"Being There" was Seller's best movie and it was an excellent one reflecting your post. Great cast, deft acting, and made subtle, but true observations, in a humorous way, about human nature.
I have read many of the writers you've pointed to and the various wave theories. I think there is much truth and accuracy in all and as you point out, convergence. My concern is that the gangsters who have destroyed Western economies will be able to maintain control when the next collapse occurs, which I think is soon, and that we might already be in, based on #'s from throughout the world. This is what happened in the former Soviet Union after the Fall: the Stasi, KGB, NKVD, and other security organizations just switched over and became "capitalists". They then colluded with Western gangsters to loot those countries. This greatly explains the immense popularity of Putin and other Eastern European leaders who've worked to drive out or destroy the criminal element.
History doesn't repeat, but it often rhymes. - Mark Twain
I view the Universe as a Slinky stretched out across a table. If you look from the side, it looks like a sine wave. If you look from the end, it's a circle. The nature of events constantly repeats, but the details shift slightly in different directions.
Putin is an amazing character, and precisely the leader Russia needed. Trump had the chance, but has blown it spectacularly. You are right to draw a comparison with the USSR, in any case.
We do need to stop the mafia. They have stolen every cycle for the past 500 years, and need to be stopped. However, when humans are frightened (real or imagined), they tend to glom onto anything familiar, and the mafia is exactly that. I don't see any major changes in current mass behavior. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised, but I can't really be disappointed. I have the lowest possible expectations, so anything higher will be a joy to behold.
Or a big dick. Maybe after we die, we go to see god and he is a giant phallus resting on two testicles. Oh, man, the feminists would freak out over that.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, so did the population of Russia. People, smart people, are going childless, marriageless, ... no faith in the future.
All this economic bullshit is noise if babies aren't born.
Actually, you've hit the core issues with economic collapse. The word "economy" comes from the Greek, meaning "household management". The economy comes from the bottom up, not the top down. In fact, we see birth rates collapsing globally, indicating a bleak view of the future (collapse). That is about as grass-roots as it gets. Economists are simply overpaid academics trying to make sense of humanity's interactions on a gross scale.
Exactly, and they write thick tomes of nonsense about household management. It's up to the male and female if they household manage a child into the equation.
Maybe America's next President will be like Hitler and Putin encouraging couples to fuck their brains out and have kids. The state will reward you.
I think Hungary has a law that says if a family has three kids, it doesn't have to pay income taxes.
Reset my ass. The elites will just change one scam for a new one, and folks will fall for it. I think Brazil changes currencies like diapers. No one in Brazil trusts the currency. They live day to day.
Great article, but all the economists are wrong. Human nature is the problem, and there is no cure for that.
I won't watch "Being There". Peter Sellers killed himself while making that movie. The weight gain was too much for his heart. Sellers didn't leave his kids a dime.
So, find your favorite economist and banker. Listen to the media and politicians explain why they are fucking us all in the ass again, like FDR did when he stole Americans' gold, and then devalued the dollar.
People only revolt when they get hungry or the state kills their family.
My take-away was that the cycles are based on generational memory. My folks were Depression/WW2. GenXers, Millennials, and Zoomers are the privileged offspring of affluent Boomers, who themselves were coddled beneficiaries of the Great Generation. Now that the Great Generation is all but gone, and the Boomers think they are entitled to everything, and their spawn need to create their own demons to fight, we have reached saturation and renewal. Call it reset or whatever, it's inevitable as sunrise.
Actually, Sellers did a Fu Manchu film after Being There that likely killed him, though he wasn't doing well in Being There. I don't know about his estate or his kids, but his acting was always above par -- thinking of his triple role in Dr. Strangelove.
Being There is worth reading if not viewing. It's a fantastic morality play and cautionary tale by someone who lived through the great Polish nightmare. In fact, all his books are very insightful.
My parents, born in the Great Depression, grew up in WWII, and were not the "Greatest Generation" who fought WWII. My parents were better. My parents put the world back together again. They didn't spoil me. I started working at the age of 10 as an altar boy. Then at 12, I became a morning paper route boy seven days a week.
Sure, now my parents have money, and I get some of it. But hell, I'm too old and crippled up to enjoy it. At least I can buy all the beer and pizza I want.
As for Sellers, I've watched some documentaries on him. He was a genius, and a fragile one. He had a long affair with Elke Somer. There was a huge 5' x 8' black and white photo of Sellers and Elke over their bed. I thought that was very odd.
The director of the Pink Panther movies would chase Sellers down in his car to try to get him back on the movie set. Sellers would give the writer/director a mad look and speed away. It's not easy being funny, and to have all that pressure on you to be funny, or people lose jobs and money.
