By 
I was having a conversation with my nephew, from the Millennial generation (b1982-2003?), At Thanksgiving dinner and I realized that there is a huge misunderstanding between Millennials (Mills) and older generations. The Mills don’t want to listen to older generations because we’re
- so cynical
- constantly communicating that the United States is doomed.
I want to dispel the rumor that America is doomed. We may be upriver without an oar; however, this is normal. We seem to find that we’re way up high Creek like clockwork, every 80 years or so, since this country was formed. America will rise to the top, and we as a country are heading toward a new and better future. What I’ve been trying to communicate, since 2003, to the Mills and anyone else who would like to hear is that
- we were heading for a financial crisis and an era that can be defined as Winter;
- the winter era would be very difficult and life as we knew it would change.
What I have not communicated is that we will be fine when this is over. The cycle will continue from winter to spring. The era of spring may not come until 2024, but it will come. The Mills have many talents, one of which is that they fix society from a civic point of view. Where the boomers focused on the individual and rebelled against their civic parents (the GI generation), the Mills will rebuild the broken systems that the boomers and Xers left behind, but focusing on the community, not the individual. Plus, the Mills will skyrocket in math and science. There has been much dismay at the exhaustion of mathematicians and scientists over the past 30 years.
However, this is a normal cycle that can be found within the archetype of each of the four generations that are born again and again in America. Some generations are good at writing, some are good at math, and some are entrepreneurs, some are medical wizards. If a generation is defined as being around 20 years in length and there are 4 different types of generations born in the US in a cycle that repeats every 4th generation, then you can see how we could exhaust those specific areas of expertise where each generation excels. Today, we have few mathematicians and scientists … but not for long. Looking back at my conversation with my nephew on Thanksgiving, I realized that my part of the conversation was mixed with the usual cynicism and anger towards the elite. “America is screwed up and things are going to get a lot worse when austerity hits,” I said. My nephew replied that he doesn’t think America is sinking, that the sky is falling, etc. That’s when the epiphany came.
Well of course America is not going to fall, I thought. Suddenly our conversation was interrupted, the night rushed by, and I wanted to end the conversation with him, but I found my wife and children saying goodbye before I could speak to my nephew. Well, this is my chance to end that conversation. My message to my nephew, and the rest of anyone who reads my writings, is this: We are not doomed. Generational and twist theory is the only theory I have found that does a great job of predicting the future of society. Those theories show that we will not only survive, but we will grow, expand, flourish, and life will continue in America under the same systems that we have used and adjusted since 1776.
The Mills will become scientists and mathematicians. They will restore civility to the United States and by 2025 this country will not look the same, it will look better. We will sacrifice individual rights in the process because that’s what a Hero / Civic generation (the Mills) does. They build community to the extreme with the sacrifice of the individual.
For better or for worse, that’s the cycle. Perhaps the cycle improves after each step, because our society does not grow linearly? I think both are true. Lastly, yes, the next 15 years are going to be tough. That’s why they call it winter.
How will we see it? Millennials will offer their expertise in teamwork and make sacrifices of their lives if asked to fight a war; Xs will offer leadership through pragmatism while protecting the next generation Babies of the motherland (2004? -2021?), And the boomers “will define the acceptable behavior of other nations strictly, and the appropriate use of American weapons in general.” (Generations p302)
Hope this helps, James Goulding 12/07/2010