Summary: Have I gone off the deep end in writing about social mood and some of what has been going on in the world? Does any of this have any connection to the rest of my writings about personal and spiritual growth? Some of you have criticized me for not writing “strictly” about what you see as personal or spiritual growth. My contention, however, is that everything I’ve written IS about personal and spiritual growth. (If you’re new here, welcome—and, please consider reading the entire archive of posts from the beginning—I know, it’s a lot. You’ll be glad you did.) If you’ve read my three most recent posts, you know that I’ve suggested that social mood swings from positive to negative and back again in definable waves. (Google “socionomy” for more info, or read my posts.) Around 2000, one of the largest waves of positive social mood in recorded history peaked. Since then we have entered a time of increasingly negative social mood. This negative social mood will be (and already has been) interrupted by shorter periods of temporarily more positive mood just as the positive social mood that began around the time of the American Revolution was interrupted by intervals of negative social mood. The American Civil War and depression and war of the 1930s and 1940s were such times, as was the strife and chaos of the 1970s. During times of negative social mood certain unfortunate/unpleasant things tend to happen. These include: Financial crisis. Polarization between every social, racial, ethnic, political, gender, and national group. Radicalization of political thought and action. A decline in civilized behavior; an increase in rudeness, demonization, blaming, violence, and cruelty. Less order, more chaos. Increased fear, anger, confusion, discord, and destructiveness. Avoidance of effort; a decline in motivation. Increasing pessimism; a decline in optimism. Less trust; more suspicion of others. Increased belief in magic, lowered trust in science and rationality. Increased authoritarianism and centralized control (including public requests for more of it). A decrease in personal freedom. Popularity of conspiracy theories. Public demonstrations against almost everything—and an outcry for the authorities to “do something”. Health epidemics. Strange and destructive weather phenomena. Increasing negativity in movies, art, music, and other expressions of pop culture. A proliferation of scandals. Demonization of those who were previously societal heroes (the successful, for instance). Hero worshiping of outlaws, pirates, and gangsters in popular culture. And a lot more. Unless you live in a cave, you have to have noticed that these things are, indeed, already happening. Eventually, of course, things will turn positive again. The studies I follow indicate, however, that the overall trend will be negative for quite some time, especially given that the previous wave of positive mood lasted more than 200 years. Major times of negative social mood (and this looks to be the biggest so far since the 13th century) almost always end in major wars. For instance, the Panic of 1837 led to the American Civil War. The depression of the 1930s led to World War II. I could give many other examples, but a full discussion of social mood is not my intention in this post. For more information, read my last three posts. So let me get to my point. Many have asked (often in a less-than polite way) why I’ve written about social mood and its many socio-political-economic consequences. It isn’t “spiritual”. It isn’t about “personal growth.” It seems “too political.” It’s “too negative”. Is there a connection between this information about social mood and my usual topics of personal and spiritual growth? Do I have a political agenda? Am I being negative or increasing the negative mood by bringing up all of this? Unfortunately, many people have what I think is a narrow view of spiritual and personal growth. I would conte[...]
