The Donatists and Donald Trump: The Case for Another Trump Cycle, Part 2

Europe is an image of what is to come for the United States if we fail to understand the cycles we find ourselves in.

In his monumental work, The Fourth Turning, Neil Howe points to three ways to discern time (29-32). The first is through the lens of the chaotic world, which possesses no order. Events occur in history randomly. There is no rhyme or reason for its timeline. One Sigmund Freud comes, another goes, and history moves on without psychological cohesion. There is no way to determine patterns because chaos reigns over patterns and rhythms.

Over Chaos Waters

Many may be tempted to suggest that these last 16 years of American politics exemplified the season of chaos. But it would be superficial to attribute the theme of chaos to the last four election cycles. Even though American politicians functioned without order, and even though they accepted chaos into their hearts does not mean that there were no detectable patterns. We knew the post-Obama era would usher in something new: a new kind of order and progress. The era of Trumpism may have appeared chaotic to Democrats, but Republicans received a sigh of relief. The media elites were caught off-guard like Sisera before Jael pummeled his skull with a tent-peg. The Grand Old Party had a vindicator in chief in the White House. If anything, we entered the era of so-much-winning.