Likely since humans have figured out the difference between past and future, we have predicted the end of the planet. We still do. Some scenarios include magnetic shits or asteroids. Life happens. Now, under Paradox2140, however, humans can include a capacity never before available: complete global self-destruction. Cheers!
Within 50–70 years of discovering the power of E=MC2, dominant cultures figured out how to build weapons that could wipe human life from the planet for hundreds of thousands of years. We have not been here before.

Make Sure the Kids Are Armed Too!

Thank the Industrial Revolution for bringing us to this place. Hold your rants against machines, or questions about my Luddite nature. Industrialism did not come with an instruction manual. No one knew that overly cheap, carbon-based energy would help us set off a population time-bomb now exacerbating climate-change. When it comes to technology of the type introduced within a brief sliver of time since the 18th Century, humanity holds no experience. Without realizing the ramifications, history handed lethal weapons to pubescent teens without guidance or instruction. Oops.
Take this not as criticism. Industrialism arrived on the heels of centuries long European competition for sometimes sporadic resources. The idea of empire had been around since Babylon. The confluence of technology and 19th Century imperialism created a global dash for resources the bled into 1893Neptune-Pluto2384, container of Paradox2140:Progress. Our natural collective instincts seem to inspire short-term exploitation of resources. Cultures, on which our modern lives now grow, once accustomed to famine and epidemic, now must see centuries into the future. Part of what makes Paradox2140:Progress a paradox is that we began using dangerously inexpensive energy before we knew the down-the-line costs. We are cursed with the trajectory that easy petroleum and coal launched. The only way to correct that choice is with time-machine. Even if we magically discover carbon fuel replacement tomorrow, the impact will be felt for centuries.

A World Beyond Imagination

A world that imagined mechanical, Newtonian physics could not imagine one the one of quantum mechanics. We are left with Paradox of Progress, the reality we now deal with. No culture in history has faced the complexities of our times; none has come close to our educational capacity, literacy and technical prowess. We have no choice but to make it up as we go along.

We have not been here before.

Watching this latest RSAnimate video, 21st Century Enlightenment, feels like watching Paradox2140 in animated form. I was especially struck by the section where I start the above video, when the question became “What is Progress?”. The clip above begins at that point because it starts the quest to ask the same questions of Paradox2140:Progress. Both projects intersect, chiefly regarding Sustainability and Science & Technology, with the chief difference lying with intention: The 21st Century Enlightenment Project seeks to add humanism to Progress, to forge a new mindset that uses Progress to release us from many current constraints. Paradox2140 reveals the Paradox of Progress in context of all other Neptune-Pluto paradoxes, while also discussing it within its own context.

Watch the video and then click on the windows below it to compare to relevant Paradox2140 paradoxes. Expect more on the 21st Century Enlightenment Project. Our paths run parallel.

The Complete 21st Century Enlightenment Video:

Contents

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1. 1 A Reliable Midpoint
2. 2 Why Plan Ahead?

A Reliable Midpoint

Few can doubt the next opposition of Uranus-Pluto, circa 2045, will accompany one of those moments noted as special in human history. The last four associate to Copernicus’ Revolutions, the Age of Reason, the French Revolution and Planck/Einstein theories.

So why bring 2045 up now, 35 years away? Takes time to plan a revolution. Be certain, here. I am not calling for one, I simply expect one, of some sort to manifest. Of course, some will correctly reply that the episodes involving physics of the last opposition, 1902–1905 were revolutions of a different support, but that would forget the 1905 Russian Revolution, the Young Turks and the general unrest surrounding labor and class issues that partially inspired World War I.

2045, by falling into this sequence, and by the virtue of its coming so near to so many global “deadlines” (surrounding food, climate, habitat and demographics) fits the description of significant shift of direction in history.

Why Plan Ahead?

This quote from CIA World Factbook gives one idea of the challenges the United States faces:

“The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a “two-tier labor market” in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households. The war in March-April 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq, and the subsequent occupation of Iraq, required major shifts in national resources to the military. Soaring oil prices between 2005 and the first half of 2008 threatened inflation and unemployment, as higher gasoline prices ate into consumers’ budgets. Imported oil accounts for about two-thirds of US consumption. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups.
The World Factbook:United States

Why did the economy collapse in 2008? Because from the 1980s a good portion of homeowners around the world financed their lives on credit. The choice has much to do with ‘practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20%’. The wealth imbalance, about equal to that before the Great Depression, grows wider, yet only gets mentioned as a tertiary cause; far from having a solution, we do not yet know the problem. Good luck getting the political class to acknowledge. So, after watching the problem grow for thirty-five years, why should we think we can solve in the next? Or more positively phrased: how do solve the problem in that time? And yes, the US is not the entire planet, but its military and economy still dwarf the rest, so its trajectory affects all. Besides, many issues now face us all in a globalized world.

