View Single Post
Old 09-12-2012, 02:19 AM   #35
johndallman
Night Watchman
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default Re: Modelling History Through Cycles

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2 View Post
For the United States? Not particularly, by comparison. Strauss and Howe were basing their analysis on the history of the USA and its pre-Independence colonial incarnation as part of Britain.

Remember, even if we assume that the theory is sound, different parts of the world and different societies can be in different stages of it.
This would be a lot more convincing if they demonstrated similar cycles in other parts of the world, and proposed how they interact.

For example, WWI was unquestionably a large and nasty war for the UK, but doesn't appear to fit the cyclic pattern that the UK was running on when the colonies that later became the USA were part of it. Now, I could imagine that different parts of the world's cycle could interact, and force cycles to shift, but do S&H discuss this? Without a model for several sets of cycles, a model that fits the USA and ignores the rest of the world just looks like coincidence.
johndallman is offline   Reply With Quote