Seasonal Thinking

 

You're burned in at 25 and it takes 5 years to make it official. As I've said, when we turn 30 we stop caring about pop culture trends. I know I did. 

But the 90s were the beginning of culture wars. Neil Howe, one of the authors of The Fourth Turning had theorized that culture wars were a facet of the Third Turning (1984-2008), but it's bled into the Fourth (2008-2028?). This is why I'm not convinced of the idea of the seasons of history: the power of suggestion is then too powerful to bring them on ("It's the Fourth Turning, so we need to create all the events Fourth Turnings typically have so we can look forward to the Spring). 

Patterns make us patternistic thinkers. This is why we'll never do anything about climate change (at least until the Spring). Then we'll put off arguing about it until a Second Turning revolt breaks out. But look at Eric Clapton, a vehement anti-vaxxer, who turned 30 in a Second Turning. You'd think he'd be 60s chill, but none of that carried over to the Fourth Turning. A 60s pop culture zeitgeist still exists under the callousness of the Fourth Turning, but none of it really shines through. You'd think his acid-taking would have rewired his brain, but it hasn't happened, which why expecting certain things like that happen in a Second Turning is just the idea of summer fun, until the fall comes in a Third Turning. 

8 more years until Spring? No--every season is always somewhere.