Most great actors are "eccentric," to be polite. It is their particular form of insanity that allows them to adopt personalities and hide behind them. It's especially true of the great comic actors. Jerry Lewis would be another example. It's a form of pathological insecurity. I never knew about the photo over the bed, though. If I had the money and motivation, I wouldn't mind a giant photo of Elke over my bed.
I never had a paper route, but I was a pump jockey at my cousin's Sinclair station on Saturdays, and ran my uncle's motorcycle tire warehouse the rest of the time. Other than that, we are a pair, it seems.
Brilliant synthesis of how these cycle theories overlap. The stacking mechanism you describe, where generational prosperity funds speculative booms reinforced by central banks until demographic limits cap returns, realy captures something people miss when they treat these as separate phenomina. I keep thinking about how the masses always choose security over freedom when crises hit, which is exactly why the same power structures reassert control every cycle. The Soviet transition example in the comments nails it too.
One of my favorite historians is Daniel J. Boorstine, who specialized in tracking how seemingly small events had far-reaching and profound effects on society and culture. His work highlights the circular nature of history, and the way inventions and trends influence the cycles. I highly recommend reading his books.
Chauncey was one of my all time favorite characters-- very insightful. Much like this current post. I have been a long time fan of Strauss and Howe, and have been looking forward to the final end to this current saeculum for a while now (Praying the GL gives me enough time to see it through). Not being much of a student of economics, I was not familiar with the other cycles you write about, but it does seem to make sense when putting all three together that we are on the verge of deep dodo, and possible on the cusp of great things for humanity. Or maybe not. One thing that S&H point out is that the only possible prediction is that everything will change, not wither that change will be for good or worse. Anyway, going to stop at this point while I still see the post button--hate to lose another "good thought"
A good thought, indeed. So much of ancient philosophy involved cycles. Another one that is coming full cycle is the Great Year. We are leaving the Month of Pisces and entering Aquarius; periods that last roughly 2,300 years as part of the 12-Month precession cycle of the equinoxes, I think civilization lost an important reminder of cycles when we switched from analog to digital clocks. I'm with you, though. I want to be around to help guide the rebirth away from the bastids that have run humanity like a herd for 500 years.
As in PA. Dutch Country - Wonderful Good. You are a poly/polmath, stimulating ever deeper thought in your subjects: comments. I see what you're describing as the hyper-cyclical Godly-Hegelian Cycle. It is Nature talking back into our deafness and/or dumbness. You can add even deeper catastrophic cycles in which ‘mankind’ has been virtually eliminated - a real start-over; hypothesized as perhaps 6 increments. There is no ‘fixing’ these cycles as they are meant to be the greater ‘plan’; collectivism as well is an aspect of this eternal cycle with individualism the antithesis , the solution is inspiration/awakening. Applying one of your format’s, let’s reel-back to a Beetles Classic - "Let it be"!
If you've never seen it, be sure to watch a film called "Koyaanisqatsi" (1982).
Observing the Universe, I see that everything--without exception--rotates. In so doing, everything cycles between light and dark--yin and yang. It is unavoidable and unchangeable. Those who live in harmony with the cycles survive and prosper, while those who fight them wither and die. As Chauncey Gardner observes, in the spring, the plants grow and spread, and in the winter, they wither and die. It is the way of all things.
Fascinating convergence of all three theories pointing to the same inflection point. The observation that leader classes understand these cycles and position themselves for the rebuild phase is spot-on I've noticed how economic "crises" often seem engineered rather than organic. The drowning person analogy captures the human psychology perfectly becuase during panic, people dont think rationally and reach for any authority figure offering stability.
You clearly grasp the concept. If I had foreknowledge that my neighborhood was going to collapse, and I had a fair idea how and why, well I'd likely set myself up to guide the crash, as well as to capitalize on the rebuilding. Mass psychology is fairly well established and humans tend to be very predicable in most situations--on a gross scale at any rate. I tend to like ideas that pull a lot of strings together in a coherent whole.
"Being There" was Seller's best movie and it was an excellent one reflecting your post. Great cast, deft acting, and made subtle, but true observations, in a humorous way, about human nature.
I have read many of the writers you've pointed to and the various wave theories. I think there is much truth and accuracy in all and as you point out, convergence. My concern is that the gangsters who have destroyed Western economies will be able to maintain control when the next collapse occurs, which I think is soon, and that we might already be in, based on #'s from throughout the world. This is what happened in the former Soviet Union after the Fall: the Stasi, KGB, NKVD, and other security organizations just switched over and became "capitalists". They then colluded with Western gangsters to loot those countries. This greatly explains the immense popularity of Putin and other Eastern European leaders who've worked to drive out or destroy the criminal element.
