The Fourth Turning and the 2012 Election

Reading Neil Howe’s blog posts after the 2012 election (http://blog.lifecourse.com/2012/11/in-the-aftermath-of-12/) and thinking about the transformation taking place at the beginning of the Fourth Turning has helped me develop a strategic perspective of the change in values that has taken place.  While everyone attempts to explain why Obama won and why Romney lost using demographics about minorities, women and young voters, they miss the main point. The 2012 election demonstrated that individual achievement and personal responsibility, championed by conservatives and Republican politicians, has faded to second place behind community values.

Hurricane Sandy gave us a visual of a President concerned about community.  Romney's efforts to look concerned fell flat. Pundits say that Hurricane Sandy helped decide the outcome of the election however it was not the media coverage or Obama acting presidential.  Hurricane Sandy was an example of local, state and federal government acting to protect, rescue and provide services to the community.

To the extent that the Republicans think they can recruit Latinos to their conservative values and win an election, they are wrong. They will not win an election until after the Fourth Turning is completed because the Democrats have locked up the key value now at the top of everyones mind for the next 16 years - community.

As one conservative pundit said in 2009: The campaign that brought Obama into the White House will require the “individual” to be sacrificed on the altar of “community.”  Well, that is a negative way of describing exactly what has happened. However this is a cyclical transformation that will swing back toward individualism after the Fourth Turning. http://www.khouse.org/articles/2009/883/

Sustainability appeals to liberals and Democrats because of the focus on community. Climate change issues lift up the community in terms of jobs, energy independence and economic growth.

In the future, I am thinking that my actions should include engaging my neighbors in community activities that appeal to them. Community solar project - the community contracting for solar energy from panels installed on the roof of the local school.  Disaster preparedness with neighbors pooling our tools and resources to help each other in case of an emergency and not waiting until it happens.