As soon as protestors began to occupy Zuccotti Park near Wall Street in New York City, people began to wonder why? Was it the result of disgust towards the New York Stock Exchange, chronic unemployment, or even boredom? Or are Americans working through the stages of an on-going cycle of generational behavior? Yes, to the latter. Sorry #ows, you are not original, but instead the correct timing of social movements and civic duty.

The Occupy movements of America, or social movements in general terms, were predicated by history. Written in 1997,The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy by historians William Strauss and Neil Howe provides an in-depth outline of cycles, or turnings, in American history illustrating the actions of past generations and the predicted actions of those alive today. We are currently in the Fourth turning. So, what does that mean? William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote 334 informative pages demonstrating how four archetypes move through the four turnings and prophesized about the fourth turning (that we find ourselves in today). The four turnings are (page 3):

            1:A “High- an upbeat era of strengthening institutions and weakening individualism, when a new civic order implants and the old values regime decays.”

            2:An “Awakening- a passionate era of spiritual upheaval, when the civic order comes under attack from a new regime.”

            3:An “Unraveling- a downcast era of strengthening individualism and weakening institutions, when the old civic order decays and the new values regime implants.”

            4:A “Crisis- a decisive era of secular upheaval, when the value regime propels the replacement of the old civic order with a new one.”

For the sake of brevity, the last“high” came at the end of World War II, and America has progressed through the turnings placing us squarely into the fourth turning. The prophetic vision of Strauss and Howe are personally touching when considering the millennial generation. The role of this generation is that of the “Hero”- think of the G.I.s during WWII, coming into young adulthood during a crisis period. The crisis of the fourth turning is upon the world in economic form, but it has not peaked yet.

The protesters in New York are not heroes, at least, not yet. The actions of the generation that leads the occupy movements around the world are not united in a clear message or guided by a leader. But the rousing interest in civil society that the crisis is spurning shows a growing sense of duty and questioning of the old civic order. The missing key link is a leader.

Strauss and Howe write, “Millennial voters will confound pundits with huge youth turnouts, massing on behalf of favored candidates- especially elders who, like Lincoln or FDR, can translate spiritual resolve into public authority” (295). “If the next Fourth Turning concludes successfully, some great leader may be credited with saving individual empowerment by making it compatible with higher ideals of social responsibility- much as FDR was credited with saving capitalism while forging the New Deal and Lincoln with extending liberty while redefining America’s nationhood” (300). Today protestors question crony capitalism and corrupt government officials, showing [corporate] social responsibility is at the fore again.

“FDR proclaimed that ‘the very objectives of young people have changed’ away from ‘the dream of the golden ladder-each individual for himself’ and toward the dream of ‘a broad highway on which thousands of your fellow men and women are advancing with you’” (293). Words of unification, “we are the 99%” fit well into the contemporary context, but are presently lacking direction. Technology and social networking keep us connected with each other in an unprecedented scale compared to the past. But the same argument can be made for previous periods in time- the invention of the telegraph and then telephone. We use the technology available to us to organize and disperse thoughts and opinions. Today the subjects of these words of wisdom are how to repair, remove, or re-order our institutions to make them more responsible and fair. If American society is to succeed into another high,then a leader needs to emerge that can translate and implement wisdom, allowing for the young mobilized mass to work efficiently in creating a new civic order.

There is much to be said concerning the contemporary social movements and the links to the past. William Strauss and Neil Howe focused on America’s historical rhythms, but these are well intertwined into the past and present of other nations as well. It is undeniable that certain institutional foundations have been shaken and are going to be restructured. But in this quest we must not forget to reflect on historical wisdom and use this hindsight to procure a sustainable future.