. There are four seasons every year; and four turnings every saeculum--always in the same sequence. We can't predict what the exact temperature will be on a given day in the future; but we know winter will be cold; summer will be hot; leaves will change color and die in the autumn; rain will fall and flowers bloom in the spring.

In a saeculum, the High equates to the spring. In spring, the weather transitions to a more pleasant condition. What died in the winter is either reborn, or replaced with new life. Living things grow and prosper. So it is with a High: Economies recover. Wars end and the troops come home. Optimism and confidence permeate society. Old institutions are either rebuilt or replaced. People enjoy peace and material affluence--rising adults (Custodians) live much better than their parents did. They marry young and start building families.

Again, I may miss the mark when offering examples from the Bible because:

1.Strauss/Howe's turnings and archetypes were identified from looking at American history.

2. The USA didn't exist in Biblical times.

3. The average lifespan varied in some Biblical saeculi.

With those caveats in mind, the generation that had not reached fighting age by the time Joshua's Holy Land campaign ended, entered rising adulthood (age 20-40) during a High. They enjoyed peace and prosperity, for the most part. Their primary mission was to maintain and preserve the institution(s) passed down from Moses, Aaron, and Joshua. The priesthood and the Law were two obvious institutions. Obviously, those sheltered, overprotected Custodians didn't do such a great job.

Another High might be after Saul died and David finally took the throne. Solomon's reign, though, is probably a better example of a High. The immediate post-Flood and post-Tower eras were probably similar to the American Highs in some respects. When the last of the apostles died off, and their disciples took charge of the Church, that might be considered a high. The same goes for when Constantine legalized Christianity.

Our Biblical picture of what the Millennium will be like is sketchy; but from what we do know, it sounds like a High to me. The absolute highest High ever. Then once we enter eternity, I doubt there will be a cycle of turnings at all. High for the saved; Crisis for the unsaved. Forever.

The last American High was the postwar era. You could mark the beginning at V-J Day and the end at the JFK assassination. Some might locate it between 1946 and 1965...or some other span that covers many of the same years.

While the Silent Generation (Custodian) entered rising adulthood, the GIs (Barn-Raiser) entered midlife, the Boomers (Prodigal) were still children, the Lost (Nomad) reached elderhood, and the Missionaries (Prodigal) began dying off.

Good-paying jobs were plentiful. Housing and college tuition was affordable. Middle-class neighborhoods were safe. Police protected and served. Families were strong and stable. Men looked outward and forward, stewarding society and posterity. A normal guy with a normal job could buy a nice house and pay it off quickly; raise a family with the wife remaining home to raise the kids; take them all on vacations every summer; put the kids through college; retire in midlife and live comfortably off his pension (luxuriously when his ballooning Social Security checks were added to it). Everything became increasingly convenient for them.

Young people really had nothing substantive to rebel against, but some tried to rebel all the same. Rock & roll and hot rods were part of that.

The Korean War was an ugly blip on the societal radar. It lasted almost as long as WWII, but only because it wasn't taken as seriously. Prosecution of the war was indecisive, and the supreme commander got into trouble for seeking decisive victory as he and everyone else had done in the previous war (during the Crisis). Of course, the Korean war was ostensibly fought by Americans to stop the very force that the previous war was fought to benefit; but that political dynamic fits perfectly within the generational one.

Outside of that, average Americans enjoyed peace during the High.

Also, society hit peak conformity.

As we know from the Bible, it's when people enjoy blessings of peace and prosperity that they turn their backs on God. It was no different in the USA.

If the cycle holds, the next High should begin circa 2030.

Generational Archetypes: the Nomad

There are personal reasons, as well as current-event distractions, which have delayed my writing of this post. But here it is, finally.

Generational theory, as it complements Biblical prophecy, led me to believe that the "4th turning" or crisis (winter) phase of the generational cycle was upon us in 2020, not in 2008 (as Strauss and Howe proposed). First the Wuhan coronavirus, and now the communist/terrorist revolution taking shape on our streets, has convinced me that this is so. It is tempting to simply jump ahead in this series and get to that...but I'm going to try laying out the whole picture methodically as planned.

