The Cardinal Crisis
Preview Of 2013
&
The World Transits Of January, February & March
Plus,
The Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto YOD
December 21, 2012 to March 21, 2013:
A Globe On The Edge?
And Featuring,
The End Of An Era:
Our Third Industrial Age, Transitions & The Dow Jones Index
&
The World Transits Of January, February & March
Plus,
The Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto YOD
December 21, 2012 to March 21, 2013:
A Globe On The Edge?
And Featuring,
The End Of An Era:
Our Third Industrial Age, Transitions & The Dow Jones Index
GLOBAL ASTROLOGY
By
Theodore White, mundane Astrolog.Sci
Glory & Praise Be To IAO, the Immortal God
Peace & Goodwill to All Humanity
The world at this stage in time is in historic transition - between ages.
During the cardinal crisis years, humanity has many choices about the direction of the globe.
During the cardinal crisis years, humanity has many choices about the direction of the globe.
Sadly, during 2012, the signs have not been favorable.
Mired in ignorance, corruption and greed; while full of violence and disdain for the sanctity of life; I continue to warn all that the future is in danger should not good people stand tall and fight the evildoers causing disorder and dysfunction on this planet.
Mired in ignorance, corruption and greed; while full of violence and disdain for the sanctity of life; I continue to warn all that the future is in danger should not good people stand tall and fight the evildoers causing disorder and dysfunction on this planet.
The world transits of the cardinal crisis years show us that there are 7.5 to 9 nine years of transitional times ahead of us into the early 2020s.
These transitional years provide impetus to those who would speak and act forthright to clear much of the darkness in the world toward that of goodness and Light.
Recent Global Events
Indian Bus Rape; city of Delhi sees women rush to get guns
Hundreds of women in Delhi have applied for gun licences following the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman by six men in a bus in the city last month.
The news underlines the widespread sense of insecurity in the city, deep before the incident and deeper now and the lack of faith in law enforcement agencies.
Preview Of 2013
&
The World Transits of January, February & March
Forecast By
Theodore White, mundane Astrolog.Sci
On January 1st we enter the 'common new year.' That is what is called the 'new year of 2013' but according to the true calendar, the solar year of 2012 is not yet over.
December is the 10th month of the year. January is the 11th month and February the 12th month.
December is the 10th month of the year. January is the 11th month and February the 12th month.
The year of 2013 does not arrive until 20 March. That's when the Sun enters Aries and vernal equinox opens up the new solar year of 2013.
Most of the months into 2013 begin with last quarter moons.
This means that the start of each month will be slow until mid-month when full moon weeks take place, only to end in last quarter lunar phases into the early days of the following new month.
This means that the start of each month will be slow until mid-month when full moon weeks take place, only to end in last quarter lunar phases into the early days of the following new month.
This cycle will continue unbroken until between November 2013 to January 2014, when new moons will occur at the start of the month.
So, for much of the next solar year, the energies will be slow during the first week or so of each month; gathering steam by lunar motion into the middle of months rather than at the start and the end of every month.
Preview Of
The Astrological New Year of 2013 does not arrive until the vernal equinox - that is on 20 March 2013 when the Sun enters Aries.
The new year to come features our entry into a new transitional era - one that I have been forecasting about here on Global Astrology for several years.
The major world transit of 2013 will be a Jupiter-Saturn-Neptune configuration known as the Grand Water Trine.
Grand Water Trine
July 2013
click on mundane chart to enlarge
The water trine opens with a second Saturn trine Neptune in June 2013. The first took place in October 2012.
Jupiter enters tropical Cancer in late June 2013 and by July a grand water trine will exist between all three planets.
And it will revolve worldwide.
The grand water trine signals a brief time to make significant change in lives and careers.
The water trine configuration closes with a last Jupiter trine Saturn a year later, by spring 2014.
2013 is another transitional year, but it acts as a year of 'true new starts' by late spring in the northern hemisphere for tens of millions of people.
2012 was also transitional year, but with 'false new starts' as Jupiter was in detriment in tropical Gemini. That will end by late June 2013. New places, new faces, new homes and new aspirations are presaged in 2013.
Soon, the old, outworn and outmoded sets deeper into the twilight while what is new and emerging rises increasingly with the dawn.
Video by astrologer Jeff Degener
Economics
The state of the world's economics continues to be stressed into 2013 with market volatility in the spring months of 2013 just ahead of the Jupiter-Saturn water trines that extend from July 2013 through to late May 2014.
Expect the unemployment rate to rise further. Officially said to be about 8% unemployment, the true unemployment rate for the United States is closer to 19%.
The financial sector and its markets will suffer great losses as Jupiter recovers to its fated degree in Gemini by April/May 2013.
This adds to the rise in unemployment with tens of thousands of bank and financial firm workers laid off - worldwide - in 2013.
James Kunstler says this about the current state of affairs...
"We're now entering the seventh year of a smoke-and-mirrors, extend-and-pretend, can-kicking phase of history in which everything possible is being done to conceal the true condition of the economy, with the vain hope of somehow holding things together until a miracle rescue remedy - some new kind of cheap or even free energy - comes on the scene to save all our complex arrangements from implosion.
The chief device to delay the reckoning has been accounting fraud in banking and government, essentially misreporting everything on all balance sheets and in statistical reports to give the appearance of well-being where there is actually grave illness, like the cosmetics and prosthetics Michael Jackson used in his final years to pretend he still had a face on the front of his head.
The secondary tactic has been intervention in markets wherever possible and the intemperate manipulation of interest rates, all of which has the effect of defeating the principle purpose of markets: price discovery - the process by which the true value of things is established based on what people will freely pay.
For instance the price of money-on-loan.
The functionally less-than-zero percent interest rates on money loaned between giant institutions like central banks and their client "primary dealers" (the Too Big To Fails) essentially pays these outfits for borrowing, which is obviously a distortion in the natural order of things (because it violates the second law of thermodynamics: entropy) as well as an arrant racket.
The campaign of intervention and manipulation also deeply impairs the other purpose of markets, capital formation, by the resultant mismanagement and mis-allocation of whatever real surplus wealth remains in this society.
What's more, it allows these TBTF banks to become ever-bigger monsters which hold everybody else hostage by threatening to crash the system if they are molested or interfered with.
Which brings us to the third tactic for pretending everything is all right:
A complete lack of enforcement and regulation by all the authorities charged with making sure that rules are followed in money matters.
A complete lack of enforcement and regulation by all the authorities charged with making sure that rules are followed in money matters.
This includes the alphabet soup of agencies from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, to the Federal Housing Authority, and so on (the list of responsible parties is very long) not to mention the Big Kahunas: the U.S. Department of Justice, and the federal and state courts.
Aside from Bernie Madoff and a few Hedge Fund mavericks nipped for insider trading and arrant fraud, absolutely nobody in the TBTF banking community has been prosecuted or even charged for the monumental swindles of our time, while the regulators have behaved in ways that would be considered criminally negligent at best, and sheer racketeering at less-than-best, in any self-respecting polity.
The crime runs so deep and thick through all the levels of money management and regulation that one can say the whole system has gone rogue, up to the President of the U.S. himself, the chief enforcement officer of the land, who has not lifted a finger to discipline any of the parties involved.
The fact that Jon Corzine, late of MF Global, is still at large says it all.
Fourth-and-finally, the news media in league with the public relations industry have undertaken a campaign of happy talk to persuade the public that everything is okay and all the machinations cited above are kosher so that there is absolutely no political agitation over these crimes against their own interest, which is to say, the public interest.
The PR/media happy talk racket is also aimed at maintaining various subsidiary fictions about the economy, such as the fibs that the housing market is bouncing back, that "recovery" is ongoing, and that the channel-stuffing monkeyshines of the car industry amount to booming sales of new vehicles.
Perhaps the most pernicious big lie is the bundle of fairy tales surrounding shale oil and shale gas, including the idea that America will shortly become "energy independent" or that we have 'a hundred years of shale gas' as President Obama was mis-advised to tell the nation.
It is pernicious because it gives us collectively an excuse to do nothing about changing our behavior or preparing for the new arrangements in daily life that the future will require of us," Kunstler says.
So, the effects of all this will have been directly connected to the outright failure to resolve the systemic corruption of the financial systems, banks, rating agencies and the markets of nations.
The demise of cheap oil; the cooking of accounting/bank balance books; along with the general cultural angst of the baby boomer generation is not a pretty picture for 2013 and beyond. It's already been a mitigated mess since the late 1990s.
What will happen - especially with Uranus square Pluto powerfully in play this decade - are hue-and-cries, mass demonstrations, social conflicts, civil disorder, mental/emotional illnesses and rising crime rates.
This, along with revolutionary sentiments are getting louder with calls for the outright removal of corrupted individuals, politicos, bosses, groups, corporations and organizations who continue to steal, disrupt and destroy what took many decades to build.
America's big banks have fraudulent balance sheets, according to former Federal Reserve Board member Kevin Warsh.
He suggests the financial statements the big banks file with the Securities and Exchange Commission are worthless:
“Investors can’t truly understand the nature and quality of the assets and liabilities," Warsh said. "They can’t readily assess the reliability of the capital to offset real losses.
They can’t assess the underlying sources of the firms’ profits. The disclosure obfuscates more than it informs, and the government is not just permitting it, but seems to be encouraging it.”
World transits show investors are well advised to be wary of the boomer-run banks and to maintain a healthy distance from the stock market in 2013.