A Many Part Essay Comparing the Two Periods

For obvious reasons, I will leave the comparisons between the early 1930s and 2008–2012 to others who have already performed the task. From the beginning, I can tell you that both times, like any, are different. However, enough similarities exist and the line from the first event to the next displaying so many connections, the effort has to be pursued. Keep in mind that the essay means to present an overall picture, showing how one period connects to the other, rather than a side-by-side comparison.

The Really Big Picture

As the diagrams show. The main reason for comparison comes from how similar configurations, Saturn-Uranus-Pluto T-squares, appeared during both financial crisises. The first of such, circa 1930, includes the Uranus-Pluto wave, 1849Uranus-Pluto1966, bringing events near 1849 into the picture. Importantly, this wave began under the previous Neptune-Pluto wave, 1399Neptune-Pluto1892, when cultures shifted from medieval to modern practices and viewpoints. That the lead-up to the Great Depression follows the path of the last Uranus-Pluto wave of the previous Neptune-Pluto hints that some of the financial distress of that period relates to that transition. The Great Depression of the 1930s was the first globalized depression, one totally related to the full industrialization of the planet. Just as significantly, that 1966Uranus-Pluto2100 is the first Uranus-Pluto wave of 1893Neptune-Pluto2384, suggests it comes with different concerns. Specifically, the previous Neptune-Pluto wave contained the Paradox of Secularism, where Church reform, unleashed secularism as a modus operandi. 1893Neptune-Pluto2384, on the other hand, deals with the Paradox of Progress. This latter characteristic appears as more obvious–the 2008-? Great Recession clearly has obvious ties to the Progress and its ramifications. Conversely, the 1930s episode seems more connected to 1850s type issues of nationalism and ‘iron and blood’ industrialism, than the slicker, more financial-services causes of the 2008 collapse.  The difference shows up repeatedly thoughout this comparison.

The Big Picture: 1848–2102

Because the 1930 T-square includes 1849Uranus-Pluto1966 and the 2010, 1966Uranus-Pluto2100 the range our survey ties the 1850s to the early 22nd Century. The list shows all of the periods, hinting at why and how the times are similar, yet different.

1930 T-square

• 1849Uranus-Pluto1965
• 1897Saturn-Uranus1942
• 1915Saturn-Pluto1947

2010 T-square

• 1966Uranus-Pluto2100
• 1989Saturn-Uranus2032
• 1983Saturn-Pluto2020

As you may have guessed, both periods classify as turning points, a nexus of longer and shorter-term influences coming together to create an event with its own momentum. I have already presented From Revolution to Protest, about 1966Uranus-Pluto2100. Expect more posts on the other waves from various perspectives. By the end, the reader will gain greater perspective that will lead to greater understanding of each time.

The Forgotten side of Beginnings

A major reason to use waves as a measuring device lies with the ability to view cycle as a unit. Seeing cycles in circular form tends to stack one on top of the other, obliterating the view. Another advantage comes when look at the both ends of the wave, 360°/0° at the beginning 0°/360° at the other. In circular form this point blends into itself; it passes without much notice. Waves change that view. The end and the beginning hold distinct positions in Measuring History.

Every Beginning is An End

A birth best demonstrates a beginning. The start of life comes ripe with potential, both powerful for the attention a newborn requires and vulnerable for almost complete dependence on others. Powerful with the energy of youth, yet fragile for innocence gradually lost along the way. And here we typically concentrate our attention, the look ahead. The shadow side of he experience, goes unmentioned, but plays an equally important role: that which can no longer exist because of what replaces it.

