The Beginning of the End or…

The End of the Beginning?

As America grapples with deepening social and political divisions, a crucial question emerges: When will people realize that our nation's problems are systemic and cannot be resolved by simply electing an "outsider" politician? More critically, will this understanding come at all?

The systemic nature of our crisis suggests an infection that has permeated every aspect of our society's body politic. This comprehensive deterioration creates a race between enlightenment and collapse; Understanding versus Armageddon.

The traditional Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – Conquest, War, Famine, and Death – have been replaced by modern harbingers of societal collapse: Aggressive Ignorance, Contagious Apathy, Instant Gratification, and Technical Narcissism. These new horsemen present a uniquely modern threat to our civilization's survival.

Aggressive Ignorance stands as the primary obstacle to progress, actively blocking the path to learning and understanding pragmatic solutions. This barrier is reinforced by Contagious Apathy, which strips away any motivation to overcome that ignorance. Even if these first two ‘horsemen’ are somehow surmounted, our addiction to Instant Gratification delivers the coup d’état to any hope for meaningful solutions. Meanwhile, Technical Narcissism keeps the population distracted, heads down, and absorbed in games and entertainment rather than the crucial search for answers.

Yet, there exists a glimmer of hope – paradoxical to call it a "growing remnant." Across generations – Boomers, Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z – some individuals maintain the intellectual curiosity and drive to seek solutions. These people have educated themselves through the enlightening works of "Brave New World," "1984," "Animal Farm," "Atlas Shrugged," "Common Sense," "I, Pencil,", "The Law" and many others. They have studied Hayek, Hazlitt, Rothbard, and Mises. Perhaps from their ranks there will emerge the architects of America's course correction.

However, a fatalistic perspective, supported by works like "The Fourth Turning," suggests we're locked in the Crisis stage of an unbreakable, historically confirmed doom loop. This view would have us accept our fate and make the most of whatever time remains.

The ultimate question isn't whether we can identify these problems – we clearly have and can. The challenge lies in whether enough people will recognize them in time to effect meaningful change, or if we're destined to watch helplessly as our society succumbs to these new horsemen of the modern apocalypse.

2025 would be timely.

Happy New Start!

BW