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| Chaos leads to Conflict & Creation |
At Freedom Focused, we think this is an important question.
The precise answer is that nobody knows exactly what future years and decades will bring. However, we believe that an approximate answer may be plausibly postulated on the basis of historical considerations and present observances.
Historical precedent is one of the best indicators of what is to come. On the other hand, it also remains blind to the unprecedented. By balancing these two variables, I believe it is possible to attain a measure of prescience about the future.
The purpose of this article is to present three (3) basic historical truisms and four (4) basic contemporary facts as a preface to making three (3) bold predictions about what the near-mid-term future holds for America and the rest of the world. My first prediction predictably follows historical precedent and spells bad news for America. My second and third predictions suggest an unprecedented turn of events that will stand in stark contrast to historical precedents and holds out great hope for America and the rest of the world.
TRUISM #1
Historically, great powers have almost universally grown lazy and debauched in the midst of their own preeminence and prosperity. Indeed, in the long run it seems as though power almost always leads to powerlessness with the blame lying squarely with the once powerful. To illustrate the consistence and profundity of this truism one must merely reflect upon the fact that every superpower our world has ever known has eventually fallen (or been greatly diminished) over time. Sadly, the United States is heading down a similar road of diminished power, influence, and moral authority with even greater alacrity than many previous superpowers.
TRUISM #2
Periods of economic expansion and prosperity are almost always followed by periods of economic recession and fiscal contraction. Periods of extreme economic expansion and prosperity are typically followed by economic depression and/or war. The lead up to both world wars of the last century provide examples of this pattern.
TRUISM #3
Good and evil are REAL forces that work in the minds and hearts of men and women in this world. Despite what postmodernists claim to the contrary, there is no degree of human intellectual sophistication nor social evolution that can categorically extricate evil from the human race. Whenever and wherever evil is presented with opportunity or an upper hand, it will seek to please and aggrandize itself by destroying whatever (or whoever) stands in the way of its nefarious ends. Because evil does (and always will) exist in this world, those who are good (who would also be wise) must be constantly vigilant in keeping it in check. Those who don't, are eventually overcome thereby.
FACT #1
The unprecedented prosperity of the past two generations have, since the 1960s, influenced the United States to become socially prurient, culturally idle, politically cowardly, and militarily soft.
FACT #2
Sub-superpowers around the globe are currently engaged in an undeclared arms race. These nations include China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
FACT #3
ISIS and other terrorist groups (primarily Islamic extremist groups), while militarily feeble, have obtained a foothold in dozens of nations around the world and remain determined to wreak as much havoc and engender as much terror as possible.
FACT #4
The response of the Great Western Powers (U.S., Britain, France, Canada, and the E.U.) to ISIS and other growing military threats increasingly resembles the response of those same powers to Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Hikeki Tojo in the 1920s and 1930s.
No sane person ever wants a war. During the last century, the Western Powers were certainly the saner of the world's great powers.
Following the defeat of Germany and the Central Powers in World War I, austere terms were set forth by the victors in the Treaty of Versailles. Such terms embittered the vanquished and squashed its economy. Even worse, the terms were never fully enforced.
The victorious and sophisticated Western Powers managed to convince themselves that "enlightened man" would never again engage in the horrors introduced by the Great War. Moreover, they understandably sought to avoid such a conflict at all costs. Culturally bruised and economically battered from the greatest conflict in human history up to that point, their long-sought for peace led to a foolish complacency that failed to take into account the lessons of history. Thus the so-called "war to end all wars" morphed into a "war that was even worse" in the span of a single generation!
