@chic_savage Certainly.

Oswald Spengler, inspired by the sudden suicidal conflagration of World War 1, wrote his epic “The Decline of the West,” convinced that he was witnessing a historical change of phase occurring before his very eyes.

@chic_savage He knew that it was just the opening scene of a great drama that had played itself out many times before, and would happen again many times in the future. He also knew that it wouldn't be long before the greatest conflict the world would ever see would engulf the entire globe.

@chic_savage Somehow Spengler could see what history was - like no one before him ever had. Historians believed that history was progressive in the sense that it was an upwards arrow and that each new age was "better" than the last.

World War 1 shattered that illusion. Forever.

@chic_savage How does history work then? Instead of the linear, 3-part progressive scheme of ancient-medieval-modern, Spengler proposed a 4-part cyclical theory: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Each season was roughly 200 to 600 years long. Together, they are the life phases a culture.

@chic_savage Spengler conceived human cultures to be tree-like organisms, rooted in a specific location (literally rooted like a tree), and with a definite, unalterable lifespan of roughly 1200-1600 years (let’s say 1400 years on average).

@chic_savage All creatures have definite life spans that never change, and cultures are no different. In "The Fourth Turning," there is outlined another cyclical theory based on the human life span of roughly 70-100 years (85 on average) in 4 phases: youth, adulthood, middle age, and elderly.

@chic_savage For the authors of that book history is driven by the cycle of 4 generations, each distinct in character depending on where in the cycle they're born. Each generation spans roughly 20-25 years of time.

@chic_savage After a crisis you have a conformist generation who build a new world (American Dream). This gets shattered (say, by the Kennedy assassination) and a rebellious, spiritually inflamed generation (Hippies) cause a cultural upheaval and a spiritual revival.

@chic_savage Eventually the hippies burn out, sell out, and become yuppies. This leads to the culture wars. Liberals take over everything and ruin the hard work of conservatives during the previous rebuilding. Finally the tensions and contradictions must be resolved in another crisis.

@chic_savage At any rate, you get the idea. For Spengler the Spring phase is the mythical phase where a core spiritual ideal (infinity in the West for example) gives rise to great new religious traditions. This corresponds to the High to Late Middle Ages in Western culture.

@chic_savage This is the period of Feudalism, with the balance of Empire and Papacy, the noble class and priestly class. You see Crusades and Reconquista, knight vs. dragon, code of Chivalry, Dominican/Franciscan Orders, Scholasticism, Gothic architecture. It ends with the Western Schism.

@chic_savage The summer (for the West) begins with Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. You get high art that we recognize today. You have the scientific revolution and the development of calculus. It closes with Puritanism and the rise of absolute monarchy (the end of aristocracy).

@chic_savage The autumn is the last truly cultural phase. For us it as the “Age of Enlightenment.” Classical music overcomes oil painting. Rise of intellectuals and the bourgeoisie. Worship of Reason. The period ends with the destruction of Monarchy through the revolt of the third estate.

@chic_savage Winter arrives because the inward spiritual possibilities have been exhausted. The culture transforms into an outward, expansionist civilization. Art and architecture become meaningless. Atheism is commonplace. Money rules and leads to world wars and internal dissolution.

@chic_savage That's basically where we're at. The internal crisis phase. In Rome it was personified by Tiberius Gracchus (yours truly) vs. the big rich senators and their minions. In our world it is the @realDonaldTrump #MAGA revolution against the #DeepState swamp in DC and Hollywood.

@chic_savage @realDonaldTrump What comes next? We need only to look to the history of Rome as she transitioned from a republic to an empire. Alternatively we could look to the East as the Byzantine Empire faded and was replaced with the Ottoman. You can see why Spengler called it "The Decline of the West."

@chic_savage @realDonaldTrump This might all sound pretty grim, but let’s face it, all living beings must die and if cultures are alive they must eventually cease to be. Our great country has some of its most glorious history ahead of it. We will overthrow money with the power of blood as Caesar did.

@chic_savage @realDonaldTrump The reign of Augustus is considered the golden age of Rome. It was a wonderful time and great poets of renown like Virgil and Ovid come from then. Rome spread civilization all throughout the Mediterranean world and created the conditions for Christianity to flourish.

@chic_savage @realDonaldTrump But first thing’s first. We must support our glorious @POTUS in his epic struggle against the central bankers, military-industrial complex, national-security state, and the propaganda media... i.e. the #Globalists

That is our destiny. The future of the republic is in our hands.

@chic_savage @realDonaldTrump @POTUS @threadreaderapp please unroll.