A comment on ZeroHedge brought this piece to my attention. 16 years ago William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote the book, "The Fourth Turning," examining what the ultimate outcome will likely be in DC. The 2008 crash failed to affect the full changes described, and today our problems are far larger than 2008 and perhaps the 3rd paragraph should be heeded.
"An impasse over the federal budget reaches a stalemate. The president and Congress both refuse to back down, triggering a near-total government shutdown. The president declares emergency powers. Congress rescinds his authority. Dollar and bond prices plummet. The president threatens to stop Social Security checks. Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling. Default looms. Wall Street panics."
"History is seasonal, and winter is coming. Like nature's winter, the saecular winter can come early or late. A Fourth Turning can be long and difficult, brief but severe, or (perhaps) mild. But, like winter, it cannot be averted. It must come in its turn."
"The next Fourth Turning is due to begin shortly after the new millennium midway through the Oh-Oh decade. Around the year 2005, a sudden spark will catalyze a Crisis mood. Remnants of the old social order will disintegrate. Political and economic trust will implode. Real hardship will beset the land, with severe distress that could involve questions of class, race, nation and empire. Yet this time of trouble will bring seeds of social rebirth. Americans will share a regret about recent mistakes - and a resolute consensus about what to do. The very survival of the nation will feel at stake. Sometime before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate of history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil war, and twin emergencies of the Great Depression and World War II."
- The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe published in 1997