History doesn't repeat, but it often rhymes. - Mark Twain
I view the Universe as a Slinky stretched out across a table. If you look from the side, it looks like a sine wave. If you look from the end, it's a circle. The nature of events constantly repeats, but the details shift slightly in different directions.
Putin is an amazing character, and precisely the leader Russia needed. Trump had the chance, but has blown it spectacularly. You are right to draw a comparison with the USSR, in any case.
We do need to stop the mafia. They have stolen every cycle for the past 500 years, and need to be stopped. However, when humans are frightened (real or imagined), they tend to glom onto anything familiar, and the mafia is exactly that. I don't see any major changes in current mass behavior. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised, but I can't really be disappointed. I have the lowest possible expectations, so anything higher will be a joy to behold.
Life is a Slinky. If you put your dick in it, you are in for an experience.
It would have to be a tiny Slinky.
Or a big dick. Maybe after we die, we go to see god and he is a giant phallus resting on two testicles. Oh, man, the feminists would freak out over that.
There are ancient temples all over Java that propose just that scenario.
The Javanese are way ahead of me again.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, so did the population of Russia. People, smart people, are going childless, marriageless, ... no faith in the future.
All this economic bullshit is noise if babies aren't born.
Actually, you've hit the core issues with economic collapse. The word "economy" comes from the Greek, meaning "household management". The economy comes from the bottom up, not the top down. In fact, we see birth rates collapsing globally, indicating a bleak view of the future (collapse). That is about as grass-roots as it gets. Economists are simply overpaid academics trying to make sense of humanity's interactions on a gross scale.
Exactly, and they write thick tomes of nonsense about household management. It's up to the male and female if they household manage a child into the equation.
Maybe America's next President will be like Hitler and Putin encouraging couples to fuck their brains out and have kids. The state will reward you.
I think Hungary has a law that says if a family has three kids, it doesn't have to pay income taxes.
We may not have to wait for the next president. Make America fecund again! MAFA
Folks could even encourage each other by calling their friends MAFA fuckers.
A typical American would reply, "Fecund? Why do you want Americans to smell like skunks again? They already smell like skunks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQaavQNGsMY
Reset my ass. The elites will just change one scam for a new one, and folks will fall for it. I think Brazil changes currencies like diapers. No one in Brazil trusts the currency. They live day to day.
Great article, but all the economists are wrong. Human nature is the problem, and there is no cure for that.
I won't watch "Being There". Peter Sellers killed himself while making that movie. The weight gain was too much for his heart. Sellers didn't leave his kids a dime.
So, find your favorite economist and banker. Listen to the media and politicians explain why they are fucking us all in the ass again, like FDR did when he stole Americans' gold, and then devalued the dollar.
People only revolt when they get hungry or the state kills their family.
See? That's why I love having you around. :)
My take-away was that the cycles are based on generational memory. My folks were Depression/WW2. GenXers, Millennials, and Zoomers are the privileged offspring of affluent Boomers, who themselves were coddled beneficiaries of the Great Generation. Now that the Great Generation is all but gone, and the Boomers think they are entitled to everything, and their spawn need to create their own demons to fight, we have reached saturation and renewal. Call it reset or whatever, it's inevitable as sunrise.
Actually, Sellers did a Fu Manchu film after Being There that likely killed him, though he wasn't doing well in Being There. I don't know about his estate or his kids, but his acting was always above par -- thinking of his triple role in Dr. Strangelove.
Being There is worth reading if not viewing. It's a fantastic morality play and cautionary tale by someone who lived through the great Polish nightmare. In fact, all his books are very insightful.
My parents, born in the Great Depression, grew up in WWII, and were not the "Greatest Generation" who fought WWII. My parents were better. My parents put the world back together again. They didn't spoil me. I started working at the age of 10 as an altar boy. Then at 12, I became a morning paper route boy seven days a week.
Sure, now my parents have money, and I get some of it. But hell, I'm too old and crippled up to enjoy it. At least I can buy all the beer and pizza I want.
As for Sellers, I've watched some documentaries on him. He was a genius, and a fragile one. He had a long affair with Elke Somer. There was a huge 5' x 8' black and white photo of Sellers and Elke over their bed. I thought that was very odd.
The director of the Pink Panther movies would chase Sellers down in his car to try to get him back on the movie set. Sellers would give the writer/director a mad look and speed away. It's not easy being funny, and to have all that pressure on you to be funny, or people lose jobs and money.