With the other archetypes profiled here and at the old Wordpress site, I have rejected Strauss and Howe's labels, and replaced them with my own (civic/hero=Barn Raiser; adaptive/artist=Custodian; idealist/prophet=Prodigal). For this archetype, however, I will retain their label. Strauss and Howe initially designated this archetype as "reactive," but later called it "the nomad." In my next post, I might explain why I'm using their term.

In the generational "family" of four types, the Nomad is the middle child, or stepchild. They are born during an "awakening" period to Custodian or Prodigal parents. They are the least valued and least protected children of the cycle. They come of age during an "unraveling" period. Their reputation from childhood to adulthood is as the bad seed, and a lot of them live up to that reputation. They tend to be pragmatist, if not survivalist, and are the most fiercely individualistic of all generations. They grow old impoverished, alone, and as neglected as they were in childhood.

Nomad generations are born during a spiritual awakening, a time of social ideals and spiritual agendas when youth-fired attacks break out against the established institutional order. Nomads grow up as underprotected children during this awakening, come of age as alienated young adults in a post-awakening world, mellow into pragmatic midlife leaders during a historical crisis, and age into tough post-crisis elders. By virtue of this location in history, such generations tend to be remembered for their rising-adult years of hell-raising and for their midlife years of hands-on, get-it-done leadership. Their principle endowments are often in the domain of liberty, survival, and honor. Their best-known historical leaders include Nathaniel Bacon, William Stoughton, George Washington, John Adams, Ulysses Grant, Grover Cleveland, Harry Truman, and Dwight Eisenhower. These have been cunning, hard-to-fool realists—taciturn warriors who prefer to meet problems and adversaries one-on-one. - Lifecourse Associates

When I think of Biblical figures who exemplify this archetype, I usually settle on King Saul. We don't know much about his upbringing, but Saul seems plagued by insecurities and self-doubt, despite being a head taller than all the other men in Israel. He also tried to avoid the limelight--at least at first. Upon Saul's first act of disobedience, God rejected him. (Contrast that with the patriarchs, Aaron, David, Jonah, and many others.) After that ultimate rejection, Saul's mind grew increasingly depraved--yet he didn't succumb to the common sin that all the other evil kings of Israel and Judah indulged in: idolatry. And though he didn't seek self-glorification either, his pride was so wounded by the praise heaped on David that he turned into a homicidal maniac. He finally suffered a humiliating, ignominious death.

I think of most of Israel's tribal ancestors as Prodigals except Benjamin (Barn-Raiser), and Joseph (Nomad). The affection of his father for Joseph doesn't fit, but how he was kicked around for much of his life does. His older brothers despised him; conspired against him; and literally sold him into slavery. Joseph worked hard in the house of Potiphar, but was thrown in prison for demonstrating integrity. While in prison he helped others, but was promptly forgotten when a prisoner he had helped gained his freedom, who could have put in a good word for Joseph. Joseph's tireless hard work finally paid off, and he was in a position to exact revenge against the Prodigals who stole the best years of his life from him, but he let them off the hook.

The doughboys drafted to fight in WWI, subjected to horrific carnage and poison gas, who came home to make the 1920s roar, were part of "the Lost Generation." Those Nomads (unappreciated as children, then fed to the meat grinder of a pointless European war) scratched and clawed for prosperity during the Stock Market boom while throwing caution to the wind in their personal lives. They bore the brunt of the Great Depression; and also took the blame for it. In fact, the Lost took the blame for pretty much every bad development in society during their adult lives. Whereas the GI Generation were venerated and lavishly cared for (at public expense) right to the grave, the Lost got the short end of the stick at every phase of life.

