Tim,

I share your concerns. The eldest of my grandchildren, Hollister, will be 12 in August.

The dates you referenced, of course, were exactly where we are now – 5 years before the zenith of a “WE” cycle.

1778: the War against England.
1858: four years prior to the beginning of the Civil War in America.
1938: the year prior to the beginning of WWII.

Have you recently re-read the discussion that you and I and Jeffrey Eisenberg and Michael Drew had at the end of Pendulum? I have been fascinated at the accuracy of so many of your predictions.

As you know, we begin every “WE” cycle (2003) with the beautiful dream of working together for the common good. Then, as the “WE” cycle accelerates toward its zenith (2023,) we begin to believe that anyone who doesn’t subscribe to our interpretation of “the common good” is evil, and must therefore be destroyed.

The keys to our future during this tense and volatile season are held by those persons who articulate and mandate “the common good.”

During the American Revolution, it was George Washington, a thoughtful and intelligent man who rejected the offer to make him a king.

During the Civil War, it was Abraham Lincoln, a big-hearted man who said at his second inauguration, “With malice toward none, with charity for all… [let us] bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” He was assassinated the following month, largely because he refused to punish the South by confiscating their wealth and property.

During WWII, it was big-hearted FDR, who encouraged and comforted our nation with a series of fatherly “Fireside Chats” on the radio.

But in Russia, Germany, and Italy, “the common good” was being articulated and mandated by Stalin, Hitler, and Mussolini. When angry men ride the wave of power during a “WE” cycle, you can expect pogroms, purifications, and demands for oaths of loyalty.

Regardless of who won the last election, our nation was headed toward a holy war that happens every 80 years.

Will we shout and accuse each other with increasing vehemence for 2 more presidential cycles? Or will we find someone outside our nation to fight, and then send our kids off to die? This is the decision that will be made by those who have the authority and influence to dictate “the common good.”

It’s weird to think that the discord and rage we’ve got happening in America right now is probably the best that we can hope for.

But having said that, I will admit that 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave me a glimmer of hope yesterday when she said, “Getting into twitter fights with President Trump won’t move the nation forward.” If she is sent to congress by the people of Queens and the Bronx, we can only hope that her attitude is contagious. Can you imagine congressional dialogue and debate without each side feeling the need to belittle and disparage the opposition?

We can only hope.

Roy H. Williams,
June 28, 2018
“There’s somethin’ happening here.
What it is ain’t exactly clear…
There’s battle lines being drawn.
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.”

And if you’re up for it and your eyes are not yet clouded by rage, resentment, defensiveness or phobia, here’s a really interesting outsider’s perspective from Oct. 20, 2016, that window of time when Hilary and Donald were slugging it out and the election had not yet occurred. Peace and laughter. – Indy Beagle