Better keep your eyes open. If you thought 2007-2012 was something, then you haven't seen anything yet.
For more on the Dow Jones Index, read Wim Grommen's article, titled, The End Of An Era: Our Third Industrial Age & The Dow Jones Index, featured in this edition of Global Astrology.
Generational
The baby boomers experience Saturn's squares from Scorpio to their generational Pluto in Leo
The opportunities to evolve for those willing to leave behind their outworn attitudes are significant. While those who refuse to do so will have to live with their failings after the Grand Water Trines are completed by 2014.
Ideology, cultural wars, reactionary sentiments and secularism are quite typical in our current transitional era.
There is hypocrisy, cultural-gender warring and all manner of negativity from those who have not evolved, or use their minds and psychological make-up to emerge from outworn attitudes and methodologies that no longer hold water.
The cultural dissonance of the aged generational baby boomer establishment has come to its end with Saturn's transit in Scorpio along with the transiting North Lunar Node, also in Scorpio.
Jupiter's detriment transit in Gemini shows that 2012 was the watershed year and that the year 2013 means that they are now past the crossroads.
The die has already been cast.
Throughout 2013, 2014 and 2015, Saturn in tropical Scorpio will square the baby boomer generation's Pluto in Leo.
The fixed generational square forces up issues that have not been resolved.
The square from transiting Saturn in Scorpio to the baby boomer's generational Pluto features hard, conservative, unsympathetic attitudes and negative behavior accompanied by serious, systemic problems.
There are scandals along with events of coercion and power struggles that take a turn for the worst into the middle years of the Twenty-Tens.
The exclusivity of the boomer generation receives back its own karma in a major way by means of Saturn's peregrine transit in Scorpio in square to the generation's Pluto in Leo.
The generation is forced to face circumstances that can be of a sinister nature, involving economic, professional and political plots.
There is paranoia and fear (Saturn) of death (Pluto) along with sexual diseases and problems associated with abuse of drugs, alcohol and sex (Scorpio.)
Members of the baby boomer generation born from late March 1952 to early October 1953 will receive Saturn's squares to their their North and South Nodes on the Aquarius/Leo axis.
This has the effect of showing hard, conservative attitudes toward new emerging cultural trends and beliefs in society.
The inclination will be to adopt an anti-social attitude that leads to extreme unpopularity; bringing about bad public relations and barriers to future expansion.
The denial and preparation for aging are exacerbated with Saturn's square from Scorpio to the generation's Pluto in Leo - where joint finances, taxes, corporate interests, insurance, alimony, etc., etc., are all sources of conflict.
Because of Saturn's fixed nature in Scorpio and its square to Pluto in Leo, the past events of corruption and dishonesty resurface; however, any attempt to use dishonorable means to try to obtain advantage will backfire badly under the planetary configurations over the next several years.
It's called 'instant karma.'
Cultural & Social
The Cultural and Social recovery show its first signs of beginning to heal itself without the interference and disruption of the baby boomer generational establishment.
The stresses on society are an extension of the problems of prosperity brought on by the exclusivity, dark angst and selfishness of the boomer generation.
The Grand Water Trines of 2013 featuring Jupiter in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces will take place overall through May 2013 to May 2014 - with two of the three planets at any time in water trine to one another.
The inclinations are primarily favorable and highlight sectors by means of inspiration, exploration, discovery, imagination and intuition.
The closer to May 2013, when Saturn in Scorpio trines Neptune in Pisces, for instance, allows for the ability to be calm with increasingly better ability to focus the attention toward meaning with more clarity.
This is helped as Jupiter prepares to leave its detriment in Gemini as it enters tropical Cancer in late June 2012.
And this is where Jupiter becomes 'exalted.' It is also where Jupiter becomes the third giant planet - along with Saturn and Neptune - to form the Grand Water Trines of 2013.
Their zodiacal positions highlight the 4th, 8th and 12th Houses in astrology.
These mundane houses focus on land, real estate, parents, extended family, personal relationships, marriages, inheritance, taxes, joint finances, health care, goods of the dead, the aged and public mortality rates.
Under Saturn-Neptune in trine, people are able to gain deeper insights into the economic, political and cultural forces that have been disruptive to their lives and society.
The study of cultural history and its evolution on how it has impacted your life with the Saturn-Neptune trine can give deep insights into economic, political and cultural affairs.
These insights are those where a sequential pattern of unfoldment along knowledge of the secret mechanistic activities of those in positions of power and their effects on your life can be understood with more clarity.
The world transits of January, February and March indicate months of adjustments, commitment and common sense to be able to make the significant changes that will be required to survive and thrive into the new solar year of 2013.
World Transits
January, February & March
Transits of January
The planetary transits of January open on a Tuesday (Mars) and close on a Thursday (Jupiter.) The month has only three ingresses of planets into new signs. Venus enters Capricorn and Mercury and the Sun enter Aquarius by mid-January.
Early January has the energies of the Full Moon of Dec. 28 that took place at 7-degrees Cancer. By January 5, a last quarter moon at 14-Libra leads into the New Moon of January 11 at 21-Capricorn.
Typically a slow month in the northern hemisphere, this January will continue to be slow as Jupiter will remain retrograde in tropical Gemini until turning direct in motion on January 30 at 6-degrees Gemini.
Until then, the transit of Mars in Aquarius will work to perform a square to Saturn in Scorpio (Venus will perform a square to Saturn in February.)
The square of Mars to Saturn is strongest from Jan. 5 to Jan. 12th. It will see itself mired in political obstruction in the U.S., as talks to avoid the 'fiscal cliff' hold ramifications for the Congress later in the year.
Mars is fixed in Aquarius as Saturn is also fixed in Scorpio. Both planets are also in mutual reception, with Mars ruling Scorpio and Saturn the co-ruler of Aquarius.
The effects are that is takes twice the energy and effort to accomplish the same amount of work than normally would have been necessary if done earlier.
The fixed positions of Mars and Saturn clearly reveal that the stubbornness is based on ego, ideology and an unwillingness to admit one was wrong.
The fixed positions of Mars and Saturn clearly reveal that the stubbornness is based on ego, ideology and an unwillingness to admit one was wrong.
The ongoing political crisis turned into personal vendettas is typical of Mars square Saturn. The stupidity of those with 'power' earning salaries who ignore transits continues to amaze astrologers.
Under Mars-Saturn squares there are hard unsympathetic attitudes and frustration along with deep-seated anger fueled by ruthless ambitions to power.
Reactionary sentiments along with procrastination - waiting until the last minute to solve problems - are common.
The problems more than likely to arise will be in deal making and negotiations; with pitched legal battles and arguments within agencies, committees and boardrooms.
The fiscal cliff negotiations between Democrats and Republicans in Washington DC clearly illustrates how the ideological boomer-run Congress has held the country hostage in 2012.
Washington's media reported that "deteriorating relations between leaders in the two parties do not bode well for the more difficult fights ahead.
Vice-President Joe Biden and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell had to step in to work out a final deal as the relationship between House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama unraveled.
Vice-President Joe Biden and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell had to step in to work out a final deal as the relationship between House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama unraveled.
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also drew the ire of Speaker Boehner, who told Sen. Reid just outside the oval office in the White House to 'Go fuck yourself,' according to aides.
Boehner's slur came after Reid accused Boehner of running a 'dictatorship' in the House of Representatives."
Boehner's slur came after Reid accused Boehner of running a 'dictatorship' in the House of Representatives."
February into March will see another series of deadlines to raise the U.S. debt limit and negotiate major entitlement programs.
From the looks of world transits, it is quite clear that the personal, cultural, ideological and political negativity will continue unabated through the winter months and into the spring of 2013.
From the looks of world transits, it is quite clear that the personal, cultural, ideological and political negativity will continue unabated through the winter months and into the spring of 2013.
These frustrations stem from a lack of clarity, preparation and intelligence. So the hardships in early January under the Mars-Saturn come about mainly because some people just aren't as bright as they would like to think they are.
Therefore, January is a good month to renew oneself with plans for more favorable outcomes later in the year.
Lunar Phases Of January
January 5 - Last Quarter Moon Week at 14-Libra
January 11 -New Moon Week at 21-Capricorn
January 18 - First Quarter Moon Week at 29-Aries
January 27 - Full Moon Week at 7-Leo
January's Planetary Motions
January 9 - Venus enters Capricorn
January 19 - Mercury enters Aquarius
January 19 - Sun enters Aquarius
January 30 - Jupiter stations direct
Transits of February
Dr. Jekyll & Ms. Hyde
The transits of February sees more movement among the planets as the final month of the solar year of 2012 wanes down.
February is a 50/50 month. Jupiter will just have turned direct on Jan. 30th, but Jupiter remains in detriment in Gemini and will not pick up speed until April 2013.
That means that the months of February and March show a need for careful and prudent navigation.
That means that the months of February and March show a need for careful and prudent navigation.
Most of the world transits of February indicate society is up one day and then down the next. The darkest month of 'winter blues' in the northern hemisphere. Emotions are split, as attitudes range from the light to the dark side - this makes February a sort of Dr. Jekyll/Ms. Hyde month.
Transiting Venus in Aquarius in February will transit by square to a slowing Saturn in Scorpio by February 10-15. The inclinations are those that are financial, social and romantic.
The troubles associated with Venus square Saturn characterize disappointments along with coldness in personal relationships. This can lead to estrangements because of the lack of sympathy to the emotional needs of other people.