Feel the New

The 1960s and the 1990s both have a feeling of the new. Both featured conjunctions between very distant planets, Uranus and Pluto in the 60’s, Uranus and Neptune in the early 90’s. Because Saturn conjoined both Uranus and Neptune in the late 80s, the feeling of new, a step into new era stretched from then until a few years past the 1992–93 Uranus-Neptune conjunction.
The feeling, the opinion that the 1960s saw great leaps in many areas has been confirmed from many quarters. From economies, to science, music, gender, diplomacy, politics and culture, the decade still stands as a time of great departure from the past. Changes such as civil rights legislation, movements for greater gender equality, even rock’n’roll cannot be undone. Uranus-Pluto waves, connected with the printing press, the Age of Reason, the French Revolution continued its legacy of significant and disruptive change, adding the Internet to the resume.
The 1990s began as the Berlin Wall (and Soviet Union) fell, Europe entered a union and the US flexed its muscles in the Gulf War. Internet and cell networks reached critical mass, accelerating cultural change certainly still closer to infancy than maturity. China’s Tienanmen Square Massacre announced how that nation would modernize on its own terms. I was old enough to know better by this time, and the feelings of new, of stepping into a new time was tangible, an emotion shared by many. I know the idea that outer planets tell us when we enter new historical episodes stretches credulity, but the evidence repeats throughout time. 1648 (Uranus-Neptune conjunction), 1821 (another Uranus-Neptune conjunction) 1892 (Neptune-Pluto conjunction), all share these characteristic. Do your own experiment and I think you will agree that these times stand out as turning points, when significant cultural shifts occurred.

Remember the Passing

The 1890s, the 1960s, and the 1990s also included the feeling of passing, of an age or tradition fading into memory. The 1890s, heady with new inventions and lifestyles, came with the anxious feeling that the old slipped away in the din of excitement over the nascent and untried. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Soviet collapse looked imminent, the old worry of national instability in the soon defunct Eastern Bloc arose (for good reason); Margaret Thatcher fretted over a united Germany. The prospect of an entirely different situation brought up dormant concerns.
Perhaps because so many cover the 1960s, but a sense of passing appears in all aspects tied to the decade. The US poor showing in Vietnam eroded confidence in military solutions. Civil rights legislation removed built in advantages some groups held over others. Feminism undid years of Hollywood driven propaganda aimed at women. The movement in the West away from less traditional family structure began then. For every new development, a way of life disappeared or took on a lesser role. These fall on the 360° side of the equation.

Finish What Was Started

The full picture of honoring the 360° side shows up when we look at all of 1849Uranus-Pluto1965, realizing that much of what transpired in the 1960s had roots in the time around the 1850s. Abolition movements supplied the foundation for civil rights action and legislation; the feminist movement began in Seneca Falls in 1848; ‘60s protests, riots and sit-ins extend the legacy, and similar results, to the 1848 Revolutions: specific protester requests went unmet, but their pressure forced cultural change. Internationally, the sometimes literal fight for independence in Indochina, the sub-Continent and Africa simply extended a trend begun in 1848, an episode then whose true result ended with the nationalization of Germany, Canada and Italy. Both times feature the same imperative, the desire to control local economies, means of production and representation. People wanted to be Vietnamese or Pakistani for the same reasons people want to be Italian or Belgian: no one reason, but many compel the choice for independence.

Rail roads also fit in here. Circa 1848  they were about to bring about the greatest expansion in human industry and population, and by the mid-1960s, fade into sentimentality. Of course, trains will not disappear, but now rank next to other forms of transport, including aerospace in its many forms. The president flies Air Force One, instead of following the whistle-stop tour. But their roles, their 360° presence, should not be forgotten. Rail roads changed diplomacy, politics, industry, culture, gender expectations, labor relations; inspired time-zones, trans-continental travel, civil engineers, cities, destruction, great architecture, new markets, robber-barons, mechanized war and exponential population growth. When in the the 60s Ken Kesey, the road-trip, car-culture replaced rail-road culture (big-bands traveled by rail, where pop-bands travel by van, bus or plane), consider it a signal of the end of rail road’s influence.They still play a role but no longer a major one. Railroads are so 360°.

This Uranus-Pluto wave epitomizes the events connected to 1848: women’s and civil rights, class war, The Communist Manifesto to the marriage of governance and politics. All of these issues reappear consistently near each quadrature alignment near 1848, 1874, 1902, 1932 and 1965. Compare 1848–1849 and the 1960s and many of the topics remain pertinent though modified by time. Issues of class, particularly lower versus middle or blue-collar versus white-collar echoed loudly on both sides of this wave. Nationalism and the idea of nationhood, very new in 1849, had matured into many different forms, but conflicts over sovereignty, such as the Vietnam War, the Six-Day War and Prague Spring showed a new side of the equation. Two new or improved technologies of the 1840s presaged the instant culture that grew from the 1960s: the telegraph and drum printing. The combination lead to “scoop” journalism, where newspapers sought reward by being first with a story. Telegraph, of course, preceded the telephone; drum printing dramatically increased printing speed, helping meet growing populations.