To the credit of the post-World War II powers, a full cycle of generations has passed without the world engulfing itself into a World War III. But are we truly safe from entering into such a feared conflict in the not-too-distant future? Sophisticated postmodernists of the present era will tell you we are. They like to speak of inhabitants of the twenty-first century as being too wise and mature to ever spark another conflagration on par with previous global conflicts. They will tell you we have collectively risen above such things. Their claim is that we are too smart to ever allow ourselves to repeat such dreaded mishaps of the not-so-distant past (my own Grandfather landed on Utah Beach in June 1944; it wasn't all that long ago). In fact, a good friend of mine (who in many regards is a postmodernist) recently communicated great optimism to me that we are past stooping to the levels the world lowered itself to in the world wars of the last century; I hope he is right!
For the sake of all of us, let's hope the postmodernists are right. But since postmodernists are typically wrong about just about everything in the long-run, let's be wise and avoid gambling any of our chips away in their predictably poor-handed pile of cards.
What would an authenticist say about the future of our country? As one who at least aspires with all his mind and heart to carry the banner of authenticism, I humbly implore your attention to a few predictions.
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| Grave Days May Lie Ahead |
Using only history as my guide, I predict Americans can expect a coming conflict (and perhaps a preceding or concurrent economic depression) in the coming decade that will prove historically analogous to the worst economic recessions or conflicts our nation has ever endured. History, in conjunction with all the present signs, provide us with enough data to make at least a translucent call on this point.
To read more about how I arrived at this predictive conclusion, click HERE.
PREDICTION #2
Unlike former superpowers who fell from grace and were eventually conquered (or greatly diminished) by the rise of their foes and competitors, I don't believe America is destined for this ultimate decline. Make no mistake, we are presently in decline, and grave days do lie ahead; nevertheless, I remain confidently optimistic that come what may, the United States of America will ultimately rise to its call to both sanctify its inner core and stave off external foes to continue to stand as the world's military—and more importantly, moral—leader for decades and even centuries to come.
I also predict that following the conflict, the United States will, over the course of the following two decades, come to lead the world in nearly every quantifiable category. This means that despite throngs of naysayers, the 21st Century will indeed become a new American Century.
When historians look back on the conflicts that are to come, defeating our external foes will not be viewed as our greatest challenge to victory. Rather, the process of personal, internal sanctification will be touted as our greatest achievement—and the key to our success in battle (literally and metaphorically).
And who will be the vanguard of this victory? It won't be the politicians, although they have been and will continue to be right on the forefront of getting us mired in the deep muck that is coming. It won't be the military, although a rebuilt and robust military will ultimately extricate us from its immediate clutches. It won't be our economic strength, which may largely fail before it rebounds and prospers. Nor will it be our industrial capacity, although we will rely on the same for basic subsistence and continued progress. No, victory will not primarily come from any one of these sectors.
PREDICATION #3
The true leaders of the greatest revival of American power and moral leadership in the world will come from authentic educators, and their greatest work will be done after the visible conflict has already been won. Who will lead this revival?
The answer is: FREEDOM FOCUSED and its exponents and advocates.
Click HERE to read more about the AGE of AUTHENTICISM
Click HERE to learn more about Postmodernism
The movement of authenticism will begin small as individuals read these articles and sign up for the Freedom Focused blog and buy our seminal textbook: Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.
It will grow very slowly at first. In the midst of our chaotic country and world deeply adrift in selfish striving and other profligate diversions, few will pay much attention to our message... until things start to get really bad. Presently, Freedom Focused will be largely ignored as a relatively lone voice in the wilderness—much like Churchill was largely ignored as he warned vehemently of Hitler and the rise of the Third Reich in Germany in the 1930s.
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| Political pundits of the 1930s scoffed at and ostracized Churchill for his inflammatory caveats regarding Germany's rearmament and aggression. In the end, Churchill's warnings were fully vindicated, leading this inspired leader to the offices at #10 Downing Street where he successfully led the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. |
Initially, most will seek the education and training we offer for survival (literal or metaphorical). Later, as they begin to taste the sweet fruits of genuine authenticism and savor the rich rewards springing forth in their personal and professional lives and relationships, they will begin to seek after Existential Growth for its own sake—with all of its abundant satisfactions and deep human fulfillments concomitant thereto.