Generally, by early to mid-February, Venus' square from Aquarius to Saturn in Scorpio means a period of loneliness with lack of desired warmth in relationships along with feelings of being unloved.
It's not a good time to seek favors from others because of selfishness and lack of considerate acts in business and professional matters.
What works are small-to-medium sized steps rather than grand plans.
February features the retrogrades of two planets.
Saturn retrogrades at 11-Scorpio on Feb. 18th (until July 8) and is followed by the retrograde of Mercury at 19-Pisces on February 23rd (until March 17.)
Mercury's coming transit in Pisces (Feb. 5 to April 14) and its retrograde (Feb. 23-Mar. 17) are unfavorable.
It is therefore best to try to get as much accomplished before February 9th. That is when Mercury will reach 5-degrees Pisces and is the degree where Mercury will turn direct later in March.
Mercury will reach 5-degrees Pisces on March 17th - the day it turns direct.
Mercury will reach the shadow degree of its retrograde at 19-Pisces on April 6, 2013.
The retrograde of Mercury on February 23 to March 17; then to its shadow degree of April 6; features a time of revision, review and redoing for most of the world's population, including policymakers.
Mercury is 'debilitated' in Pisces between 15 -20 degrees. This occurs February 15 to March 3 and again, from April 2 to April 7.
In Pisces, the mundane 12th House, Mercury is slow and befuddled. The mental function and its processes become considerably unreliable.
This house, that of Pisces, signifies psychological insights into the subconscious mind. The 12th House is also associated with secret investigations and reversals of fortune.
This house, that of Pisces, signifies psychological insights into the subconscious mind. The 12th House is also associated with secret investigations and reversals of fortune.
Group politics in Washington could witness internal battles and change of face in Republican leadership in January.
February's transits show that as Mercury slows, the next ideological battle in Washington DC will be over the U.S. debt ceiling, the nation's credit rating and major entitlement programs.
The ideological wars, personality battles and divisiveness - in the midst of an historic economic crisis - means that February, March and April represent a far greater threat to markets than December's 'fiscal cliff ' going into the spring of 2013.
Transits say Republicans will demand significant cuts in government healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid that they say are the biggest chunk of U.S. debt. Democrats say they will oppose any entitlement cuts.
As Mercury slows to retrograde by mid-February, negotiations in Washington looks to be complicated, divisive, disorderly and muddled going into March.
Under Mercury, the nervous system overloads as people are easily distracted, confused and forgetful under Mercury's transit in the water Sign of Pisces.
In astrology, the water element dilutes Mercury's usual quick, analytic nature.
What happens is that the minds of those who allow the influence to incline them then behave outwardly with base sentiment emotions and impractical ideas.
So while people may appear enthusiastic and willing on the surface, in reality during Mercury's transit in Pisces, they are actually disoriented and confused with serious lack of prudence and common sense.
In astrology, the water element dilutes Mercury's usual quick, analytic nature.
What happens is that the minds of those who allow the influence to incline them then behave outwardly with base sentiment emotions and impractical ideas.
So while people may appear enthusiastic and willing on the surface, in reality during Mercury's transit in Pisces, they are actually disoriented and confused with serious lack of prudence and common sense.
Lunar Phases Of February
February 3 - Last Quarter Week at 14-Scorpio
Feb. 10 - New Moon Week at 21-Aquarius
Feb. 17 - First Quarter Moon Week at 29-Taurus
Feb. 25 - Full Moon Week at 7-Virgo
February's Planetary Motions
February 2 - Venus enters Aquarius
Feb. 2 - Mars enters Pisces
Feb. 5 - Mercury enters Pisces
Feb. 18 - Sun enters Pisces
Feb. 18 - Saturn retrogrades (until July 8, 2013)
Feb. 23 - Mercury retrogrades (until March 17, 2013)
Feb. 26 - Venus enters Pisces
Transits of March
Lack of Clear Boundaries
March 2013 is a deceptively active month after the slow months of January and February. This can be seen in the transits, stations and aspects of the planets.
March opens 'muddled' with Mercury's ongoing retrograde in Pisces. This is where Mercury is in its 'fall;' where it does not perform well in the water Sign of Pisces.
As stated earlier, Mercury will reach 5-degrees Pisces on March 17, the day it turns direct. Mercury will then return to the shadow degree of its retrograde at 19-Pisces. That occurs on April 6, 2013.
The retrograde of Mercury occurs between February 23 to March 17, and after Mercury is direct, back to its shadow degree on April 6 and includes Mercury's time in debilitation.
This is where Mercury's transit is considered to be weak.
This is where Mercury's transit is considered to be weak.
Mercury is 'debilitated' in Pisces between 15 -20 degrees.
Again, this happens from February 15 to March 3, and then again, from April 2 to April 7.
Again, this happens from February 15 to March 3, and then again, from April 2 to April 7.
Because of Mercury's weakness, expect to see and experience miscommunication, misunderstandings and mistakes as Mercury transits Pisces.
Mercury also acts through trade, so its fall in Pisces indicates problems with earning money. Businesses can suffer by mistakes made in daily activities due to Mercury's weakness.
Mercury also acts through trade, so its fall in Pisces indicates problems with earning money. Businesses can suffer by mistakes made in daily activities due to Mercury's weakness.
Mercury rules over the central nervous system, so when debilitated the planet can show health problems by means of the skin, the feet and the lungs.
It will be the height of flu season and with Mercury retrograde during spring break expect the unexpected as plans go awry, people are late or do not show up to appointments at all.
The confused atmosphere leads to items like keys and devices being lost. People are generally forgetful along with their inattention to small, but important details.
The confused atmosphere leads to items like keys and devices being lost. People are generally forgetful along with their inattention to small, but important details.
During the retrograde of Mercury during this time of year in the northern hemisphere, the lack of sunlight along with sitting indoors in front of a television screen for hours leads to laziness, overeating, oversleeping and/or the lack of sleep by means of insomnia.
A debilitated Mercury also shows over-weighted emotions. Because of its weakness in Pisces, the intellect and attention spans of people are suspect.
There is too much sentiment, dwelling on the past. The Pisces-inclined amorphous emotions causes confusion, mental fogginess, lack of clarity and a general lack of progress.
There is too much sentiment, dwelling on the past. The Pisces-inclined amorphous emotions causes confusion, mental fogginess, lack of clarity and a general lack of progress.
The weakness of Mercury in Pisces indicates some people will lack clear boundaries of what is real and what is not. Those with a natal Mercury in Pisces are easily moved by sentiment, but this sentiment is not always genuine.
When these natives become frustrated they can act out by means of self-pity. The general tone is to say whatever they want to please others; telling them whatever they think the other person wants to hear, but never fulfilling their promises.
That is the general personal and social tone of March 2013 more or less.
To combat all of this, it is better to have used the months of January and early February well; so as to set a good tone for the solar new year that arrives by mid-March.
This is better, rather than to try to make your spring plans during Mercury's retrograde, fall and debilitation in Pisces.
This is better, rather than to try to make your spring plans during Mercury's retrograde, fall and debilitation in Pisces.
Lunar Phases Of March
March 4 - Last Quarter Moon Week at 14-Sagittarius
Mar. 11 - New Moon Week at 21-Pisces
Mar. 19 - First Quarter Moon Week at 29-Gemini
Mar. 27 - Full Moon Week at 6-Libra
March's Planetary Motions
March 12 - Mars enters Aries
March 20, 2013 - New Year - Sun enters Aries - Vernal Equinox
March 22 - Venus enters Aries
March 8 - Saturn sextile Pluto
March 14 - Mars turns north by declination
March 17 - Mercury stations direct in motion
March 24 - Venus turns north by declination
March 24 - Jupiter quincux Saturn
March 30 - Jupiter quincux Pluto
The Cardinal Crisis Years
The Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto YOD
December 21, 2012 - March 21, 2013:
A Globe On The Edge?
A Globe On The Edge?
By
Theodore White, mundane Astrolog.Sci
On 21 December 2012, the world stood still, holding its breath - waiting for its end.
But the popular culture version of the "end of the world" did not come; as had long been forecasted here on Global Astrology.
Many who took part in the Mayan-Calendar-end-of-the-world-mass-media-induced foolishness appear to have since gone back to sleep.
I contend that they never really ever woke up.
According to the Mayan Long Count Astrological Calendar, on 21 December 2012, our Sun entered tropical Capricorn and crossed the center of the Milky Way Galaxy from our view on Earth. That is where the Maya calendar ended.
On that date the world entered a transition era that led into a new world age in our cardinal crisis years.
We are now in fresh territory - the transitional years at the end of our Third Industrial Age.
My mundane analysis of a Saturn-Pluto-Jupiter YOD shows difficult times are be ahead worldwide. This is in accordance with the configurations of the planets and stars relative to Earth.
The YODS of 2012-2013
Sun Enters Tropical Capricorn
21 December 2012
Washington D.C.
But the popular culture version of the "end of the world" did not come; as had long been forecasted here on Global Astrology.
Many who took part in the Mayan-Calendar-end-of-the-world-mass-media-induced foolishness appear to have since gone back to sleep.
I contend that they never really ever woke up.
Most people have been conditioned to believe that the 'end of the world' happens like it does in a disaster movie.
But in our real world, signs of the 'end of the world' come about gradually, by means of a continuous line of events many choose to ignore.
When the world we know does actually come to its end - few people will be aware of it beforehand - though many people will have been provided plenty of warning signs in advance.
That is, if some cared to even notice.
That is, if some cared to even notice.
