1.       The American government is currently deadlocked due to the extreme polarization of the country. This deadlock is the logical conclusion of at least 2 decades of the unraveling mentioned in the Fourth Turning, and the fear and intransigence of the Baby Boomers. All the hand-wringing, blame-setting and well intentioned urging toward “cooperation” will come to naught. The Republican hard-liners have one unstated goal in mind – one-party rule. They aren’t interested in bilateralism, or in governing or cooperating with the President. They want power. Fueled by the ideological intransigence of Baby Boomers, driven by fear, the Tea Party hardliners will not give in. The Wall Street insiders in the GOP have a good thing going and don’t want this party to end. These reactionaries must be pushed aside if we are to have social and economic progress in this country.

2.       The upcoming election will solve nothing. Presidents and elections are over-rated. The country will remain as polarized after the election as it was before. It doesn’t matter that much who the next president will be, nor does the makeup of Congress matter that much either. It’ll just make somewhat of a difference depending on which party is in charge. The Republicans will attempt to move the country sharply to the right. The Democrats will attempt to keep the country from moving so sharply to the right. 

3.       There is a Crisis coming which was predicted in the Fourth Turning. Only the meltdown which comes in this Crisis will break this deadlock.  Up until now, the wealthy class has been resoundingly successful in re-directing the accumulating social anger and fear away from themselves and onto to red herring issues like immigration, gays, Muslims, terrorism, and countless other fake issues. Their chief mouthpiece for deflecting the social anger has been the Fox Network. But as the social stress and misery mounts,  the re-direction is beginning to wear thin and becoming more and more riddled with its own contradictions. Remember Grover Norquist’s “pledge”?  The pledge he made all Republican Congressional candidates sign was “no new taxes under any circumstances”. Unfortunately these same “No-tax” people are calling for raising taxes on the poor:  “Everybody has to have some skin in the game.” Their arguments are becoming more and more disingenuous and transparent. They are providing a lot of material for the comedians on late night TV.

4.       Since I first wrote this, it has become obvious that the tide of public opinion is turning against the wealthy. Here are some examples:

a.       Obama has openly come out for taxing the rich. More and more popular anger is now being directed toward rich individuals and corporations. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/us/politics/obama-tax-plan-would-ask-more-of-millionaires.html?scp=1&sq=buffet%20tax&st=cse

b.       Warren Buffet and other tycoons have openly come out for raising their own taxes. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/buffett-takes-his-case-to-wall-street/?src=dlbksb

5.       The Occupy Wall Street movement has caught fire all around the   planet. When the young people weigh in on the direction our country is headed, they won’t be voting in the polls or voting booths. They are  voting in the streets.

a.       http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/police-arresting-protesters-on-brooklyn-bridge/?hp    

b.       http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/world/as-scorn-for-vote-grows-protests-surge-around-globe.html?scp=1&sq=scorn%20political%20protest&st=cse

6.       It hasn’t been emphasized much in the media lately, but I’m convinced that one of the chief causes of the present distress is demographic. The West has an aging population. The elderly portion of the society has benefitted well from the earlier years of the “Spring” and “Summer” years of the present seaculum. These older people are largely fearful of the Great Recession and their twilight years and want to hold onto what they have, apparently even if it means that their grandchildren will suffer. The younger generation, the “Gen-Y” generation appears to have done everything right – worked harder, got educated as well as they could and prepared themselves for a place in society. And due to the Great Recession and the general economic malaise, they don’t see a place opening up for them. Who can blame them for being frustrated? So I believe there is a huge generation gap that has opened up that few, if any, in our present media talk about. Take a look at the Tea Partiers – how many grey heads do you see in that group? Then look at the Wall Street Occupiers. How many of them are the young?

a.       http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/16/us-protests-global-idUSTRE79F1CH20111016

7.       There are those who are dismissive of the Occupy Wall Street protestors. They believe the protesters will have their day of attention and glory and then eventually fade away. Some are thinking that the winter will dampen and put an end to the protests. They think that the rage that fuels them will eventually go away on its own. I’m convinced that these pundits who make light of the protesters don’t know whom they’re dealing with. They imagine the protestors to be like themselves – the Boomers. Eventually they’ll lose interest and go off, get work and start earning enough money to buy their first BMW. This is not that generation. This generation doesn't have new jobs to go to. This young generation that is finding its voice are the Millennials. They are the same kind of generation that was called the “Greatest Generation”. They are a Hero generation, a generation that will not take “No” for an answer. That should be obvious now in the Middle East. Bashar Al-Assad has pulled out all the stops in Syria, employing all the force and murderous brutality that his government can muster – and yet these people keep on coming. These people keep on coming, knowing full well that they will get shot at and some of them won’t live to see the evening. This is a generation that won’t take “No” for an answer. This is a generation that is connected to one another by the Internet. Everywhere you see the ubiquitous mobile phone devices. Check out some of the rock concerts these young Millennials have been attending. I watched a couple these concerts. The raw and focused power and psychic energy that these young people radiate raised the hair on the back of my neck. This is not the Woodstock generation. This is not the Sid Vicious generation either. Their energy is positive, focused and powerful.

a.       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y

8.       I don’t know exactly when or how the Crisis will start or even what event will touch it off.  Who could have predicted that the suicide of a fruit vendor in Tunisia would have touched off the Arab Spring? What I do know is that the social contract, as predicted in the 4^th Turning is continuing to unravel. My gut feeling is that the present deadlock in the US won’t be resolved until some kind of Crisis occurs that causes some kind of social “meltdown”. This meltdown will liquefy the social milieu that keeps the existing social structures in place. During this crisis, that which was once impossible will now become possible. During this Crisis, great social changes suddenly become possible and will happen.

a.       http://www.fourthturning.com/