Industry Takes Hold

At the beginning of this wave industry established itself in all levels of society. This began a trend that literally continues to change our planet. The Industrial Revolution began as the last Uranus-Pluto wave began. The world after 1848 dramatically demonstrated the result. From here forward, little of the planet, even part of the atmosphere, remained off-limits or unchanged. Industrialism also altered life in many forms, from class to balance between city and country. Labor unions grew with the demand for workers; even those still on the farm saw industry significantly reshape agriculture. Count diplomacy in this list as factory output also meant ability to produce munitions and armaments. Stronger militaries, particularly navies, confer the ability to control oceans and colonize regions holding valuable resources. Balance-of-power, a standard component of 19th diplomacy, changed dramatically as a result. World War I’s cause points directly back to this policy and turning war into a battle of technology.

Industry and Society

Another distinct change attributable to secular triumph over religiously-oriented doctrine (often fought at the school level): family. Families in more developed nations began to prefer fewer children. This new desire still processes throughout the globe, but, either way, industry contributed greatly to this new dynamic. Jobs in the city encouraged residence there, where more children give little advantage. Less children meant that parents expected better education. Women benefited greatly through fewer tasks around the home and less risk through childbirth, both by better treatment and bearing fewer children. Of course, this metamorphosis faded in over time, but from the beginning near 1848 to the end of 1965, women continued to build on freedoms they first began to dream of during and after 1848 (Seneca Falls).

These changes echoed elsewhere through the growth of middle-classes across the globe. Schools require teachers, professors and administrators; industry needs engineers, designers and architects. With education citizens become more aware and more invested in their cultures. Thus, the rise of the political party, at first a curiosity from the US, and modern politics driven by instant media.

Uranus-Pluto Tendencies

Both sides, beginning and end, truly reflect Uranus-Pluto tendencies and connections to other quadrature alignments during other Uranus-Pluto waves. The introduction of the Gutenberg Bible in 1455, coincident with the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Leo, echoes through all the waves, up to and including 1849Uranus-Pluto1965. The midpoint of the previous wave, 1711Uranus-Pluto1849, appeared in 1792, the peak of the French Revolution. That event lived and died on the power of the press, a major component of the Enlightenment that justified the uprising in so many ways. The Revolution also served as the model for the 1848 Revolutions, which so many saw as a bookend to the 18th Century affair. We should also note that the successor to the press, the Internet, came into being very near the 1965–1966 Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo.

Each quadrature alignment of 1849Uranus-Pluto1965, 1848, 1874, 1902, 1932 and 1965 reflected Uranus-Pluto tendencies throughout. During each one featured civil unrest and uncertainty (and two depressions!) played out in more than one location. Each pattern also had a distinct industrial element, including revolutions not involving direct action, such as mass production, air travel and air conditioning. As is typical with Uranus-Pluto waves, the modern/post-modern world arrived, whether people were ready or not.

Every Neptune-Pluto wave contains a paradox  The Hellenization Paradox came about because after Alexander the Great died, his generals split the spoils in a vast territory spanning from Persia to Egypt and places in between. With this came the adoption of Greek ways and intellect. Greek became the linqua franca of its time and Athens became a seat of knowledge. This came as Rome emerged as a power and ended with its total domination of the Mediterranean. Rome venerated Alexander the Great. Many of its leaders took Greek scholarship as the basis of their philosophy.

The paradox comes in when we factor in how Alexander came to power. He and his Macedonian father, Philip, emerged from the ruins of the Peloponnesian War that weakened both Athens and Sparta. 576BcNeptune-Pluto85bc began with the Greek Renaissance (under the triple conjunction of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto). Athens stood as the dominant power, one it was not afraid to exercise, at the expense of its neighbors in very crowded archipelago. Long story short, this lead to a war with Sparta aligned with weaker powers. The Peloponnesian War (~431bc-404bc) ended up  diminishing both, creating the vacuum into which stepped the Macedonians.

Greece Lived Through Rome

These developments led to Alexander and the Seleucid Wars that diluted Greek influence, clearing the way for Rome’s dominance of the region. Rome helped spread Hellenization, on which much of Western Civilization grew. For all this to happen, Greece had to wound itself; Greek legacy could only reach its zenith through its self-immolation.

