However, if Strauss and Howe's cyclical view isn't taken too literally, it can be useful. Indeed, this model helps us understand the dramatic cultural changes and mood shifts in our times. Economic and technologic conditions alone, for example, would have told you little about the pessimism of the '90s. Surely similar shifts lie ahead, and The Fourth Turning gives us a tool for thinking through possible scenarios. The jury is still out.
Conditions are there to make it happen.
But even Strauss and Howe acknowledge that cycles are imprecise and that the crisis might not come for another few decades. You don't need to seek shelter from the coming storm just yet. Inc. All rights reserved.