Strauss and Howe made an interesting point about the 2nd World War, which highlights the contrast in how the Lost and GIs were valued. To resolve the second phase of the "secular crisis" (winter) of that cycle, America shipped all their optimistic, team-oriented, cherished GIs overseas to fight the Axis. But leading them into battle at the strategic level would be the cold, hard, pragmatic Lost generals and admirals. The most famous of those Lost commanders was George S. "Blood and Guts" Patton. The opening scene of Patton's eponymous film tribute is a compilation of many Patton quotes as he addresses his army of (unseen) GI troops. Stab the enemy with your bayonet, the brutal general tells his young, untested soldiers, then rip his guts out and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. Patton was regarded by the establishment like a dangerous beast, only to be released from his cage when the crisis was so acute as to require exceptional savagery. And despite his cowboy approach to warfare (which certainly ruffled feathers in the military establishment), what got him in the most trouble on the Home Front was when the old brute slapped a precious young GI in the face for alleged cowardice.

Fast forward to the 1960s and the first waves of the next Nomad Generation.

Silent and Boomer adults used the brand new birth control pill to avoid having children. A decade later, they legalized infanticide inside the womb, in case they were too lazy or careless to use that contraceptive, and conceived anyway. Children, cherished and appreciated before, during, and after the secular crisis, were now effectively disposable. The 13th Generation was little more than a burden and nuisance during the hedonistic orgy of the awakening. The changing attitude toward children was exemplified by the stream of popular "evil child" movies during the period, like Village of the Damned; Rosemary's Baby; the Omen; the Exorcist; It's Alive; etc. (plus Evil Child themes in TV shows like the Twilight Zone, Star Trek, etc.).Children with evil supernatural powers arrived to screw up the Hippie Utopia simply by being born.

As the survivors of the Pill and abortion epidemics grew into teens, adults assigned them a reputation as mindless, amoral savages, or "party animals" at best. In the teen exploitation movies (produced and directed by Boomers) of X's youth, the teenage protagonists were usually portrayed as sex-crazed slackers who practiced apathy as if it were a virtue. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many youngsters tried to emulate this model the Boomers built for them.

This demographic was originally called the 13th Generation (interesting for its sinister and "bad luck" connotations) or the Busters (for the "baby bust" that ended the postwar Baby Boom), but later dubbed "Generation X." The implication was that these people had no "identity," no "consciousness," and no purpose. They weren't "cool" or "groovy" like the socially conscious Boomers; but apathetic and nigh-anonymous. They were so devoid of worth and nondescript that they didn't even deserve a name--just an "X."

Even the oldest of the 13th/Xers were never conscious of a world not wracked by the uncertainty and self-doubt (often self-hatred) that permeated America after the Kennedy assassination.

Society was focused on adults when the Xers were children. Every institution catered to adults and strove to satisfy their immediate gratification. Xers who survived abortion were an inconvenient obstacle to their parents' self-discovery via sex, drugs, Eastern mysticism, careerism, and every other fad in their non-stop hedonist life cruise. Born during (and sometimes because of) "the Sexual Revolution," it was inevitable that few of the 13th would be nurtured in the stable nuclear families that previous generations enjoyed. Motherhood was viewed as a form of stifling oppression, so if Xers' parents actually remained together, the "woman of the house" liberated herself by pursuing her own career. Divorce went from rare to commonplace during the 13th's childhood. Either way, most of them came home from school and fended for themselves until a parent or step-parent arrived that afternoon or evening. Nights and weekends were often spent alone for children of divorce, whose swinging mothers went out to date and party. The 13th was largely the "latch-key" generation. They became extremely independent, if not alienated. Families had shrunk by this time, but some Xers had siblings who either relieved or compounded the alienation.

As the 13th entered adulthood, the robust industrial postwar economy enjoyed by the Boomers was nearly strangled, and the quality of life for young adults plummeted. Even during the economic recovery of the 1980s, the bulk of the largesse benefited the older generations while X faced dwindling opportunities and bleak prospects as hourly-wage flunkies in the new "service-oriented" economy. Meanwhile, college tuition skyrocketed. X also inherited a new sexually transmitted disease developed by the Boomers during their "free love" adventure, which attacked the body's immune system.



In the ugly, bleak new reality in America, many of the Xers harnessed their individualism and survivalism to become entrepreneurs, often in fields built around emerging technology. Others, who didn't have the technical foundation or social acumen to succeed in business, transitioned to lives of crime and drug addiction.

