The Last 7 Decades

Introduction:

I’m writing this to explore two main themes: the decline of America and how this decline dovetails with the end of the age.

The 1950’s

The Springtime of American culture, the 1950’s were hip, cool and prosperous.  The post war boom had thoroughly saturated the USA and brought with it renewed optimism and high morale.  Not only could most families support themselves with just one income (the dollar was still strong and tied to gold at this point), but the morality of the American culture was overall Biblical.  Families stayed together.  Divorce rates were low.  Teens graduated from school.

There were no significant social unrests in this decade.  The mood of the country was happy.  America had won World War II and was now a super power.  This is not to suggest there were not problems in the 1950’s, but compared to the following decades, they were minor.

This was the decade of President Eisenhower who was a tremendously popular general during WWII, and his popularity kept him in the Presidency for almost the entire decade.  The country was unified, upbeat and prosperous.

The 1960’s

This decade was utterly tumultuous.  The Civil Rights movement rocked the nation.  The start of Vietnam led to social unrest.  Kennedy’s assassination seemed to wound the soul of America.  LBJ’s social expansionism began to weigh down on the economy and start what would become the modern welfare state.

The hippies defied morality, espousing free love (causal sex) and drug use.  While people continued to be generally happy during this decade, the seeds for future destruction were sown here.

So, I refer to the 60’s as the late Spring, the time of thunderstorms and tornadoes.  You can still have beautiful days in the late Spring, but also utterly destructive weather.  The 60’s are the late Spring of America.

The Jesus Movement of the mid to late 60’s helped to counter the counter culture and retard the corruption of American society.

The 1970’s

The malaise of the 70’s was an apt word for this decade.  Vietnam, a war we lost, dragged down the beginning of the decade.  While Nixon got us out of that war, his corruption led to new found distrust of the government.  

The tolls of the expensive war, the policies of LBJ, the oil embargo of 73, all of these events and more conspired to create the worst American economy in decades.  The American morale was low.  People were generally unhappy.  Divorce rates began to climb.  The dollar, no longer tied to gold thanks to Nixon, lost much of its value and now often both spouses had to work to support the family, causing stress and harming young children.

Drug use and porn exploded during this decade.  Church attendance declined.  Prices skyrocketed.  Nixon left the Presidency in disgrace.  Carter hammered the final four years of the decade with terrible economic policies that further crippled America.

The care free rock and roll of the 50’s and 60’s gave way to nihilistic bands in the 70’s that often talked about death and murder.

This is the hot summer of America, the summer that was humid, sweltering and caused a general malaise on the culture. The seeds that had been planted in the 60’s now came to fruition in the 70’s.

The 1980’s

Something amazing happened during this decade.  An incredible surge of optimism and prosperity lifted America out of the malaise of the 70’s.  Reagan became one of the most popular Presidents in modern history, and his lowering of taxes led to an economic boom that spanned the decade.

There was a sort of renaissance in the culture as well.  The blockbuster first emerged and Star Wars, Back to the Future, ET, all these delivered strong messages of hope and triumph and good overcoming evil.

The music was no longer about death, but about love, life, and hope.  The upbeat tempo of most 80’s music testifies to this.  It was morning in America again, and this was the cool crispness of early Autumn in America.  

The 80’s saw a return of high morale. Unfortunately, the breakdown of the family did not turn around despite the prosperity and optimism of the decade.  Divorce rates steadily climbed. It was almost as if this decade was the final window for America to turn around and not only arrest its decline but reverse it.  This, however, never happened.  By the end of the decade, a Bush had taken control of America, one who was firmly in the grip of the NWO.

The 90’s

Prosperity continued into this decade with the exception of the short lived recession in the opening years.  But it was a glib prosperity. This decade was the decade “about nothing” of which the popular TV show Seinfeld typified.  Clinton became known as a liar and a sexual deviant, polluting the highest office in the land in ways Nixon never approached. And yet, most Americans, seemed not to care. 

People had money, times were good, yet divorce rates continued to shoot upward and morality continued to evaporate.  Bill Clinton seemed to be a mirror of the American people -- prosperous, generally happy, glib, cool-- yet devoid of morality.  Political correctness began to seep into the culture.   

The reality of the Jesus Movement had been replaced with such things as the Toronto Revival where people barked liked dogs.  

This glib smugness, this easy prosperity, this convenient immorality would all soon come to a crashing realization . . .

The 2000’s

September 11th, 2001 forever changed America.  In one single day, the prosperity of the previous two decades ended.  The general mood of comfort and optimism was replaced by fear.  The War on Terror had begun and its greatest victims became the American People.

The second Bush, a war president, began a decade of war and terror alerts.  The glib smugness of the 90’s, the happy optimism of the 80’s were gone.  Now America dealt with two wars, snipers in DC, anthrax, terror alerts, Homeland Security.

This would definitely be the Winter of America.  The 2007-08 housing bubble burst and a crashing stock market ignited a Great Recession that seemingly has no end.

The Internet, which had begun to hint at its potential in the late 90’s, came to full maturity and took over the culture in the 2000’s.  But Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites would not really elevate the social construct, rather it would lead to greater isolation and immorality.

The decade was one of fear and terror.   The decade from hell, as some have termed it.  It began with an attack and war and ended with economic collapse.

2010’s

Of course, we are only in the middle of this decade, but what a first half it has been!

The decade is certainly a decade of despair.  Not mere malaise as in the 70’s, but despair.  The War on Terror continues, coupled now with a new cold war with Russia.

The  BP Oil Spill in 2010 destroyed the Gulf in several different ways.  The Arab Spring started in 2011 led to massive instability in the Middle East.  The Great Recession continued for Main Street.  As of 2015, there are as many Americans out of work as there were in 1977, when America had one of its worst ever economies.  97 million Americans are out of work.

Obama was re-elected and his policies have ensured the Great Recession will not end.  Obamacare has destroyed the health industry.   Higher taxes have crippled the economy.  The welfare state continues to grow.  And now we are facing, in 2015, a possible new stock market collapse.  Time will tell.

Russia is saber rattling in Ukraine and Syria.  China’s economy is in decline even while it wants to expand its territory onto islands the US does not think it should have.

It’s easy to see how the decline of America is swiftly leading to World War III and the end of the age.

It is my theory that the Great Trib will begin in the Spring of 2017, which seems to me a logical progression of this current decade of despair.  We shall see.

Of course, our only protection is in Yahshua the Messiah of Israel.