I like the Strauss-Howe generational theory, created by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe, which identifies a recurring generational cycle in American history.
According to them history goes in cycles so we can rather accurately predict the next 20–25 years. Saying that, they predicted in 1999 we’ll be entering “winter/crisis” around 2005 and stay there until 2030 or so, when the new cycle will begin.
From Wikipedia:
The Fourth Turning is a Crisis. This is an era in which America’s institutional life is destroyed and rebuilt in response to a perceived threat to the nation’s survival. Civic authority revives, cultural expression redirects towards community purpose, and people begin to locate themselves as members of a larger group. Fourth Turnings have all been new “founding moments” in America’s history, moments that redefined the national identity
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