According to the Mayan Long Count Astrological Calendar, on 21 December 2012, our Sun entered tropical Capricorn and crossed the center of the Milky Way Galaxy from our view on Earth. That is where the Maya calendar ended.
On that date the world entered a transition era that led into a new world age in our cardinal crisis years.
We are now in fresh territory - the transitional years at the end of our Third Industrial Age.
My mundane analysis of a Saturn-Pluto-Jupiter YOD shows difficult times are be ahead worldwide. This is in accordance with the configurations of the planets and stars relative to Earth.
The YODS of 2012-2013
Sun Enters Tropical Capricorn
21 December 2012
Washington D.C.
The mundane diagnostic chart above is dated for the ingress of the Sun into topical Capricorn: 21 December 2012.
It shows a curious set of aspects called inconjuncts, or quincuxes, that form what are known as a YOD aspect. There are two YODS in the mundane chart:
A sextile of Saturn-Pluto in quincux to Jupiter in Gemini
A sextile of the North Lunar Node and Mars in quincux to Ceres in Gemini
The YOD is an astrological configuration known as the 'Finger of God' in esoteric mundane astrology. It is formed by a 60-degree aspect between two planets that points to the apex third planet with two 150-degree aspects called a quincux.
The quincux is an inexact aspect. It is less than an opposition, as the quincux seeks to 'adjust' and 'stretch itself' by its flexibility to bring about stability.
The YOD is basically a double quincux pointing at a single body, usually an apex planet of note.
The transpersonal planets of Saturn in Scorpio sextiles Pluto in Capricorn as both formed quincuxes to the apex planet, Jupiter in Gemini, conjoined to the fixed star Aldebaran, at 9-Gemini.
Moreover, Jupiter, in detriment in Gemini on 21 December 2012, also opposed transiting Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius. This is unfavorable for the three-month period to mid-March's vernal equinox as it stifles progress in communications while also signaling bad faith among parties.
The YOD is basically a double quincux pointing at a single body, usually an apex planet of note.
The transpersonal planets of Saturn in Scorpio sextiles Pluto in Capricorn as both formed quincuxes to the apex planet, Jupiter in Gemini, conjoined to the fixed star Aldebaran, at 9-Gemini.
Moreover, Jupiter, in detriment in Gemini on 21 December 2012, also opposed transiting Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius. This is unfavorable for the three-month period to mid-March's vernal equinox as it stifles progress in communications while also signaling bad faith among parties.
In Jewish mystical traditions, the letter Yod is the 10th letter of the Aleph-Bet.
The number 10 is known as a 'perfect number.' The numeric value of the YOD represents a dot - a single point of 'divine energy.'
The number 10 is known as a 'perfect number.' The numeric value of the YOD represents a dot - a single point of 'divine energy.'
The YOD then is the genesis of all other written letters and the spoken word. It indicates God's omnipresence.
Astrologer Bill Tierney describes the YOD as “arriving at a fork in the road and having to proceed in one direction rather than another without knowing where it will lead to.
It is symbolic of an unrecognized necessity abruptly gushing forth after brewing for years.
It is symbolic of an unrecognized necessity abruptly gushing forth after brewing for years.
"The activation of the Yod will cause the dropping, or psychologically letting go, of certain interests and habits in order to become involved in what is showing on the horizon.
If there are any malign influences then the maladjustment are prone to surface and actively struggle in the environment.”
If there are any malign influences then the maladjustment are prone to surface and actively struggle in the environment.”
In mundane astrology, the influences of a global YOD can and often does produce unusual situations and events.
With the apex planet being Jupiter in Gemini, the effects are wide-ranging and affect billions of people.
With the apex planet being Jupiter in Gemini, the effects are wide-ranging and affect billions of people.
The end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar on 21 December 2012 saw significant angst and fear in the world.
The wild popular culture (Gemini) mania along with its misconceptions amid serious economic, generational, religious, secular, social and political stresses arrived at a time of historic transition for the world.
There are variety of influences and forecasts from the Saturn-Pluto-Jupiter YOD.
The primary concerns are the generational, cultural, economic, ideological, political and religious battles between secular groups and traditionalists that have been increasing steadily worldwide.
The primary concerns are the generational, cultural, economic, ideological, political and religious battles between secular groups and traditionalists that have been increasing steadily worldwide.
Let's hear from James Kunstler again to prove my point that the world is in serious trouble.
But then again, those reading should already know that I have been forecasting all this for years, here on Global Astrology.
But then again, those reading should already know that I have been forecasting all this for years, here on Global Astrology.
"Major fissures began to show in the Ponzified global financial system in 2012," Kunstler says.
"And it is hard to imagine them not yawning open dangerously in 2013."
"And it is hard to imagine them not yawning open dangerously in 2013."
All the Eurozone countries are in trouble.
Spain
Its collective economy has been tanking faster than the U.S. economy because the member nations can't print their own money and it is harder to conceal the financial tensions between debt accumulation and government expenditures.
These tensions end up expressed as "austerity" - meaning fewer and fewer people get paid - which makes people angry and makes governments unstable.
Bailout procedures are transparently laughable under the European Central Bank and the other bank-like "facilities," giving money to governments so that they can give it to insolvent banks, so the banks can buy government bonds, which only stuff the banks with more bad paper - and that takes the national debts higher.
Several Euro member countries are contenders for default this coming year:
Italy
Greece, Spain, possibly Italy, and perhaps even France, which is now a basket-case dressed in Hollandaise sauce.
Greece
A perfect storm in the global bond market has formed with Europe crippled.
Canada and Australia are entering their own (long-delayed and spectacular) housing bubble busts, the USA sharply losing credibility as it fails to politically address its balance sheet problems - or even continue to pretend that it might.
Japan is utterly floundering under a new lack of commitment to nuclear power, the need to import virtually all the fossil fuels it needs for its industrial economy, a consequent negative balance of trade (for the first time in decades) and a deadly debt-to-GDP ratio around 240 percent.
Canada and Australia are entering their own (long-delayed and spectacular) housing bubble busts, the USA sharply losing credibility as it fails to politically address its balance sheet problems - or even continue to pretend that it might.
Japan is utterly floundering under a new lack of commitment to nuclear power, the need to import virtually all the fossil fuels it needs for its industrial economy, a consequent negative balance of trade (for the first time in decades) and a deadly debt-to-GDP ratio around 240 percent.
Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe is seen here on 26 December 2012 arriving at parliament for a special session in Tokyo. Capitalizing on the Democrats' failure to improve Japan's economy and its perceived lack of strong leadership, Abe led his Liberal Democratic Party to victory in parliamentary elections on 16 December 2012. This is his second time in office. Abe was also Japan's prime minister back in 2006-2007.
Many observers see the new Japanese government under Shinzo Abe as determined to inflate his own currency away to nothing in an effort to unload exports and erase debt - and nobody understands how that strategy turns out well.
My own view is that Japan is on a fast track to become the first advanced nation to opt out of industrialism and go medieval.
It might sound like a joke - but it's not.
And it would be consistent with Japan's historic cultural personality of making stark choices, even if it was not clearly articulated in the political theater.
The journey to that destination could include a war with China, which also would be consistent with Japan's suicidal inclinations, so clearly displayed in its last major war with the U.S.
The global bond market is held together with baling wire and hose clamps.
The global bond market is held together with baling wire and hose clamps.
Since money is loaned into existence, the global financial system is underwritten by its bonds, and the bonds are underwritten only by the faith that issuers can pay the interest due to bondholders.
Risk rises in an exact ratio as that faith wanes.
And interest rates must rise hand-in-hand with that rising risk - unless the ruling authorities (central banks and governments) conspire to repress them.
And interest rates must rise hand-in-hand with that rising risk - unless the ruling authorities (central banks and governments) conspire to repress them.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
These "unnatural" interventions will only cause the trouble to be expressed elsewhere in collapsing currencies and economies.
It is already happening under the various ZIRP regimes, setting up a feedback loop in which it becomes even less likely that bond-holders will be paid and more faith erodes until nobody wants any bonds and the market for them seizes up and all that paper becomes worthless.
These days, the only sovereign nation in the Eurozone with real financial credibility (i.e. tangible surplus wealth) is Germany.
The European Central Bank has only a printing press and the European Financial Stability Facility only pretends to have access to pretend money.
At some point, the Germans will have to decide whether they truly want to pick up the tab for all the unpaid bills of the Eurozone.
Either they pay for life support for their customers or they let them go under and either way, they end up in the black hole of a contracting export economy - which is to say depression.
Now, imagine Germany having to bail out France. Wouldn't that be a moment of plangent historical symmetry?
I'm not the only one to propose that Germany may shock the world in 2013 by pulling out of the Euro on short notice and taking shelter behind the Deutschmark.
It may limit the damage, but otherwise they are stuck where they are geographically and as the other nations in Europe ride their economies down, Germany's will contract, too.
One idea behind the Eurozone was to get its members so economically interdependent that war would be an unthinkable option. The period following the Napoleonic Wars (1815 - 1914) was exceptionally peaceful in Europe, too.
Then, the 20th century rolled onstage with the unspeakable horror of two consecutive "world wars." They occurred amid a phenomenal uptrend of increasing industrial wealth and burgeoning technology.
Note that the defeat of the French army at Waterloo in 1815 was accomplished by a coalition of British and German (Prussian) forces. (The teams change through history.)
Note also that the end of the long peace of the 19th century, the First World War, was a trauma the real cause of which continues to mystify the historians - did England, France, Germany care that much about Serbia to destroy their economies?