X was a highly competitive (and violent) generation from childhood to young adulthood. I never appreciated how uniquely so this was, until observing the Millennials interact socially, play sports, etc. The contrast is stark and stunning.



Alienated as children, X became cynical as adults. This is reflected in most of the pop culture crafted by the 13th. Movies made by X are raunchy, intentionally offensive, sardonic or nihilist. Music is dark, cold, hard, or mocking. Dancing was a communal exercise for the GIs and Silent; sexualized for the Boomers; but anti-social for Generation X. When the 13th went out to party (or "rave"), it wasn't unusual to see many of them, like Billy Idol, dancing with themselves. It also became common at concerts or raves for a "mosh pit" to form. In a mosh pit, young men turned dancing into a bloody full-contact sport. X ushered in the age of electronic music, wherein a band of other individuals with various instruments isn't even necessary--one person with a keyboard or computer can do everything.

As the 13th became adults, society's focus turned back to children. (No matter what stage of life they reached, it was never Xers' turn.) Society became protective of the young once again. The Evil Child movies lost popularity and were replaced by Good Child films. The market exploded with car seats, strollers, and papooses. 24-hour cable channels like Cartoon Network, Nickelodian, and Disney catered to children. Politicians poured tax dollars into public schools and arranged free lunches for the Millennials. Now students get free breakfast, too, all at taxpayer (mostly Xers) expense. Anti-bullying campaigns proliferate society, so Millenials and Homelanders won't have to go through the same crucible X did. Divorce is still commonplace, but parents now make an effort to nurture and validate their children. A lot of those parents, by-the-way, are 13th.

Violent and apathetic as kids, the 13th proved to be the hardest-working generation of all, despite their "slacker" reputation. They had/have to work much harder, for longer hours, to earn the same buying power as previous generations. And they've done so. If born female and/or of color, they are entitled to a helping hand from the system, and immunity from criticism by the macroculture. Otherwise, 13ers are out of luck. They have to look out for Number One, because nobody else will stick up for them. Nobody ever has. Life has been dog-eat-dog and every-man-for-himself. Survival is it's own reward. Acclaim and congratulations are always reserved for someone else (again: it's never X's turn. X doesn't get a turn). Who needs acclaim, anyway? Like the 13th cares, if others approve of who they are or what they've done.

X typically doesn't seek attention or recognition. Many Xers gave up looking for sympathy long ago, and wouldn't know what to do with it if they finally did get some. It would likely make them uncomfortable. Some of them don't feel sympathy for others easily, and come off as cold or heartless as a result. If you want to be dismissed and discredited, try lecturing the average white heterosexual male from Generation X about how "privileged" he is.

The cynicism, independence, and extreme individualism of X cause them to scoff at Christianity. It's very difficult for them to accept the notion of a perfect, loving, longsuffering Heavenly Father--often because of what their earthly fathers modeled to them. A nihilistic cynic hears about a selfless Jesus who willingly gave up His life to pay for our sins, and can't help assuming there's some sort of ulterior motive involved. It's too good to be true. It must be a scam designed to cheat people out of their money, or make their life suck even worse, somehow. Christianity is just another organized religion, after all. Their Boomer elders dabbled in various religions enough for Xers to know it's all just a silly waste of time, anyway. Besides, there's no such thing as "sin." The Boomers taught them: "If it feels good, do it;" and that philosophy took root. Xers typically bristle at any sort of judgement. To them, Christianity is just codified judgementalism. Why would they opt in? Making money and feeling good are what's most important in life--not trying to please some invisible Sky Pilot who watches in detachment an unfair world that utterly sucks. Life has been rigged against X from the very beginning. Where was this loving, all-powerful God when they were getting kicked around by parents, society, and the system?

There's a lot more to be said about the Nomads in general and Generation X in particular. I plan to say some of it in my next post; but after that, it's time to move on to the seasons/turnings.

UPDATE: Upon further reading, Strauss and Howe identified 2008 as an important shift in societal mood and the beginning of the Crisis, but predicted the climax of the Crisis would hit in...wait for it...2020.

Generational Archetypes: the Prodigal

The two previous archetypes were profiled on the old blog. I'm finally continuing the series.

