The Psychological Toll

The Time of Troubles follows a period of flourishing when growth declines, class struggles intensify, and there's a surge of acting-out. This is because restrictive policies replace more functional processes like innovation and surplus reinvestment as organizations harden into rigid institutions protecting elite privileges at the expense of adaptability.

Our present crisis dates back to around 1890 when what I call good honest prosperous growth stalled in the West. Thne our country made up a Big Excuse (who really sank the Maine in Havana Harbor anyhow?) Reversed growth rates "remedied" by so-called "policies of protection" for vested interests has struck the West before, favoring consumers first (~1400), traders (~1750), then producers (~1930). These policies bureaucratize society, stifling inventiveness and punishing change, which fragments the core (elite centers) from the periphery. So while we were shooting up Cuba, conditions closer to the center were building to the First World War.

Before you holler at me about innovations, just let me remind you that the last two major public investments made by the U.S. were jet planes and computers. What an impact neither of those have made upon my life! Pfft!

People went crazy in Weimar. It's all of a piece. Lookie here:

Institutional rigidity that prioritizes status quo over progress. Imperialist wars becoming chronic, diverting mass discontent.  Vested interests fostering unreason to maintain control. They nearbout don't need to make any shit up. The crowd madness bears fruit of many crippled shapes, plenty to choose from and make official.

These crazy outbursts are hallmarks: heresies (e.g., Flagellants), superstition, witchcraft, devil worship, emotional despair, gambling, substance abuse, sexual obsessions, mania for speed 'n' noise 'n' violence, and treating violence as a universal fix. These stem from hardships like class conflicts and stagnation under restrictive policies, channeling frustration away from elites. Or, in our case, as in ancient Rome, from one elite to another one. Cleopatra had more class than Melania, at any rate.

Well, this is our third one. Early on the unreason exploded intellectually and socially post-1890, kranked to eleven by wars and economic stress. I'm looking askance at dropouts right now. They aren't blowing things up, at any rate, but they're only asking questions after a couple of people got shot by "law enforcement". That's a pattern, too, but they won't read any news about bad trends if it disturbs their equanimity. Or inquire into the causes of same.

Today, in April 2026, echoes appear in polarized politics, cultural extremism, and anti-authoritarian "diagnoses" as mental illness under rigid systems—mirroring a pattern where resistance to institutions gets pathologized. Policies locking in producer dominance (e.g., regulations favoring incumbents) arguably fuel similar unrest.

But the real problem is overfinancialization, which paradoxically imposes such austerity as to discourage investment in real resources and their mobilization.

The civilizatgional model warns that without reforming institutions, conflict escalates toward universal empire or decay, but history shows pulses of renewal are possible. This framework invites discussion on whether current "restrictive policies" (e.g., economic protections, social controls) are repeating the cycle—what specific behaviors or policies do you see as most "crazy" today?

Adam Curtis's documentaries, such as HyperNormalisation and The Century of the Self, describe efforts by elites and institutions to pacify disruptive or "anti" behaviors—often channeling societal rage, dissent, or irrationality into manageable outlets rather than allowing genuine systemic change. This aligns loosely with Toynbee's Time-of-Troubles dynamics, where restrictive policies breed frustration, but Curtis focuses more on 20th-21st century psychological and political manipulation. 

Pacification tactics. Rename 'em pseudo-pacification the way Steve Hall did. post-1970s leaders abandoned grand ideologies for "systems of management," using Freudian psychology (via Edward Bernays) to redirect public emotions toward consumerism and individualism. Key examples:

- Consumerism as therapy: Governments and corporations promoted shopping and self-fulfillment to pacify post-war anxieties, turning potential revolt into personal satisfaction quests. You can't believe how sick I am of this. And lurking beneath it social Darwinism, that old devil.

- Fear and enemies: Neoconservatives and politicians created bogeymen (e.g., radical Islam) to unite people against external threats, diverting class-based anger outward. 

- Emotional engineering: Focus groups and PR (e.g., Blair's team) co-opted voters' fears/hopes into policies that simulated change while preserving the neoliberal status quo. 

These act like modern "policies of protection," rigidifying elite control amid conflict by fostering emotional catharsis over reform.

Other Outlets for Irrationality. Both thinkers highlight diversions beyond direct pacification:

- Cultural and artistic retreats: Curtis critiques 1970s leftists (e.g., Patti Smith) for channeling revolution into personal art and emotional experiences in abandoned spaces, rather than collective action. 

- Media and hysteria: American-style individualism amplifies emotional outbursts via tech/media, creating fragmented expression (e.g., social media rage) that dissipates energy. 

- Historical precedents like heresies, substance abuse, violence worship, or superstition absorb mass discontent, preventing elite overthrow.

- Tech/behavioral control: Curtis notes emerging models like China's social credit (rewards/punishments) or Skinner's reinforcement to preempt unrest by predicting/managing behavior.

In 2026's polarized climate, these tactics persist—think algorithm-fueled outrage cycles or identity politics as proxies for economic gripes—echoing irrational surges under restrictions. Curtis sees this as elites maintaining illusions of control in the midst of complexity (which is itself being adored); these are pre-collapse symptoms. Can't you see specific modern examples (e.g., social media, therapy culture) fitting this pacification pattern?

This interplay shows how "crazy behavior" gets domesticated, sustaining the Time of Troubles without resolution. 

Anyway, here's a note of sanity.