Most great actors are "eccentric," to be polite. It is their particular form of insanity that allows them to adopt personalities and hide behind them. It's especially true of the great comic actors. Jerry Lewis would be another example. It's a form of pathological insecurity. I never knew about the photo over the bed, though. If I had the money and motivation, I wouldn't mind a giant photo of Elke over my bed.
I never had a paper route, but I was a pump jockey at my cousin's Sinclair station on Saturdays, and ran my uncle's motorcycle tire warehouse the rest of the time. Other than that, we are a pair, it seems.
I don't think our wives would like Elke's photo over the bed.
I don't think, I KNOW. She already put her foot down on Raquel Welch and Farah Fawcett.
Peter Sellers' heart disease stemmed from long before Being There.
https://medium.com/@NathanToulane/the-tragic-genius-of-peter-sellers-daeb2a918ceb
Brilliant synthesis of how these cycle theories overlap. The stacking mechanism you describe, where generational prosperity funds speculative booms reinforced by central banks until demographic limits cap returns, realy captures something people miss when they treat these as separate phenomina. I keep thinking about how the masses always choose security over freedom when crises hit, which is exactly why the same power structures reassert control every cycle. The Soviet transition example in the comments nails it too.
One of my favorite historians is Daniel J. Boorstine, who specialized in tracking how seemingly small events had far-reaching and profound effects on society and culture. His work highlights the circular nature of history, and the way inventions and trends influence the cycles. I highly recommend reading his books.
Chauncey was one of my all time favorite characters-- very insightful. Much like this current post. I have been a long time fan of Strauss and Howe, and have been looking forward to the final end to this current saeculum for a while now (Praying the GL gives me enough time to see it through). Not being much of a student of economics, I was not familiar with the other cycles you write about, but it does seem to make sense when putting all three together that we are on the verge of deep dodo, and possible on the cusp of great things for humanity. Or maybe not. One thing that S&H point out is that the only possible prediction is that everything will change, not wither that change will be for good or worse. Anyway, going to stop at this point while I still see the post button--hate to lose another "good thought"
A good thought, indeed. So much of ancient philosophy involved cycles. Another one that is coming full cycle is the Great Year. We are leaving the Month of Pisces and entering Aquarius; periods that last roughly 2,300 years as part of the 12-Month precession cycle of the equinoxes, I think civilization lost an important reminder of cycles when we switched from analog to digital clocks. I'm with you, though. I want to be around to help guide the rebirth away from the bastids that have run humanity like a herd for 500 years.
As in PA. Dutch Country - Wonderful Good. You are a poly/polmath, stimulating ever deeper thought in your subjects: comments. I see what you're describing as the hyper-cyclical Godly-Hegelian Cycle. It is Nature talking back into our deafness and/or dumbness. You can add even deeper catastrophic cycles in which ‘mankind’ has been virtually eliminated - a real start-over; hypothesized as perhaps 6 increments. There is no ‘fixing’ these cycles as they are meant to be the greater ‘plan’; collectivism as well is an aspect of this eternal cycle with individualism the antithesis , the solution is inspiration/awakening. Applying one of your format’s, let’s reel-back to a Beetles Classic - "Let it be"!
If you've never seen it, be sure to watch a film called "Koyaanisqatsi" (1982).
Observing the Universe, I see that everything--without exception--rotates. In so doing, everything cycles between light and dark--yin and yang. It is unavoidable and unchangeable. Those who live in harmony with the cycles survive and prosper, while those who fight them wither and die. As Chauncey Gardner observes, in the spring, the plants grow and spread, and in the winter, they wither and die. It is the way of all things.
Fascinating convergence of all three theories pointing to the same inflection point. The observation that leader classes understand these cycles and position themselves for the rebuild phase is spot-on I've noticed how economic "crises" often seem engineered rather than organic. The drowning person analogy captures the human psychology perfectly becuase during panic, people dont think rationally and reach for any authority figure offering stability.
You clearly grasp the concept. If I had foreknowledge that my neighborhood was going to collapse, and I had a fair idea how and why, well I'd likely set myself up to guide the crash, as well as to capitalize on the rebuilding. Mass psychology is fairly well established and humans tend to be very predicable in most situations--on a gross scale at any rate. I tend to like ideas that pull a lot of strings together in a coherent whole.
"I like to watch."
Ha! A fan. I am always blown away by the vacuous look in Sellers' eyes.
It is a multi-layered response as I consider my self a witness and observer of the general madness of this world.
That makes two of us. My halcyon days of enjoying the fray are nearly behind me, but I can snipe from the sidelines.
I have always appreciated effective sniping for its ripple effect. It lands more powerfully than one thinks.
Shhh. Don't give away the game. The field is already crowded enough. :)