The Second World War was an extension of the unresolved business of the first, especially the question of who owed what to whom for all the damage.
One thing we do know: the world was not prepared for the consequences of industrial-strength warfare with high tech weapons: the massacres of the trenches, aerial bombing of cities full of civilians, and the assembly-line style crematorium.
The atom bomb finally sobered folks up in 1945. The ensuing period has been another age of peace and plenty in Europe.
The next act there will be played out against the backdrop of declining wealth and unraveling techno-industrial complexity.
It may be a set of low-grade grinding struggles, rather than an operatic debacle like the two world wars, and it will surely include internal civil strife in this-or-that country, which could turn outward and become contagious.
The next time Europe finds itself a smoldering ruin, the capital will not be there to rebuild it. I'm not sure whether it matters all that much whether the single currency Euro survives or not.
Everything economic is hitting the skids in Europe now led by plunging car sales.
Everything economic is hitting the skids in Europe now led by plunging car sales.
Record high youth unemployment is epidemic, including now in France. The debt problems there can only be solved by deleveraging and/or default.
The chance of coordinated cooperative fiscal discipline among the Euro member nations is nil.
I see Europe poised to follow Japan into a re-run of the medieval period, though much less willingly.
The quandary is: how do you have a wonderful and peaceful modern culture without an economy to support it?
The United Kingdom stands outside the Euro currency club (though it is in the European Union of trade agreements) but London remains the financial hub of the continent, if not the money-laundering center of the universe.
The financial mischief there is allowed to go on because washing and rinsing money is the only major industry left in Old Blighty.
Its own finances are in terrible disarray, the people have been subject to painful "austerity" for some time before the PIIGS started squealing, and its energy resources are dwindling away to nothing.
The governing British coalition of David Cameron's Tories and Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats is cracking up under the austerity strain, with Nigel Farage's Independence Party creeping up in the polls.
Jupiter in detriment in the tropical Sign of Gemini The Twins:
British Prime Minister David Cameron (left) and Deputy PM Nick Clegg (right.)
British Prime Minister David Cameron (left) and Deputy PM Nick Clegg (right.)
With the LIBOR scandal entering the adjudication phase, monkey business in the London gold and silver bullion market, and half the world's daily churn of interest rate derivatives, "the City" (London's Wall Street) is one black swan away from provoking a world-scale financial accident that could daisy-chain through all the world's big banks and create a "nuclear winter" of capital.
It's too bad the UK didn't keep making chocolate bars and those wonderful tin soldiers I played with as a child. Instead, the nation became a casino with a lot of excellent Asian restaurants.
It is nicely positioned to be the whipping boy for the rest of Europe as everybody's fortunes turn down, but it has enough military hardware to strike back and cause a whole lot more trouble.
Imagine England becoming the Bad Boy of Europe in the 21st century, having to be disciplined now by the Germans!
Russia is a few wealthy cities in an enormous flat alternative universe of ice and fir trees. Perhaps global warming will perk up the long-suffering Russian people.
Meanwhile, 50 percent of Russia's economy is tied to its oil and gas production. Their great Siberian fields are petering out just like the Alaskan and North Sea giants that were discovered around the same time.
They have been throwing huge numbers of drilling rigs into depleting fields to keep production up and pursuing some "tight" rock plays with help from the USA's Halliburton and Schlumberger, with few environmental protests in the wilds of Siberia.
I'm not persuaded that exploration for oil in the offshore Arctic region will have a great outcome. Where does the capital investment come from if every other advanced industrial economy is broke?
Even if the sea ice melts it will be difficult and expensive to work in the Arctic seas, and the thawing permafrost of Siberia will leave an endless soggy patch of mosquito-infested mush between the offshore rigs and customers in Europe and elsewhere.
Anyway, those customers will be increasingly impoverished and hard-pressed to pay for ever more pricey oil.
The Russians may be hopeful that climate change will boost their crop yields and make their portion of the earth comparatively more habitable - but it's more likely that thawing permafrost will prang the entire human experiment.
There are fewer cheerleaders for China and its economic fortunes than a year or so ago, as deep problems in banking and politics reveal themselves, along with the troubles plainly visible in their slumping export markets.
If people in the USA and Europe don't buy all the flat screen TVs and plastic stuff then China is going to choke on industrial overcapacity.
(It already is.)
They have accomplished some marvelous things recently, especially compared to the cretinous lethargy of the USA - for instance, building a great continental high speed railroad line and a huge solar energy industry -- but they face the same fundamental quandary as all the other industrial nations: declining fossil fuel resources with no comparable replacement on the horizon.
Their positioning for the coming great contraction vis-à-vis the aforementioned advantages in solar and rail transport must be offset by an opaque, corrupt, and despotic political regime, a huge and potentially restive population of laid-off urban factory workers, and a chaotic banking system.
They have laid in a lot of "reserves" in the way of U.S. treasury paper and stockpiled much valuable construction material (steel, copper, cement, etc), but what does that really mean?
If they dumped the treasuries, or even systematically divested, they could trash the bond market and the dollar.
And what might they do with all the construction material in an economy with sinking demand for new buildings?
Will they need more super-highways as the price of gasoline makes car ownership less affordable?
China appears to be accumulating big supplies of gold bullion - they have also become the world's number one producer of mined gold, eclipsing played-out South Africa.
That could give them a lot more room to maneuver in a world of vanishing resources and collapsing economies, at least in terms of being able to swap for food and fuel.
They may be attempting to establish a gold-backed currency to replace the dollar for international trade settlements.
Doings at the ASEAN Summit in November suggests they are engineering just such a new reserve currency for the world to run shrieking to when America's foolishness and cowboy swagger becomes too much to take - though U.S. dollar dominance was based as much on America's (now bygone) rule of law in money matters as America's sheer economic power, and China remains Dodge City where the rule of law is concerned.
Chinese investors demand their money back in the residential & commercial real estate crisis
The world might not be so eager to be pushed around by the Yuan. But it may be accomplished by financial coup d'état whether the world likes it or not.
My forecast for China in 2013 is a widening crack in the political facade of the formerly omnipotent ruling party, organized agitation by unemployed factory workers (with government blow-back; bullying of their senile neighbor (and historical enemy) Japan, and sullen, peevish behavior toward their ailing trade partners, Europe and especially the USA.
Worldwide economic entropy cancels out China's putative advantages in cash reserves, stockpiles of "stuff," and government that can do what it pleases without a loyal opposition tossing sand in its gears.
Contrary to the wishful thinking of Tom Friedman - globalism is winding down.
Giant empty malls in China
The great contraction leads back to a regional and local reorganization of activity in all nations.
The world becomes a bigger place again with more space between the players and a larger array of players as big nations break up into autonomous states.
This is really a new phase of history, though it is only just beginning in 2013."
All of this - and more - is taking place in an era of major global transition, as forecasted on Global Astrology.
Astrologers forecast and have been doing so for many centuries.
World transits are history. Astrologers and seers have long forecasted events that have taken place in human history.
I continue to remind everyone that after 2013's brief opportunity to make use of the Grand Water Trines; we then enter into the solar year of 2014 - where a Grand Cardinal Cross awaits the world.
I have written about this global configuration before.
Grand Cardinal Cross Of 2014
A Grand Cardinal Cross does not play games. It means all business.
These are very serious world transits.
From January 2013 this global cardinal configuration of a grand cardinal cross is now less than 15 months away and it too will revolve worldwide.
But, from the looks at the state of the world at present - with the failure of the outgoing establishment to solve the problems it made and neglected - things don't look so cheeky at this juncture before we reach 2014.
Policymakers, economists, leaders, etc., etc., had better quit 'kicking the can down the road' and either solve the problems with solutions that they have been avoiding or things are going to get a lot worse.
Europe's debt crisis is a ticking time-bomb that bodes ill for the stability of world markets.
Don't say that I didn't give prior astrological warnings. I've been doing just that for years.
Moreover, this year's YOD between Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto can offer up the illusion of working together for a common cause, but with it falling far short of what is actually expected.
This is mainly because of very poor judgement (Jupiter detriment in Gemini) having to deal with Saturn's 'wandering' in moody Scorpio along with the "all or nothing" demands of Pluto's autocratic transit in Capricorn.
The baby boomer elite has simply run out of time, by means of world transits. They and their dying oligarchic parents wanted a 'new world order' - however, what they will have brought to bear is a 'new world disorder.'
Astrologers forecast and have been doing so for many centuries.
World transits are history. Astrologers and seers have long forecasted events that have taken place in human history.
I continue to remind everyone that after 2013's brief opportunity to make use of the Grand Water Trines; we then enter into the solar year of 2014 - where a Grand Cardinal Cross awaits the world.
I have written about this global configuration before.
Grand Cardinal Cross Of 2014
A Grand Cardinal Cross does not play games. It means all business.
These are very serious world transits.
From January 2013 this global cardinal configuration of a grand cardinal cross is now less than 15 months away and it too will revolve worldwide.
But, from the looks at the state of the world at present - with the failure of the outgoing establishment to solve the problems it made and neglected - things don't look so cheeky at this juncture before we reach 2014.
Policymakers, economists, leaders, etc., etc., had better quit 'kicking the can down the road' and either solve the problems with solutions that they have been avoiding or things are going to get a lot worse.
Europe's debt crisis is a ticking time-bomb that bodes ill for the stability of world markets.
Don't say that I didn't give prior astrological warnings. I've been doing just that for years.