Click HERE to learn more about the SAL Theory & Model.
Entire courses will be made available in topics such as honesty, integrity, courage, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, spirituality, social and emotional intelligence, personal finance, self-thought processes and training, mental health, and good vs. evil. Courses such as these—and many others that contemporary postmodernists would laugh at and never allow under the roofs of their "sophisticated" institutions—will be required fare at most of the nation's public and private schools and universities.
These schools will not be mandated to carry such curriculum. There will be no governmental fiat or injunction to install these pedagogical measures. Rather, humbled by the national crucibles just recently passed through, the collective populace will desire such a curriculum of their own volition in an effort to spare their children and grandchildren from the disasters they themselves had to face. Like a blitzkrieg, this movement will begin to sweep nation's under its feet. Unlike a blitzkrieg, its spread will come at the request of those in its wake rather than combatively coerced by thug invaders.
What then will be the result of this remarkable educational shift? The answer is that America—spurred on by this powerful pedagogy of personal leadership—will enter her greatest period of collective growth and prosperity in her 250-year history. Contemporaries of these future generations will look back and chuckle at how far we thought we had come in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Citizens of the mid-twenty-first century will view those at the turn of the twentieth century much the way Americans of the 1990s and 1980s reflected back on the 1920s and 1930s.
What then comes after that? I purposely refrain from making any predictions beyond this. I am not a prophet; I am a philosopher-historian, poet, and pedagogue; I therefore openly acknowledge that my historical-educational predictions could turn out to be faulty. But come what may, Freedom Focused is destined to prosper and proliferate because it operates under a standard of truth, transparency, integrity, decency, and competence. No organization thus endowed could ever fail except by abandoning its own principles.
As for further predictions, such as those concerning "the end of the world," religionists provide many clues from their sacred texts that you may or may not find value in perusing. As a secular institution, we are not in the business of trying to call such shots. We are, however, very interested in the next 30-50 years, and therein lies our focus. We believe a stellar comprehension of the past combined with an incisive observance of the present can provide at bare minimum a translucent vision of the future, and these are our general predictions.
We invite you to begin bolstering the movement of authenticism today by signing up for our blog, visiting our website, and buying our seminal textbook.
The more prepared you are for the coming conflict, the greater the odds become that you will live to see and enjoy the wonders and prosperity that will follow its successful conclusion. We hope you'll join our movement, which will not only survive the coming conflict, but will in fact lead America out of it—and beyond.
Click HERE to buy a copy of Dr. Jordan Jensen's new book, Self-Action Leadership: The Key to Personal, Professional, & Global Freedom.
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SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP is the key catalyst for initiating transformational leadership that lasts in any organization. The truth of the matter really is that simple; and the transformation of organizations through the holistic development of individuals really is that difficult—yet altogether possible for anyone willing to invest the time, effort, and sacrifice required to achieve authentic, transformational results.
Unlike any training program that has ever preceded it, Self-Action Leadership provides a single vehicle wherewith individual self-leaders can discover—and then act—upon the great truth that HOLISTIC personal development and growth spanning the mental, moral, spiritual, physical, emotional, and social elements of our individual natures is within the grasp of each one of us.
Note: Freedom Focused is a non-partisan, for-profit, educational corporation. As such, we do not endorse or embrace political figures. We do, however, comment from time-to-time on historical or political events that provide pedagogical backdrops to illuminating principles contained in the SAL Theory & Model.
To receive weekly articles from Freedom Focused & Dr. Jordan R. Jensen, sign up with your e-mail address in the white box on the right side of this page where it says "Follow by E-mail."
Click HERE to read more about Dr. Jensen's book, Self-Action Leadership, and to review what experts in the leadership field are saying about this groundbreaking new personal development handbook.
Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan R. Jensen.
Click HERE to visit the Freedom Focused website.
