Sad that the first post on the new blog concerns the passage of one of the most influential thinkers on the subject of generations and sociology: William Strauss, co-author of the monumental work Generations: The History of America's Future 1584-2069, as well as 13th Gen, Millennials Rising, and several other works. Strass, along with his collaborator Neil Howe, identified four principle generational "personalities" that recurred in sequence through American history. They observed that predominance of policies and attitudes such as secularism, spirituality, aggression, willingness to compromise, entrepreneurial drive or social justice, corresponded to the alignment of generational types with particular life stages. This methodology enabled them to make extremely precient forecasts about the cultural and political milieu of the 1990s and early 2000s, such as this remarkable passage which appeared in Generations (published in 1991), anticipating the reaction of a Boomer administration to an international crisis the authors expected in the 2000-2010 timeframe:

The major question- indeed, the one whose answer may decide whether Boom leadership will end in triumph or tragedy - will hinge on this generation's capacity to restrain (or let others restrain) its latent ruthlessness. Elder Idealists seek total victory by whatever means available. Historically, aging idealists have been attracted to words like "exterminate" and "eradicate," words of apocalyptic finality. If the purpose of [the crisis the authors predict - a terrorist attack] is inner principle, the degree of outer-world destruction needed for those ideals to triumph will be of secondary consideration. Make no mistake: Faced with crisis, this generation of one-time draft resisters will not hesitate, as elder warrior-priests, to conscript young soldiers to fight and die for righteous purpose. This stop-at-nothing zeal is already apparent in the first Boomer cohorts to reach their mid-forties, from Elliott Abrams and Oliver North at one ideological edge to Mitch Snyder and Denis Hayes at the other. Picture these individuals as national elders, uncalmed by anyone older - and then realize that they represent their generations' moderate first wave... Subtract the active presence of any adult Adaptives - and the that is the leadership awaiting America in the 21st century. It is easy to picture aging Boomers as noble, self-sacrificing patriarchs, but just as easy to see these righteous Old Aquarians as the worst nightmare that could ever happen to the world. [emphasis added]

Strauss died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 60. In addition to his writing, he was apparently also best known as the founder of the political musical satire troupe, the Capitol Steps.