Always occurring late in the Fourth Turning, the climax gathers energy from an accumulation of unmet needs, unpaid debts, and unresolved problems. It then spends that energy on an upheaval whose direction and magnitude were beyond comprehension during the prior Unraveling. The climax shakes a society to its roots, transforms its institutions, redirects its purposes, and marks its people (and its generations) for life. During the Great Depression−World War II Crisis, the Ekpyrosis corresponded to the emergence of the “Spirit of America” described by Senator Inouye. During these years, according
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