Never try to fight the cycles
The West thinks, to put it simplistically, that there is birth, life, death, and afterlife, basically a straight line. In Eastern thinking—hinduism and Buddhism—there is a circle of life and circles are never-ending. Further, that “circle” creates a repeating cycle.
In October 2015, the global political
cycle changed, leading to a period of “political chaos.” We think of chaos as being negative, which it can be. But it is a period of disorder and general confusion because it is a period of change.
The following year (2016) gave the world the Brexit vote as well as the elections of Rodrigo Duterte and
It is critical to know that whatever cosmic forces are at work, the “events” support the cycle, not the other way around. Who in their right mind would have predicted only a week ago that the Covid-19 pandemic would be thrown off the global headlines? Just as there was a flicker of light seen at the end of the economic tunnel in the US, all hell broke loose.
Donald J. Trump. But both Brazil and South Korea impeached and removed their sitting presidents. A major coup attempt in Turkey failed but also cemented President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s authoritarian government. Taiwan elected Tsai Ing-wen as its first female president, marking the return to power of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.
Twenty-seventeen carried on the cycle. Prince Mohammad bin Salman took power and basically upended Saudi Arabia’s political elite. Emmanuel Macron’s election in France was called a “Political Earthquake.” Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region held a referendum for independence, deemed illegal by the central government, and threatening its unification with Castile Spain going back 500 years.
The major historical cycle going back to ancient Rome calls for “economic chaos” after the political cycle. This began in January 2020.
It is important to understand these cycles. While these are global cycles, they do not affect every nation or economy the same way. It is not a zero-sum game where a “loser” offsets a “winner.” While again simplistic, Duterte has the support of a large majority of the Philippine electorate, while Trump
See “Mangun,” A7