Written by Bryan Lutz, Editor at Dollarcollapse.com:
You can view the collapse of the West, and possibly the US Dollar two ways:
- Total destruction is coming.
- Or a new season is emerging. Like an unknown monetary and geopolitical environment. Let’s call it a second mountain.
Just as we see different seasons in the form of generations…
There are also different seasons in an individual’s life. For example, the first and second half of life.
Let’s expand the parallel.
Many of us are already familiar with the book, ‘The Fourth Turning.’
The book describes a four generation cycle, which the authors call “Turnings.”
Once all four turnings are completed, a new cycle starts again.
In the first turning, everything is steady, a little rigid, and traditional. Yet, there is new life to institutions with a sense of steadiness and predictability to everyday life. Traditional families dominate. So does the assumption of unity. There’s that feeling of oneness.
In the second turning, the next generation rebels against the rigid institutions and the rules of the first, which becomes an almost inauguration of the long decline.
Until we get to the Fourth Turning.
Tumultuous.
Chaotic.
Anxious.
And a high sense of uncertainty.
That is where we are now.
Each Turning lasts roughly 20 – 25 years.
Here’s the parallel:
The first two turnings look very close to the first half of our lives as humans.
David Brooks writes in his book, Second Mountain,”The goals of the first mountain are the normal goals that our culture endorses – to be a success, to be well thought of, to get involved into the right social circles, and to experience personal happiness. It’s all the normal stuff: nice home, nice family, nice vacations, good food, good friends, and so on.”
That is all a great method to live our lives in the first two turnings, as well as the first 40 years of our lives.
But, once the Third and Fourth Turnings come you can no longer live according to the culture.
Just like in the second halves our lives, the old methods don’t work the same way.
Now, it’s a different game.
A new mountain to climb.
The Second Mountain.
You have to live differently to be successful.
Again, David Brooks writes:
“The first mountain is about building up the ego and defining the self, the second mountain is about shedding the ego and losing the self…
The first mountain is about is about acquisition, the second mountain is about contribution…
…You don’t climb the second mountain the way you climb the first mountain.
You conquer your first mountain.
You identify the summit and claw your way toward it.
You are conquered by your second mountain.
You surrender to some summons, and you do everything necessary to answer the call and address the problem or injustice that is in front of you.
On the first mountain you tend to be ambitious, strategic and independent.
On the second mountain you tend to be relational, intimate, and relentless.”
We have passed the peak of the second mountain, and we are on the cusp of a new generation…
Where if we look on new ways of doing things, and if we haven’t done so already…
We’re about to be forced.
For me, I’m going to be more of a learner.
I’m going to be writing to you from first hand experience for the sake of the next generation.
I’ll be learning with them.
So, what are some questions you think the next generation needs answering?
What do they need to discover?
And for you…
What’s your second mountain?
Where are YOU going and what’s going to be your contribution to the next First Turning?