During the 576bc-334bc stretch , Greek arts and philosophy flourished. Anaximander etal led to Socrates, followed by Plato who begat Aristotle, who reportedly served as Alexander’s tutor (both died within a week of each other in 324bc). Greek theater primed the public to the mindset the philosophers put forth. Thucydides created the foundation of history by writing about the war. Greece also passed on the simplified Phoenician alphabet, facilitating communication.

These events cannot be panned as right or wrong. The history is what it is. We can’t see the events, in hindsight, as a mistake.  Without this and other paradoxes, the trajectory of history would have been dramatically different. This opinion holds much more weight when we realize that despite their war, Athens and Sparta thwarted Persia’s march west. Rome may not have thrived if Persia had emerged as a Mediterranean power.

Contents

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Different Paths, Same Result

Please watch the embedded video and compare to Paradox2140:Progress. Both reach the same conclusions via different paths. I also included Empathic Civilization video as part of the embed, because it too asks the same questions and provides answers.

Who Dictates Morality in Morality in the post-Modern World, and Why?

My friend, Mara Segal, and I discuss the question, linked above (scroll down to find). Pardox2140:Progress is open-ended, meant to engender questions that can lead to solutions. The back and forth between Mara represents that intention.

While you are there, please  join Measuring History on Facebook.

Or Why I Love Saturn

Astrologers forever have struggled to explain why astrology works. some put forth magnetic forces, planetary influence, citing the obvious pull of our moon, affecting our earthly tides. I will not here support or denounce such theories. Instead, I will present a unique view that forms Measuring History’s perspective. Simply stated, People Make History.

Saturn and Generations

This chart shows the how Saturn’s orbit coincides with milestones of human growth; each quadrature alignment (0°,90°,180,270°,360°) points to ways that both parents and society assess how a child compares to both others or and to recognizable growth milestones. Everyone experiences puberty in their mid-teens; by about 20 or 21, both parent and child (well, adult) understand the need to leave the nest. The diagram explains Saturn’s connection to these turning points in detail. The important point here comes from how Saturn’s orbit remains the same throughout history. Its “year” always equals  29.5 earth years. In the same vein.Humans always develop along these general guidelines. Yes, some reach physical maturity at different times, but even these are measured against the same standards.

No matter what period in history, Saturn’s orbit and human growth pattern remains the same

Different Societies,
Different Needs at Different Times

In Roman times a boy reached manhood at about 15 or 16. In medieval times, 15 or 16 was a marriageable age, all tied up in dowry and family legacy; if a family did not have enough dowry to attract a suitor, a girl was often shuffled off to a dreary life in a convent. In hunter-gatherer societies where live expectancy hovered around age 38, Saturn’s connection means something radically different than in today’s world where life expectancy has doubled in developed societies. Yet, Saturn still measures generations, irrespective of culture or historical period. Voilá, we have standard means of Measurement

Saturn and the Other
Outer Planets

In my upcoming book, Measuring History, A Visual Primer I title the chapter on the ringed planet, Saturn,The People’s Planet for reason’s made obvious above.  Saturn represents generations and generations represent people born at the same time with the same interest. How they make history comes with Saturn’s connection with the extreme outer planets through the Saturn-Uranus, Saturn-Neptune and Saturn-Pluto waves. Think of how this makes sense in terms of the length of historical episodes in terms of the lower frequency waves, Uranus-Pluto, Uranus-Neptune  and Neptune-Pluto, with frequencies of 127 (on average), 172 years and 495 years. History changes by year, decade and century. By combining the generations of Saturn with inter-century changes of history we see how history lives through the transits in people’s charts.

Standard Transits for Everyone

In my next post, I will detail how outer planet transits appear in standard for everyone, but I will leave with a couple clues. Everyone has a Saturn return around age 30 and a midlife crisis halfway through the next Saturn cycle, near age 42. This the same age the Uranus, who’s orbit equals 84 earth years, is halfway through its orbit, from another perspective, Uranus by transit opposes natal Uranus. Neptune’s orbit of 168 years means Neptune is lower square (90° from) its natal position. Pluto with its oblong orbit has differing relationships to all of these planets depending on where it is in its orbit (Pluto varies between 12 and 25 years in a sign). So according to culture, everyone has a mid-life crisis that varies by century as determined by outer planet waves. A mid-life crisis varies between a 16th Century denizen and 21st Century one.

Until next time, think of how this fits into how people make history.