#53) Social Cycle Theory

Hello and welcome back to "Always Be Better" with Mel Windham. Today we return back to politics and the last of my three videos featuring the "Power of You." Today we're going to explore something called Social Cycle Theory.

As we look back on history, you may see certain patterns. Each country has good times and bad times. Times when freedoms are great, and other times when autocrats are in control. Prosperous times and destructive times.

And throughout the millennia, different philosophers and social scientists have tried to capture these patterns in a type of formula. And as you may guess, these formulae come in many different varieties, each with their own nuances and differences. But overall, each of these theories have in common the idea of some kind of cycle. 

You can even see this idea in one of the oldest books -- the Bible. Here, we can see such a cycle in the account of the Jewish people after Moses led them to the Promised Land. The people enjoyed a short period of growth and prosperity, but then an unrighteous king caused a decline. They lost ground, things got really bad, and then they started turning around again. Whenever a righteous king ruled, they did well. When a bad king ruled, the people suffered.

This cycle also exists in my church's Book of Mormon, which we call the Pride Cycle. When the people have good rulers, they prosper. But then pride kicks in, and someone takes advantage of this and puts them into bondage. And then the people work together, get rid of their wicked king and return to back to prosperity. And on and on the cycle goes.

And we can see examples of these cycles in the works of Plato, Cicero, Thomas Carlyle, and so on. There's no way I have time to cover all of the various versions, but here -- I'll try to merge them all into a general essence of what is common between them. 

Let's start at the top of this cycle ...

We begin with a civilization that's enjoying stability, abundance, and prosperity. The people are happy. But then, greed enters in. Some people want more, and they're willing to do whatever it takes, which leads to a moral decline. This brings conflict, and general hate sets in. People stop caring about others, leading to complacency. The Prisoner's Dilemma rules, and it's every person for themselves.

And during this chaos, some opportunistic leader comes in as a tyrant and puts everyone into bondage. Life is terrible for everyone except for those at the top.

But then people start to get fed up. Eventually, as what usually happens, a revolution occurs. The people rise up. Perhaps one tyrant replaces another, but eventually, the people will unify and begin working together. People in the aggregate see the true solution to the Prisoner's Dilemma -- that if everyone coordinates, everyone wins. The Win/Win scenario on a grand scale!

Which then brings the civilization back to stability, abundance, and prosperity.

But wait -- what if I told you that there are many who call this cycle thing a bunch of crock? If we were really an intelligent species, why wouldn't we just choose to stay at the top, and well -- not have a cycle happen at all? On the flip side, there are plenty of examples of civilizations that spend hundreds of years in the "Bondage and Tyranny" stage. How easy it is for a powerful monarch to maintain power when the people are powerless!

And this is where -- you -- come in. Perhaps we really are doomed to be stuck in one of these cycles, over and over again, because perhaps that's how life works. But perhaps, now that in the aggregate, we are smarter and wiser. We have much more information at our fingertips, and we can receive news instantly. Perhaps if we put this knowledge to good use, we could do it right, come together, and break the cycle, not just once, but forever. We could get up to the top, and stay there permanently. This is an idea perpetuated by the likes of Carl Sagan and other optimistic future dreamers. As part of our "meta" evolution, perhaps we have the power to rise up and ensure permanent progress, and take our civilization to the next level -- breaking the cycle for good.

Or at least we could give it the good old college try.

Right now, I believe most of the world is about here ... near the bottom of this cycle. There is much hate worldwide. Tyrants are more and more gaining control, and people are even choosing them to rule over them, mainly driven by the  hate of others. And we about to enter the full tyrant stage -- when our leaders tighten those nooses.

However, if we work together, that time we spend in bondage could be short, and we could quickly get back up to the top. Can you see now where you come in? The only way to get where we need to be, is for you to rise up with your friends and neighbors. I don't think we necessarily need a violent revolution, but through love and working together, I think we can find a way to overcome these destructive tendencies. As tyrants lose the support of the people, they will ultimately lose their power. And throughout this year I'll describe a path in which we can de-power these tyrants. If we work together, I believe it may turn out to be easier than you may think.

But we'll continue this discussion later. Thank you for watching. Make sure to Like and Subscribe, and I'll see you here next time, on "Always Be Better."