One of Jesus' famous parables was of the Prodigal Son. In it, a wealthy father has two sons. The one son, despite his cushy life, decides he knows better than his generous father what life is all about and how to live it. He demands his inheritance, abandons his loving father and the life and home that was provided to him, journeys to a far country and parties hard until his entire inheritance is squandered and he is reduced to eating pig food.

(Just in case you haven't heard this parable: the son then returns home and is welcomed with open arms by his father, the way sinners who repent are welcomed by God into salvation and the Kingdom. The older brother has done what he was expected to do the entire time the Prodigal was off on a self-indulgent spree, and rankles at how the irresponsible narcissist is the one who gets rewarded and celebrated. The brother is much like the Custodian archetype)

I think the generation who followed Joshua into the Holy Land was like the Barn-Raisers, and the first judges were like the Custodians. The children who grew up in the fulfillment of the Promise, then turned their back on God to worship idols was Prodigal. Before the Holy Land campaign it's very difficult to correlate Biblical figures to the American generational archetypes. For one: they weren't Americans. For two: their life spans were much longer than what Strauss and Howe's generational theory is built around. However, I look at most of the tribal patriarchs as mostly Prodigals (one exception being Joseph, who strikes me as a Nomad type). Abraham, who did everything he could to set up Isaac for success (including finding him a wife), strikes me as a Barn-Raiser. Isaac, who was born within a year of a significant crisis (the judgment on the cities of the plain) and went through a personal crisis of his own (almost sacrificed), nevertheless entered adulthood with a life of peace and wealth, but raised his own children without the same level of wisdom or provision...and therefore seems like a Custodian. Jacob got the short end of the stick, but was "streetwise" and clawed his way into the inheritance and the blessing via crafty deceit. Even so, he was left on his own to find a home and a wife, and floundered with a lack of paternal guidance. He resembles a Nomad, or perhaps a Prodigal.

Strauss and Howe named this American generational archetype the "Idealist" or "Prophet." The most recent such generation certainly see themselves that way, but I prefer to call this archetype the "Prodigal" for a reason that should be obvious soon.

The Prodigal generation from the 1800s is labeled the "Missionaries." As I've warned previously, generalizations are necessary when referencing generations and their peer personalities. Neither Strauss, Howe, nor I believe every member of a generation conforms exactly to the profile. There are many differences and varieties within generations; the members don't agree on everything, and certainly are not carbon copies of each other. Likewise, names for generations aren't to be applied literally. The "Republican" Generation (born 1742-1766) played out most of their lives before the political party of the same name ever came into being. They are labeled "Republican" because they built the republic in North America after prevailing through their existential crisis. Certainly there were many missionaries among the Missionary Generation, but not all of their peers shared the same faith or ideology. Probably the best known Missionary in history was FDR, for instance.

Prodigals grow up after the resolution of an existential crisis, in times of stability and prosperity. They come of age during a "spiritual awakening" in which they question the institutions their Barn-Raiser fathers built (or their Custodian fathers maintained). In adulthood, they take over and transform those institutions, and in elderhood, they appoint themselves as a sort of "moral police" who are compelled to tell everyone else how to think, believe, speak, and behave.

The latest Prodigal generation is, of course, the Baby Boomers (so-named because of the explosion in childbirths experienced during and after WWII). They inherited the most peaceful, prosperous society in recorded history. Their indulgent parents pampered them beyond any known precedence. The Bible warns parents what happens when a father spares the rod--and that happened generation-wide. These entitled children grew up with a contempt for their inheritance, for their fathers' values, institutions, and the fathers themselves. (The "generation gap" is most prominent between GI fathers and their Boomer children.) Through their cultural influence, their political tenure, and/or their vote, they have squandered all that peace and prosperity--and not just for themselves. It was the next generation these Prodigals reduced to eating pig slop, while they pursued immediate gratification for themselves and lectured their juniors about "social justice."

