Originally Posted by JDW

It is easy for me to see a compromise where there are assurances (perhaps an act of Congress that can be overturned in the next Saeculum) that satisfy conservatives on these issues.

Just to clarify, whereas S&H start the saeculum with the 1T, I consider it to begin with the Awakening.

Originally Posted by Chas'88

That's at least 20 years off, if not more, given that we've yet to see an Xer dominated Congress.

Civics take charge of Congress halfway through a 1T, traditionally in our history. The American Revolution happened when the Awakening Generation was kicked out of being representatives and the Liberty Generation took over the next time they met, and the Liberty Generation essentially said "screw England!" whereas the Awakening Generation controlled Continental Congress before had hemmed and hawed over not enough representation and other matters.

But anyway, are you really willing to wait the 20 years that it'll take for Millennials to take power? And I mean who knows what the 2030s will be like--perhaps by then instead of getting rid of the two offending things, Millennials would have found other ways to handicap those institutions and thus their existence continues. Or perhaps those institutions will no longer exist due to Xer actions, or perhaps those institutions will have taken over and they're our new overlords--praise be to the dollar and our security! *you guys with the tape recorders heard that right? Good.*

So yeah, waiting for a Millennial Congress... good luck with that.

Xers should be taking over now. This November marks 20 years of Boomer control of Congress, and that's about how long a generation lasts in having control. Boomers took control in 1995 (though there was some power sharing with the Silent in terms of percentages going on in the early to mid 1990s), and unless there's a gigantic purge in the next election, likely will have it closer to 25 than 20, which will likely either mean Gen X's time at "power" will either be vastly shortened, or delayed a little bit longer. And it's the Nomad control half of a 4T is when things really start getting done, because by then they've--as this thread postulates--signed on to whatever the new plan is, or at least agreed to institute a high-security police state that is their default answer to every Crisis situation (if you doubt me, look what the Reprisal Generation via Queen Elizabeth I did to create "Merrie England"... it was "Merrie" all right, if you were the right kind of Protestant, weren't related to known dissidents, weren't trying to cut in on the state-run wool monopoly, and didn't mind being at war constantly, sending your sons off to fight and ensure the Netherlands didn't fall back under the control of the Empire and Catholicism.

Hmm... sounds rather familiar...

It's even understandable that they'd react that way, IMO. For when Nomads see that their options are limited, stripping everything down to bare bones efficiency and lock everything down by going to a constant state of Red Alert. It's grueling and nearly mindless, but we'll live to survive another day, that's for sure.

So if anything, a challenge to the NSA and the Banks will likely come in the 1T if we wait for a Millennial controlled Congress, making the GI takeover of society by kicking out one of their own who'd signed on to Lost Generation paranoia a la McCarthyism, seem a warm up round to ending the "fear state".

~Chas'88

Control of Congress periods by generations:

Lost Generation Control: 1937 - 1955
GI Control: 1955 - 1977
Silent Control: 1977 - 1995
Boom Control: 1995 - present (perhaps it'll end in 2017? If not then, most likely 2019)
X Control: 2017/2019 - 203?
Millennial Control: 203?

So good luck waiting for the 2030s.

I don't think Xers will have control over congress for very long, if they actually wind up with majority control at all, ever. Think back to that whole Glorious Revolution analogy. Thing is that when you create a new world the folks too steeped in the old one don't tend to participate.

Originally Posted by Kepi

I don't think Xers will have control over congress for very long, if they actually wind up with majority control at all, ever. Think back to that whole Glorious Revolution analogy. Thing is that when you create a new world the folks too steeped in the old one don't tend to participate.

Keep in mind though, that not all Xers are Boomer-lite, or Diet Boomer, I should say.

~Chas'88