Every 80 to 100 years, people look around and agree that whatever it is society is up to, it is no longer working.
That doesn't mean that everyone agrees on the solution, just that it's time to find one.
It may require a statement of purpose, and the powers that be may have their own ideas about how to respond to that.
It may result in a change that seems odd and unexpected in a did-they-really-do-that way.
It can easily end up as a total war, one that changes who are the players of the game, or even how the game itself is played
Apocalypse, sayeth Wikipedia, is an unveiling, a revelation, a gain of new knowledge. It has taken on its meaning of The End Times because of its association with The Revelation of St. John the Divine, which prophesies the new Kingdom of Heaven, and the tribulations which lead up to it.
I don't think Trump is War. I don't think Sanders is Famine. I don't think either is Death or Pestilence. They are loose about the land, though, and they are speaking to a belief that This Isn't Working. Sanders blames the banks and the 1%, and the government that has allowed them to do what they wish. Trump blames immigrants and ISIS, and the government that has allowed them to do what they wish. There is a connection here, and it's one that can be seen in the financial crisis, in the years leading to the financial crisis, in the response to Katrina, even in 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq: The government isn't doing what it should, what it is supposed to. We aren't even sure what it is supposed to do, anymore.
The American people supporting Trump and Sanders - and for that matter Cruz and Clinton - have all had a few months of schooling on Your Government and How It Works. Yet they have completely different ideas of what government should do. Whatever issues their proposed policies might have, though, both Trump and Sanders are espousing the idea that the government should do what the people want it to do. They are seen as proposing new solutions, not the status quo.
And that's why Bernie and Donald are both harbingers of a time, coming soon, when we are going to have to seriously agree to seriously disagree. People are ready to start choosing between bad alternatives - and between good ones as well. Want small government, expect an end to Too Big to Fail. Want free child care, expect liver wurst on rye. You can have a car with two doors, or with four doors, but not both at once.
Prepare to choose.
The American people supporting Trump and Sanders - and for that matter Cruz and Clinton - have all had a few months of schooling on Your Government and How It Works. Yet they have completely different ideas of what government should do. Whatever issues their proposed policies might have, though, both Trump and Sanders are espousing the idea that the government should do what the people want it to do. They are seen as proposing new solutions, not the status quo.
And that's why Bernie and Donald are both harbingers of a time, coming soon, when we are going to have to seriously agree to seriously disagree. People are ready to start choosing between bad alternatives - and between good ones as well. Want small government, expect an end to Too Big to Fail. Want free child care, expect liver wurst on rye. You can have a car with two doors, or with four doors, but not both at once.
Prepare to choose.
