I have often wrote about our connections to history, what we can learn from our ancestors, and the ripples into the future our actions create. I wonder if people knew their impact on history, and shed their hubris about the past, what would our world be like? What if we reclaimed our responsibility to mentor the next generations and ensure they remember the legacy of our forebearers?
The cycles of history Neil Howe discusses in his book, The Fourth Turning is Here, in large part occur because of our selfishness and shortsightedness. And so, we come to a critical moment in time where must decide to wrestle control from those who control society with no regard to those within it. Or we can keep our eyes shut as crisis after crisis turns into such a disaster than civilization is sent into reverse. Some of those collapses have been obvious and catastrophic, some lesser so, but all send their changes and casualties deep into the future.
“Generations connect us to history because they remind us that ours is not the first or only peer group to encounter this season of history at this phase of life. We know that others have done so before us. Perhaps we can learn from them. We also know that others will do so after us. Perhaps we can help them prepare.
“Generations also connect us to our families because they remind us that we all have forebearers who encountered this season of history at some phase of their lives. We may wonder how their location in history affect what happened to them as children, what happened to the children they raised, or what happened to alter the direction of their lives at a critical moment.
“…we will finally recognize what Ibn Khaldun observed at the very dawn of modernity: ‘The past resembles the future more than one drop of water resembles another.'” – Neil Howe
So as 2024 begins, will you awaken or will you continue to sleep? The past is like a mirror on the future: We face disaster or prosperity. Every generation has a choice, and that choice includes breaking free of the powers who believe it’s up to them to decide your fate, your Story.
They always bring failure because they ignore the past. We don’t have to wait for more failures, more disasters. We can choose a different path.
Darrick Dean 