The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End

by Neil Howe

Pollsters are struggling to catch up with the depth of Americans’ dismay across the political spectrum. Seventy-nine percent of voters agree that “America is falling apart.” Seventy-six percent worry about “losing American democracy.” Sixty-two percent say “the country is in a crisis” (only 25 percent disagree). Measures of national happiness and national pride (“very proud to be an American”) have fallen to record lows. At its worst, the recent collapse has exposed our aging republic’s staggering incompetence at carrying out even basic tasks. We can’t keep the electricity turned on or baby formula stocked in stores. We can’t recall how to enforce laws on the streets or at the border. We can’t ensure minimal care for homeless families or minimal compliance from tax-evading oligarchs. We can’t conduct a peaceful military withdrawal from an allied democracy or a peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next.