Moreover, this year's YOD between Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto can offer up the illusion of working together for a common cause, but with it falling far short of what is actually expected.
This is mainly because of very poor judgement (Jupiter detriment in Gemini) having to deal with Saturn's 'wandering' in moody Scorpio along with the "all or nothing" demands of Pluto's autocratic transit in Capricorn.
The baby boomer elite has simply run out of time, by means of world transits. They and their dying oligarchic parents wanted a 'new world order' - however, what they will have brought to bear is a 'new world disorder.'
JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, is seen here testifying during Summer 2012 before the U.S. House Of Representative's Financial Services Committee about his bank’s 'sudden loss' of $6+ billion dollars. Shareholders have filed numerous lawsuits alleging the bank misled them in its financial statements. To date, investigators are still struggling to comprehend JPMorgan's true condition.
Image: Jacqueline Martin/AP
We are not seeing 'globalism' here, but a return to a fractured and tense international era much like that of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Still, undaunted by the widespread crimes the boomer elite have already committed; they continue to seek to force ever more of their dark angst upon the world.
It shall not succeed, and in the end both generations will have damned only themselves and the rest of us along with them, which probably was the mad-hatter plan in the first place.
The YOD aspect really began on the solstice of 21 December 2012 and extends itself to the vernal equinox of 21 March 2013. We are now in this period of time.
A sort of 'wait and see' time if you will.
This suggests that mid-December 2012 to mid-March 2013 features significant readjustments to the stark and coming realities of the transitional times of our early 21st century.
Something about the outworn economic, political, social and religious order will have to give way - and it will do just that. All things are always in motion.
Tierney suggested that the inclinations of the YOD can be that of leaving behind "a former belief or long held ideology and instead adopting another world-view…to become more effectively aligned with the inner spirit.
Usually, due to a seemingly providential twist of fate…greater opportunities to take part in a larger social
Usually, due to a seemingly providential twist of fate…greater opportunities to take part in a larger social
pattern of ideal development."
Certainly, in our present global era, we also see the demands of secularism against established faiths along with the rise of ideological dogma featuring discrimination and violent attacks on all world religions: Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu.
In the sense of 'beliefs' in the early 21st century, there has not been respect for the diversity of people of the world.
Dysfunction, disorder and disaster comes about when any ideology tries to dominate the free rights of any individual.
I learned that from Thomas Jefferson, a wise Gnostic who wrote my home country's Declaration of Independence in the city where I was born and raised.
The collective baby boomer generational elite that refuses to step aside for the new generation now old enough to lead as the new establishment signals rough transition years ahead.
The breaking of the inter-generational contract by boomers worldwide has led to a deep distrust of them as a generation in all sectors of society, business, economic life, cultural affairs and in government.
I learned that from Thomas Jefferson, a wise Gnostic who wrote my home country's Declaration of Independence in the city where I was born and raised.
The collective baby boomer generational elite that refuses to step aside for the new generation now old enough to lead as the new establishment signals rough transition years ahead.
The breaking of the inter-generational contract by boomers worldwide has led to a deep distrust of them as a generation in all sectors of society, business, economic life, cultural affairs and in government.
We also observe this with the spread of baby boomer-aged extremist politicians in Europe with their far right-wing ideology.
They use the vehicle of economic austerity, bringing with them repression of youth by economic means while spreading fear and xenophobia - an historical problem on the European continent that has led to civil disorder, conflict and war.
They use the vehicle of economic austerity, bringing with them repression of youth by economic means while spreading fear and xenophobia - an historical problem on the European continent that has led to civil disorder, conflict and war.
Baby boomer-aged members of Greece's parliament from the extreme right-wing 'Golden Dawn Party,' intermingle with other new Greek lawmakers as they are sworn-in during a ceremony at the Greek parliament in Athens in 2012.
The YOD seeks to work through these dysfunctions by bringing about stable beliefs for those who practice respect for diversity without the need for conflict and repression.
Jupiter, the apex planet, is quincunxed by Saturn and Pluto and acts as a conduit of energy by means of a deeply felt block.
The apex planet produces a potent focus of energy that oscillates between bifurcated states or situated personalities.
The apex planet produces a potent focus of energy that oscillates between bifurcated states or situated personalities.
This YOD outlines the ideological/political structures of Pluto in Capricorn along with the passionate, suspicious character of Saturn in Scorpio conflicting with the will of the People, represented by Jupiter transit in Gemini.
This quincuxes show adjustments are difficult to the apex planet of Jupiter in mutable Gemini.
The common people are distrustful of the suspicious, dark moody atmosphere of Saturn in Scorpio while angry at the generational establishment that seeks to consolidate power through Pluto in Capricorn.
We can see this by means of the square to Pluto from transiting Uranus in Aries.
The common people are distrustful of the suspicious, dark moody atmosphere of Saturn in Scorpio while angry at the generational establishment that seeks to consolidate power through Pluto in Capricorn.
We can see this by means of the square to Pluto from transiting Uranus in Aries.
This planetary YOD is both benefic and malefic in my view and it takes place with transiting Jupiter in detriment so the YOD will produce situations of sometimes dramatic reversals.
Entering into the new astrological year of 2013, it will require persistent initiative and fortitude to overcome the limitations signified by the Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto YOD.
However, if it can be done, then greater opportunities and rewards will come about as a result.
~
In 2013, we approach the global Grand Water Trines, which includes a Jupiter-Saturn trine.
These trines, in my forecasting experience, are not positive configurations for stock markets; which have greatly under-performed under previous Jupiter-Saturn trines.
Since 2008, during the last Jupiter-Saturn earth trine, the economic status and financial stability of nations, their banks and markets, have been on the precipice of collapse.
As we enter the fifth year since the global economic emergency, we discover from Dutch researcher Wim Grommen that we are at the end of what he calls the Third Industrial Revolution, a crisis he says threatens Prosperity.
Grommen said this was the result of a decades-long thought process; when back in January 1988 he was asked by the executive board of Transfer Solutions to think about the future.
In recent years, Grommen discussed his thoughts with Dutch and Belgian scientists via articles about transitional ages including the relation to stock indices in our present time.
Mirroring his insights with other economic scientists enabled Grommen to continually refine his insights.
Wim Grommen's insights resulted in him coming to the following conclusions...
However, if it can be done, then greater opportunities and rewards will come about as a result.
~
In 2013, we approach the global Grand Water Trines, which includes a Jupiter-Saturn trine.
These trines, in my forecasting experience, are not positive configurations for stock markets; which have greatly under-performed under previous Jupiter-Saturn trines.
Since 2008, during the last Jupiter-Saturn earth trine, the economic status and financial stability of nations, their banks and markets, have been on the precipice of collapse.
As we enter the fifth year since the global economic emergency, we discover from Dutch researcher Wim Grommen that we are at the end of what he calls the Third Industrial Revolution, a crisis he says threatens Prosperity.
Grommen said this was the result of a decades-long thought process; when back in January 1988 he was asked by the executive board of Transfer Solutions to think about the future.
In recent years, Grommen discussed his thoughts with Dutch and Belgian scientists via articles about transitional ages including the relation to stock indices in our present time.
Mirroring his insights with other economic scientists enabled Grommen to continually refine his insights.
Wim Grommen's insights resulted in him coming to the following conclusions...
The Cardinal Crisis Years
End Of An Era?
Our Third Industrial Age, Transitions & The Dow Jones Index
The Present Crisis - A Pattern:
Current Problems At The End of the Third Industrial Revolution
By
Wim Grommen
Edited By Theodore White
This article advances the hypothesis that the world is at the end of a Third Industrial Revolution and at the beginning of a new transition.
Every production phase or civilization or human invention goes through a so-called transformation process.
Transitions are social transformation processes that cover at least one generation.
Transitions are social transformation processes that cover at least one generation.
In this article, I will use one such transition to demonstrate the position of our present civilization.
When we consider the characteristics of the phases of a social transformation we may find ourselves at the end of what might be called the Third Industrial Revolution.
The article describes four of the most radical transitions for mankind and the effects of these transitions:
The Neolithic transition, the First Industrial Revolution, the Second Industrial Revolution and the Third Industrial Revolution.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) Index is the only stock market index that covers both the Second and Third industrial revolutions.
Calculating share indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and showing this index in a historical graph are a useful way to show which phase our current industrial revolution is in.
Changes in the DJIA shares basket, changes in the Dow formula and stock splits during the take-off phase and acceleration phase of industrial revolutions are perfect transition indicators.
The similarities of these indicators during the last two industrial revolutions are fascinating, but also a reason for concern. In fact, the graph of the DJIA is a classic example of fictional truth - a fata morgana.
History has shown that five (5) pillars are essential for a stable society:
Food, Security, Health, Prosperity and Knowledge.
At the end of every transition, the pillar Prosperity is threatened. We have seen this effect at the end of every industrial revolution.
Societies will have to make a choice for a new transition to be started.
A Transition has the following characteristics:
1) It involves a structural change of civilization or a complex subsystem of our civilization.
2) It shows technological, economical, ecological, socio cultural and institutional changes at
different levels that influence and enhance each other.
3) It is the result of slow changes (changes in supplies) and fast dynamics (flows)
Examples of historical transitions are the demographical transition and the transition from coal to natural gas which caused transition in the use of energy.
A transition process is not fixed from the start because during the
transition processes will adapt to the new situation. A transition is not
dogmatic.
Transitions
In general, transitions can be seen to go through the S curve.
