1948Saturn-360°/0°-Pluto1983: 1964 ~1964–1973

All quad­ra­ture align­ments appears at the time of a given tran­sit, but we need remem­ber that rep­re­sent devel­op­ment over time. Oppo­si­tions (180°) always appear at he mid­point of a wave. Episodes related to oppo­si­tions always epit­o­mize themes related to the entire wave.  From the oppo­si­tion until the next con­junc­tion, soci­eties attempt to over­come past par­a­digms to what­ever new has devel­oped over the first half. Com­par­ing progress between a con­junc­tion and oppo­si­tion to sur­mise a waves over­all theme.

1948 and 1965 Compared

The Cold War sig­na­ture res­onates through­out Mad Men from the Cuban Mis­sile Cri­sis to the Viet­nam War on the hori­zon in Sea­son Four. When com­pared to 1948, these and related episodes reflect all the events of the time, extended along a line of nat­ural devel­op­ment. A key ele­ment, the atom bomb, for exam­ple, devel­oped into an even more potent threat in both potency and deliv­ery. The stand­off of Cold War 1948 and the con­ver­sion to Com­mu­nism in China had esca­lated into all types of proxy wars across con­ti­nents, includ­ing covert ones car­ried out through the CIA, KGB and their coun­ter­parts in allied nations. But dur­ing the 1963–1968 period, when the oppo­si­tion was exact, all of the issues had become more acute as seen in the already men­tioned Mis­sile Cri­sis depicted in Med­i­ta­tions in an Emer­gency to the Viet­nam War to the Chi­nese Cul­tural Rev­o­lu­tion. The Arab-Israeli con­flict of 1949 evolved into the Six Day War of 1967. Dr. Strangelove (1964) cap­tured the all-or-nothing point soci­ety had reached and we can see how the both gov­ern­ments and the pub­lic backed away from this edge after 1964–1965. Another form of media also played a role in this atti­tude adjust­ment had also made its first cred­i­ble impact as the Cold War: tele­vi­sion. Though this par­a­digm shift more closely con­nects to 1966Uranus-Pluto2100, its advent as the Cold War that begins. coin­ci­dent with 1948Saturn-0°-Pluto1982 should not be dis­counted. How politi­cians, cor­po­ra­tions and diplo­mats used this medium as changed both com­mu­ni­ca­tion and pol­icy after this oppo­si­tion. Please note that how it also sets the next stage of the next rev­o­lu­tion deliv­ered through packet communication.

1965–1973

Remem­ber that a quad­ra­ture align­ment stands as a land­mark on a devel­op­ment time­line mea­sured from align­ment to align­ment. Thus, 1964–65 rep­re­sents what hap­pened between 1955 and 1964, while also car­ry­ing forth themes intro­duced at the con­junc­tion. Hav­ing already spo­ken of the 1955–1964 period, the next log­i­cal step brings us to 1965–1973. Brief obser­va­tion pro­duces dis­tinct before and after pic­tures evi­dent through­out this period. Before 1965 we get the self-denying ‘50s inno­cence evi­dent espe­cially in the first few episodes of Mad Man. After, for­mal­ity and time-tested class struc­tures break down into anything-goes nature the late 1960s is known for. Hats give way to long-hair and afros. Mini-skirts and denim replaces dresses and gir­dles. In the same way, the belief in pro­pa­ganda issued on both sides of the Cold War gave way to the Inva­sion of Prague and Pen­ta­gon Papers. The Seven-Day War, an exten­sion of the 1948 Arab-Israeli con­flict sig­naled the 1973 Oil Cri­sis that ends this part of 1948Saturn-Pluto1982. About that same time, US with­drawal from Viet­nam gave fur­ther evi­dence how the Cold War had moved into a new direc­tion, one more directed by pub­lic opin­ion than prob­a­bly would have been imagined.

Pivot Points

Oppo­si­tions always act like this (~1931«previous Saturn-Pluto oppo­si­tion next»~2001), act­ing as a ful­crum between the old and new. The Cold War was built on 1920s-1930s indus­tri­al­ism and world war diplo­macy. It devel­oped to the point where both sides real­ized Mutu­ally Assured Destruc­tion was where their inten­tions had taken them. Pop­u­laces on both sides began to pre­fer leisure over national glory. The Amer­i­can Dream was still impor­tant, but wanted to remove the sac­ri­fice war demands. On the Soviet side, lim­it­ing con­tact with the West only worked so well, with Prague offer­ing us the fore­shadow of 1981 Poland coin­ci­dent with the end of 1948Saturn-Pluto1982. Nice to know what we survived.