X and the Millennials are not nearly as enamored with the Boomers as the Boomers are with themselves. In fact, our elders are finally facing somewhat of a backlash. Ignorant people on social media and blog comment threads routinely accuse each other of being Boomers (having no idea how old the other person actually is) for making comments they disagree with. "Boomer" is fast becoming a generic insult. On the one hand, it's as silly as judging an individual based on assumptions about their race or sex. OTOH, it's difficult to feel any sympathy for the Boom, collectively.

Thanks to the Boomers (and the spineless Silent Generation "leaders" who wound up emulating them), the most powerful, prosperous country on Earth, with liberty and justice for all, has been reduced to a hopelessly corrupt debtor nation teetering on the precipice of economic collapse, tyranny, and civil war. After bankrupting the country through crooked and frivolous spending, exporting all our manufacturing base (and jobs) overseas to our enemies, they now have crushed the service-oriented economy that remained through this Orwellian quarantine, keeping "essential" businesses like abortion clinics and liquor stores open, but strong-arming their arbitrary list of "non-essential" businesses (and churches, of course). Meanwhile, secure with their guaranteed incomes, they demonize people who have the audacity to protest because they need to feed their families.

But family wasn't an important consideration for Boomers, at least during their non-stop party prime years. They grew up with strong, functional families, so they didn't appreciate them. It was the Boomers who gave us "free love" and the Sexual Revolution. They took birth control to avoid having children, and aborted them when that didn't work. Those who did bother getting married and having children divorced in record numbers, pulling their wishy-washy Silent elders down with them, leaving the next generation (of unwanted children) to fend for themselves. They didn't just introduce widespread fornication and adultery, but a whole panoply of sexual immorality God warned us about. But it wasn't enough to inject it into our society--they had to glorify it in pop culture, too. It's hard to find even one movie or TV show without sodomy-acceptance messaging, and now, if you're paying attention, you can see them pushing pedophilia as the next perversion to be normalized.

The idyllic childhood of the typical Boomer was tainted by the JFK assassination. Simply by examining bygone pop culture (music, movies, art, etc.) you can easily detect whether something was produced before or after that national-attitude-changing event. The atmosphere in America was markedly different in 1964 and after, than in 1963 and before. That event set off a cultural chain reaction. The Boomers soon turned to lifestyles of drug abuse, paganism, sexual debauchery, and radical ideology. They hated their fathers, and that hate spilled over to what their fathers symbolized to them: the nuclear family; children; monogamy; traditional gender roles (masculinity in men, femininity in women); art that was beautiful and made sense; civic responsibilities; patriotism; Christianity; the draft; the military-industrial complex.

Much of this is ironic, because their GI/Greatest Generation parents were leftists, too. An overwhelming majority of the GIs were New Dealers, and reliably voted Democrat in most elections throughout their lives. But that wasn't left-wing enough for most of their kids, though. We can argue about whether the GIs were truly Christian or patriotic (they were neither, if you look beyond the superficial), but that's how the Boomers perceived them. So the Boomers rebelled against what they thought their fathers represented.

Of course, there were some Boomers who became "Jesus Freaks" instead of New Agers and dope fiends trying to "achieve a higher consciousness" via "mind expanding" substance. Also, there is a small minority of Boomers (in the later/younger cohorts) who fought in Vietnam rather than dodging the draft. Some Boomers today lean to the right, and many are saved. Again, when I talk of the generation and their peer personality, there are plenty of exceptions.


The Boomers were the first generation to receive, and accept, an official name. It was only afterwards that historians named older generations, retroactively. Certainly some people had referred to the WWI/Roaring '20s youth as "a lost generation;" but that didn't become their official name until later. The Boomers celebrated their own distinct identity, before other age groups began to think of themselves that way. (After control of the country transferred to the Boomers, the term "senior citizens" was coined to identify the aged GI/Greatest.) "Never trust anyone over 30!" Boomers declared...until, of course, they grew older than 30.

The Boom got their war memorial before the GIs or the Silent, which is very significant, considering the hubris of the GIs "who saved us from Hitler!" Everything has always worked out in the favor of the Boomers. When they were kids, the world catered to kids. When they were adults, the world catered to adults. Predictably, it looks like they will be the last generation to collect Social Security benefits. The 13ers/Xers, who have been paying into the government-sanctioned Ponzi scheme all their working lives to support their affluent elders, will be left holding the bag. Boomers had high-paying jobs, cheap college, cheap mortgages, cheap taxes, and lavish government handouts...and have ensured that the following generation, after paying for most of it (and GI/Silent/Boomer criminal government spending) by their unfair bulk of the tax burden, get none of it.