We can distinguish four (4) phases:
1. A pre-development phase of a dynamic balance in which the present status does not visibly change
2. A take-off phase in which the process of change starts because of changes in the system
3. An acceleration phase in which visible structural changes take place through an accumulation of socio-cultural, economical, ecological and institutional changes influencing each other. In this phase we see collective learning processes, diffusion and processes of embedding
4. A stabilization phase in which the speed of sociological change slows down and a new dynamic balance is achieved through learning.
A product life cycle also goes through an S curve.
In that case then, there is also a fifth phase:
In that case then, there is also a fifth phase:
5. The degeneration phase. This is where costs rise and because of over-capacity, the producer must finally
withdraw from the market.
Figure 1 - The S curve of a transition
Four (4) phases in a transition are best visualized by means of the S curve:
1. Pre-development
2. Take-off
3. Acceleration
4. Stabilization
The process of the spread of transitions over civilizations are influenced by a number of elements:
Physical barriers - oceans, deserts, mountain ranges, swamps, lakes
Socio-cultural barriers - difference in culture and languages
Religious barriers
Psychological barriers
When we look back on history, we see four (4) transitions that haven taken place which have had far-reaching effects on humanity.
THE NEOLITHIC TRANSITION
The Neolithic transition was the most radical transition for mankind.
This first agricultural revolution (10000 – 3000 BC) forms the change from societies of hunter gatherers of 20 to 50 people living close to water with a nomadic existence to a society of people living in settlements growing crops and animals.
A hierarchical society came into existence.
Joint organizations protected and governed the interests of the individual. Performing (obligatory) services for the community could be viewed as a first type of taxation.
Stocks were set up with stock management, trade emerged along with inequality and theft.
Ways of administering justice were invented to solve conflicts within and between communities and war became a way of protecting interests.
The Neolithic revolution began in those places that were most favorable because of the climate and sources of food.
In very cold, very hot or dry areas the hunter gatherer societies lasted longer.
Several areas are pointed out as possible starting points: southern Anatolia, the basins the Yangtze Kiang and Yellow river in China, the valley of the Indus, the present Peru in the Andes or what is now Mexico in Central America.
From these areas, the revolution spread across the world. The start of the Neolithic era and the spreading process are different in each area.
In some areas the changes are relatively quick and some authors therefore like to speak of a Neolithic revolution.
Modern historians prefer to speak of the Neolithic evolution. They have come to realize that in many areas the process took much longer and was much more gradual than they originally thought.
THE FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The first industrial revolution lasted from around 1780 to 1850.
It was characterized by a transition from small scale handwork to mechanized production in factories.
The great catalyst in the process was the steam engine which also caused a revolution in transport as it was used in railways and shipping.
The great catalyst in the process was the steam engine which also caused a revolution in transport as it was used in railways and shipping.
The first industrial revolution was centered around the cotton industry. Because steam engines were made of iron and ran on coal, both coal mining and iron industry also flourished.
Britain was the first country that faced the industrial revolution.
The steam engine was initially mainly used to power the water pumps of mines. A major change occurred in the textile industry.
Because of population growth and colonial expansion the demand for cotton products quickly increased.
Because spinners and weavers could not keep up with the demand, there was an urgent need for a loom with an external power unit - the power loom.
A semi-automatic shuttle-less loom was invented, and a machine was created that could spin several threads simultaneously.
This “Spinning Jenny,” invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves, was followed in 1779 by a greatly improved loom called ‘Mule Jenny.'
At first they were water-powered, but after 1780 the steam engine had been strongly improved so that it could also be used in the factories as a power source.
Now, much more textiles could be produced.
This was necessary because in 1750, Europe had 130 million inhabitants, but by 1850 this number had doubled, partly because of the agricultural revolution.
This went along with the industrial revolution; fertilizers were imported, drainage systems were designed and ox was replaced by the horse.
By far the most important element of the agricultural revolution was the change from subsistence to production for the market.
All those people needed clothing. Thanks to the machine, faster and cheaper production was possible and labor remained cheap.
The textile industry has been one of the driving forces of the industrial revolution.
Belgium becomes the first industrialized country in continental Europe. Belgium is “in a state of industrial revolution” under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The industrial centers were Ghent (cotton and flax industries) Verviers (mechanized wool production) Liège (iron, coal, zinc, machinery and glass), Mons and Charleroi.
On the mainland, France and Prussia followed somewhat later. In America the northeastern states of the United States followed quickly.
After 1870, Japan was industrialized as the first non-Western country. The rest of Europe followed only around 1880.
The beginning of the end of this revolution was in 1845 when Friedrich Engels, son of a German textile baron, described the living conditions of the British worker in The Condition of the Working Class in England.
THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The second industrial revolution started around 1870 and ended around 1930.
It was characterized by ongoing mechanization because of the introduction of the assembly line, the replacement of iron by steel and the development of the chemical industry.
Furthermore coal and water were replaced by oil and electricity and the internal combustion engine was developed.
Whereas the first industrial revolution was often started through chance; inventions by amateurs and companies invested a lot of money in professional research during the Second Revolution always searching for new products and production methods.
Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
In search of finances small companies merged into large scale enterprises which were headed by professional managers and shares were put on the market.
These developments caused the transition from the traditional family business to Limited Liability companies and multinationals.
The United States and Germany led the way in the Second Industrial Revolution.
In the United States there were early experiments with the assembly line system, especially in the automotive industry. In addition, America was a leader in the production of steel and oil.
In Germany the electricity industry and the chemical industry flourished. The firms AEG and Siemens were electricity giants.
German chemical companies such as AGFA and BASF had a leading share in the production of synthetic dyes, photographic and plastic products where around 1900 they controlled some 90% of the worldwide market.
In the wake of these two industrial powers - which soon surpassed Britain - the countries of France, Japan and Russia soon followed.
Workers of the Second Industrial Revolution
After the Second Industrial Revolution, numerous countries experienced a more or less modest industrial development.
In some cases, the industrialization was taken in hand by the state, often with coarse coercion – such as the Five-Year plans of Stalin's Soviet Union.
After the Roaring Twenties, the Second Industrial Revolution ended with the stock exchange crash of 1929.
The consequences were disastrous, culminating in the Second World War.
THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Third Industrial Revolution started around 1940 and is nearing its end.
The United States and Japan played a leading role in the development of computers.
During the Second World War great efforts were made to apply computer technology to military purposes.
After the war the American space program increased the number of applications. Japan specialized in the use of computers for industrial purposes such as the robot.
From 1970 the Third Industrial Revolution continued to Europe.
It was mainly a result of a massive development of microelectronics: electronic calculators, digital watches and counters, the compact disc, the bar-code etc.
The take-off phase of the Third Industrial Revolution started around 1980 with the advent of the microprocessor.
The development of the microprocessor is also the basis of the evolution and breakthrough of computing.
This had an impact in many areas: for calculation, word processing, drawing and graphic design, regulating and controlling machines, simulating processes, capturing and processing information, monetary transactions and telecommunications.
The communication phase grows enormously at the beginning of the new millennium - the digital revolution.
According to many analysts, a new era has emerged - that of the information or service economy.
Here, the acquisition and channeling of information has become more important than pure production.
By now computer and communication technology takes up an irreplaceable role in all parts of the world.
More countries depend on the service sector and less on agriculture and industry.
EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS
The first and second industrial revolutions transformed an agricultural society into an industrial society where mechanization finally relieved man of physical labor.
The craft industry could not compete with the factories that put products of the same or even better quality on the market at a lower price.
The result was that many small businesses went bankrupt and the former workers went to work in the factories.
The effects of industrialization were seen in the process of rapid urbanization of formerly relatively small villages and towns where the new plants came.
These turned into dirty and unhealthy industrial cities.
Chicago, circa 1909
Still, people from the country were forced to go and work there.
Because of this, a new social class emerged: the workers - or the industrial proletariat.
Because of this, a new social class emerged: the workers - or the industrial proletariat.
They lived in overcrowded slums in poor housing with little sanitation. The average life expectancy was low and infant mortality high.
The elite accepted the filth of the factories as the inevitable price for their success. Their chimneys were symbols of economic power, but also of social inequality.
You see this social inequality appear after each revolution.
The gap between the bottom and the top of society becomes very large.
The gap between the bottom and the top of society becomes very large.
Eventually, there are inevitable responses that decrease this gap.
It could be argued that the industrial revolutions has created the conditions for a society with little or no poverty.
The Third Revolution transformed an industrial society into a service society.
Where mechanization man relieved of physical labor, the computer relieved him of mental labor.
This revolution made lower positions in industry more and more obsolete and caused the emergence of entirely new roles in the service sector.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS & THE DOW JONES
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was first published halfway through the Second Industrial Revolution, in 1896.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index is the oldest stock index in the United States.
This was a straight average of the rates of twelve shares.
A select group of journalists from The Wall Street Journal decide which companies are part of the most influential index in the world market.
Unlike most other indices, the Dow is a price-weighted index.
This means that stocks with high absolute share price have a significant impact on the movement of the index.
Figure 2 - Exchange rates of Dow Jones Industrial Average during the latest two industrial revolutions. During the last few years the rate increases have accelerated enormously.
The S & P Index is a market-capitalization weighted index.
The 500 largest U.S. companies, as measured by their market capitalization, are included in this index, which is compiled by the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s.
Figure 3 - Third industrial
revolution and the S&P 500
WHAT DOES A STOCK EXCHANGE INDEX LIKE DOW JONES OR S&P 500 REALLY MEAN?
