Whiskey Bar: The End of the Third Republic

October 17th, 2005 · No Comments

Billmon posits that the history of the United States can be broken into three defined "republics", each 72-years long:

If that’s true, then the United States may be approaching the end of the third great cycle of its political history. This thought is especially (if morbidly) fascinating to me, because it would mean all three of these cycles have been of almost precisely the same length. Consider:

From the ratification of the Constitution (1789) to the outbreak of the Civil War (1861): 72 years.

From the outbreak of the Civil War (1861) to Roosevelt’s First Hundred Days (1933): 72 years.

From the Hundred Days (1933) to the next presidential inauguration (2005): 72 years.

When Billmon wrote this, it was still 2003, and the events between now and then then were still in the future. Looking back in hindsight, were/are the Republicans cementing their hold on the future with a new Fourth ~~Reich~~ Republic, or is the current maelstorm of discontent a harbinger of revolt (in a good way) for America?

On a side note, since I’ve already Godwin’ed this post, I was struck by how much the History Channel’s "Hitler’s Managers" sounded eerily familiar to the tactics and personalities of the current batch of sycophants. The overlap between experience, ideology, and loyalty is positively frightening.

Tags:

cycle, history, Rule-of-72