None of this strikes the Boomers as unjust, though. Why would it? Everything should work to the benefit of a self-righteous narcissist, at the expense of the un-cool youngsters who just aren't as "conscious," "aware," or "groovy." And it never stops. The COVID-1984 lockdown highlights Boomer entitlement, too: Wal-Marts around the country set aside a specific time in the morning hours when only Boomers could shop. The almighty Boomers need first dibs on essential food and supplies. If the majority of passengers on the Titanic had been Boomers, you can bet children would not have gotten priority for the lifeboats.

I first learned of Facebook through a Millennial. (I got on it to see what all the hubbub was about, but quit cold-turkey after a couple years.) Now the younger Millennial cohorts inform me that Facebook is wall-to-wall Boomers. Maybe it was that way before (I didn't think in terms of generations, then, and so didn't really pay attention). With all the selfies, pictures of what people ate for lunch, and ignorant self-centered remarks about current events (and their oh-so-important feelings about them), it's the perfect hangout for aging Boomers.

Hollywood is controlled by the Boom, and has been for 40 years. It's a Boomer bully pulpit to promote their cultural Marxism and marginalize anybody/everybody who disagrees with it. But pop culture from a generational perspective deserves at least one post of its own, so I'll table that for now.

If you had to pick a "defining moment" for the GI Generation, you have several options. But if you wanted to have as many of them together in one place as possible, you'd probably choose D-Day (for combatants) or VJ Day in New York City (for military and civilians).

That moment for the Boom (at least the counterculture Boomers) is Woodstock.

If you ask a Boomer to explain how Woodstock defines their g-g-g-generation, they'll probably say something about a "collective conscience" experienced at the event. I would add to that definition some more tangible details.

Hundreds of thousands of Boomers trampled down the fencing and crashed the festival without paying to get in. After the concert started, it was officially announced that all the freeloaders were off the hook. So the epic three-day party was paid for them by the event organizers. The dairy farmer who let them destroy his land for the festival was somebody they said could never be trusted (he was GI generation and well over 30). Free food was provided the entire time. When it ran out, the local middle-class townspeople (the kind they called "fascist pigs" or "capitalist warmongers" with no conscience) donated food right out of their own fascist warmonger kitchens so the attendees wouldn't go hungry. The Red Cross also distributed donuts. The US Army (who they called "baby-killers") and others provided free medical care for those who overdosed and experienced "bad trips" on LSD.

Everything was handed to them on a silver platter, and the very same people the Boomers considered inferior are the ones who bent over backwards protecting Boomers from the consequences of their own stupidity. The hippie festival is basically a microcosm of the Boom's entire privileged life.

The 600 acres where the festival took place was a beautiful area before the armada of spoiled pothead and junkie brats descended on it like a locust storm. The muddy, stinking, garbage pit they left behind resembled a war zone--missing only shell craters. Kind of like what they've done to America.

Toward the end of the three-day orgy of drugs, fornication, and subversive music, the dairy farmer addressed the wasted multitude from the stage. By no stretch of the imagination can anyone make the case that the attendees exercised any modicum of self-control; nevertheless, Max Yasgur congratulated them for not killing each other. He said they "showed the world" what love and peace look like.

At every stage of their lives, the Boom has enjoyed privilege and entitlement. They assume it's deserved--and why wouldn't they? The presumption has been reinforced at every turn--by the parents and grandparents they maligned, and even sometimes by the children who survived Boomer's state-sanctioned abortion epidemic only to be neglected, insulted, and abandoned by their free-wheeling parents.

Just like the Missionaries before them imposed their values on everyone else in elderhood (the Missionaries were the driving force behind Prohibition); the Boomers now try to preach to the rest of us what morality and justice is.

The party never ends for the Prodigals. But it's always at the expense of others.