In many graphs, the y-axis is a fixed unit, such as kg, meter, liter or euro.
In the graphs showing the stock exchange values, this also seems to be the case because the unit shows a number of points.
However, this is far from true!
An index point is not a fixed unit in time and does not have any historical significance.
Unfortunately many people attach a lot of value to graphs which are, however, very deceptive.
Unfortunately many people attach a lot of value to graphs which are, however, very deceptive.
An index is calculated on the basis of a set of shares.
Every index has its own formula and the formula results in the number of points of the index.
However, this set of shares changes regularly. For a new period, the value is based on a different set of shares.
It is very strange that these different sets of shares are represented as the same unit.
After a period of 25 years, the value of the original set of apples is compared to the value of a set of pears.
At the moment, only six of the original 30 companies that made up the set of shares of the Dow Jones at the start of the take-off phase of the last revolution are still present.
Even more disturbing is the fact that with every change in the set of shares used to calculate the number of points, the formula also changes.
This is done because the index which is the result of two different sets of shares at the moment the set is changed must be the same for both sets at that point in time.
The index graphs must be continuous lines.
For example, the Dow Jones is calculated by adding the shares and dividing the result by a number.
Because of changes in the set of shares and the splitting of shares the divider changes continuously.
At the moment the divider is 0.132319125 - but in 1985 this number was higher than 1.
An index point in two periods of time is therefore calculated in different ways:
Dow formula in 1985 = (x1 + x2 + ……..+ x 30) / 1
Dow formula in 2012 = (x1 + x2 + …….. + x 30) / 0,132319125
In the 1990s, many shares were split.
To make sure that the result of the calculation remained the same, both the number of shares and the divider changed.
An increase in share value of $1 dollar of the set of shares in 2012 results in 7.5 times more points than in 1985.
The fact that in the 1990s many shares were split is probably the cause of the exponential growth of the Dow Jones index.
At the moment of writing the Dow was at 13,207 points.
If we used the 1985 formula the Dow would be at 1,760 points.
The most remarkable characteristic is of course the constantly changing set of shares in during the take-off and acceleration phase of a revolution.
Generally speaking, the companies that are removed from the set are in a stabilization or degeneration phase.
Companies in a take-off phase or acceleration phase are added to the set. This greatly increases the chance that the index will rise rather than go down.
This is obvious, especially when this is done during the acceleration phase of a transition.
From 1980 onward 7 ICT companies - 3M, AT&T, Cisco, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft - the engines of the latest revolution - were added to the Dow Jones along with 5 financial institutions, which always play an important role in every revolution.
This is actually a kind of pyramid scheme.
All goes well as long as companies that are added are in their take-off phase or acceleration phase.
At the end of a transition, however, there will be fewer companies in those phases.
Figure 4 - The two
most recent revolutions and the Dow. The stock value increase has accelerated enormously
during the acceleration phase of a revolution.
STOCK MARKET BOOMS
The Dow was first published in 1896.
The Dow was calculated by dividing the sum of the 12 component company stocks by 12:
Dow-index_1896 = (x1 + x2+ ..........+x12) / 12
In 1916 the Dow was enlarged to 20 companies; 4 were removed and 12 added:
Dow-index_1916 = (x1 + x2+ ..........+x20) / 20
The shares of a number of companies were split in 1927, and for those shares a weighting factor was introduced in the calculation.
The formula is now as follows (x1 = American Can is multiplied by 6, x2 = General Electric by 4 etc. )
Dow-index_1927 = (6.x1 + 4.x2+ ..........+x20) / 20
On 1 October 1928 the Dow was further enlarged to 30 stocks.
Because everything had to be calculated by hand, the index calculation was simplified.
The Dow Divisor was introduced. The index was calculated by dividing the sum of the share values by the Dow Divisor.
In order to give the index an uninterrupted graph the Dow Divisor was given the value 16.67.
Dow-index_Oct_1928 = (x1 + x2+ ..........+x30) / Dow Divisor Dow-index_Oct_1928 = (x1 + x2+ ..........+x30) / 16.67
Since then the Dow Divisor has acquired a new value every time there has been a change in the component stocks, with a consequent change in the formula used to calculate the index.
This is because at the moment of change the results of two formulas based on two different share baskets must give the same result.
When stocks are split the Dow Divisor is changed for the same reason.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
In autumn 1928 and spring 1929 there were 8 stock splits - causing the Dow Divisor to drop to 10.47.
Dow-index_Sep_1929 = (x1 + x2+ ..........+x30) / 10.47
From that moment on, an increase (or decrease) of the set of shares results in almost three times as many (or fewer) index points as a year before.
In the old formula the sum would have been divided by 30.
The Dow’s highest point is on 3 September 1929 at 381 points.
So the extreme increase followed by an extreme decrease of the Dow in the period 1920 -1932 was primarily caused by changes to the formula - the constant changes to the set of shares during the acceleration phase of the second industrial revolution - and the splitting of shares during this period.
Because of these changes in the Dow investors were wrong-footed.
The companies whose shares constituted the Dow index at that time also continued into the stabilization and degeneration phase.
After the stock market crash of 1929, eighteen companies were replaced in the Dow and the Dow Divisor got the value 15.1
Table
1. Changes in the Dow, stock splits and the value of the Dow Divisor after the market crash of 1929
The table above makes it clear that the Dow Jones formula has been changed many times and that the Dow Divisor in the period 1980-2000 (take-off phase and acceleration phase of the third revolution ) has actually become a Dow Multiplier - due to the large number of stock splits in that period.
Where in the past, the sum of the share values was divided by the number of shares, nowadays the sum of the share values is multiplied by 7.5.
Dividing by 0.132 is after all the same as multiplying by 7.5. (1 / 0,132 = 7,5)
This partly explains the behavior of the Dow graph since 1980.
SHARE PRICE / INCOME RATIO DURING AN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
During the pre-development phase and the take-off phase of a revolution many new companies spring into existence.
So during the acceleration phase of a revolution it will be clear that many of these companies also enter the acceleration phase of their existence.
click on graphic to enlarge
The expected value of the shares of these companies which are in the acceleration phase of their existence increases enormously.
This is the reason why shares in the acceleration phase of a revolution become very expensive.
The share price / income ratio of shares increased enormously between 1920 -1930 (the acceleration phase of the second revolution) and between 1990 – 2000 (the acceleration phase of the third revolution.)
In an acceleration phase of a industrial revolution there will always be a stock market boom.
Figure 6 - Two
industrial revolutions: share price / income ratio
Share price / income ratio during a stabilization phase of an industrial revolution will decrease; the companies whose shares constituted the Dow also continued into the stabilization and degeneration phase.
WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF?
Calculating share indexes as described above and showing indices in historical graphs is a useful way to show which phase the industrial revolution is in.
Especially because financial institutions play such an important role during an industrial revolution.
The graphs depicting the wages paid in the financial sector therefore highlights the same S curve as both industrial revolutions.
Figure 7 - Historical
excess wage in the financial sector
So, our Third Industrial Revolution is clearly in the saturation and degeneration phase.
This phase can be recognized by the saturation of the markets and increasing competition.
The corrupt banks make a financial killing on EBT cards by means of high unemployment. The more people who take part in these 'social programs' drive up dubious GDP-growth margins through bank transactions fees.
Only the strongest companies can withstand the competition or take over their competitors (like for example the take-overs by Oracle and Microsoft in the past few years).
The information technology world has not seen any significant technical changes recently, despite what the American marketing machine wants us to believe.
Investors get euphoric when hearing about mergers and takeovers.
Actually, these mergers and takeovers are indications of the converging processes at the end of a transition.
When looked at objectively, each merger or take over is a loss of economic activity.
This becomes painfully clear when we have a look at the high unemployment rates of some countries.
This becomes painfully clear when we have a look at the high unemployment rates of some countries.
Greece
New industrial revolutions come about because of new ideas, inventions and discoveries accompanied by new knowledge and insight.
Here too we have reached a point of saturation.
There will be fewer companies in the take-off or acceleration phase to replace the companies in the index shares sets that have reached the stabilization or degeneration phase.
Humanity is being confronted with the same problems as those at the end of the Second Industrial Revolution:
Decreasing stock exchange rates; highly increasing unemployment; towering debts of companies and governments - and the bad financial positions of banks.
Decreasing stock exchange rates; highly increasing unemployment; towering debts of companies and governments - and the bad financial positions of banks.
Figure 8. Two most recent revolutions: U.S. market debt
Transitions are initiated by inventions and discoveries, the newest knowledge of mankind.
New knowledge influences the other four components of a society.
At the moment there are few new inventions or discoveries. So the chance of a new industrial revolution is not very high.
History has shown
that five (5) pillars are indispensable for a stable society.
Figure 9 - The five
pillars for a stable society: Food, Security, Health, Prosperity, Knowledge
At the end of every transition, the pillar Prosperity is threatened.
We have seen this effect after every industrial revolution. The prosperity of society is about to fall again.
History has shown that the fall of the pillar Prosperity always results in social revolution.
Manhattan, New York
Because of the high level of unemployment after the advent of Second Industrial Revolution, many societies initiated a new transition - the creation of a war economy.
This type of economy flourished especially in the period 1940 – 1945.
Now, societies will have to make a choice for a new transition to be started.
Without knowledge of the past - there is no future.
- Wim Grommen
Leerdam, The Netherlands
Wim can be contacted by e-mail at: wgrommen@hotmail.nl
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