Current Cycle (1863 - 2111) Reflection

I need another day to post the next video. Look to tomorrow for the cycle that includes the Reformation.

For today, I thought to share this article from Heather Cox Richardson.

Recall that our current cycle began in the 1860s, moved into Power in the 1940s, and into Justice in 1980s. Richardson’s article highlights our current cycle addressing the Department of the Interior.

Starting with the Vision time and the expedition that took place in 1870, the protections on the environment grew in parallel to the environmental movement. Greenhouse gas emissions was detected and measured in the 1860s for the first time by Eunice Newton Foote and John Tyndall. Both scientists brought their research to the attention of the world in a time when the leading cause of pollution was coal-burning furnaces.

While she doesn’t mention much about the Power time, 1940s, the very important U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was established in 1940. Meanwhile, WWII was mass producing weapons and vehicles, further inciting a climate crisis.

Since the 1980s, Republicans have pushed to reopen public lands to resource development, maintaining even today that Democrats have hampered oil production although under President Joe Biden it reached an all-time high.1

The 1980s was a time when the politics of both parties took a turn. In the Republican Party, Reagan and Thatcher focused their power and influence in trickle-down theories and that cared little for the environment. In 1988, climate scientist James Hansen address the senate with dire news of greenhouse gases causing the planet to get hotter. Hansen’s voice wasn’t the only one crying for justice for the natural world.

In 1987, the United Nations’ Brundtland Report (“Our Common Future”) defined sustainable development as meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.2

As we head into Reform, the diabolical policies of this Republican administration, are waking us up to the need to participate more fully in our current political situation. While it looks bad right now, reforms are a very likely outcome of this time’s disastrous policies. Sometimes we need a crisis or a push—in this case a shove.

It always looks bad before the awakening.