The Truth and Traditions Party will make a difference because it stands on the side of history. A simple claim, but true. We do not claim we’re alone in standing on the side of history, not at all. But we do claim that, in their allegiance to Big Money, the Democrats and Republicans have consigned themselves to the dust bins of history.
In a searching and imaginative examination of American history from colonial times to the present, William Robert Fogel, economic historian and Nobel Laureate, has argued that our history is driven by periodic revivals asserting egalitarian claims over against social hierarchy that creates increasing gaps between the rich and the poor. His book, The Fourth Great Awakening & the Future of Egalitarianism (Chicago 1999), is built on anthropological work on revivalism and on religious history.
From the publisher’s blurb:
To understand what is taking place today, we need to understand the nature of the recurring political-religious cycles called “Great Awakenings.” Each lasting about 100 years, Great Awakenings consist of three phases, each about a generation long.
A cycle begins with a phase of religious revival, propelled by the tendency of new technological advances to outpace the human capacity to cope with ethical and practical complexities that those new technologies entail. The phase of religious revival is followed by one of rising political effect and reform, followed by a phase in which the new ethics and politics of the religious awakening come under increasing challenge and the political coalition promoted by the awakening goes into decline. These cycles overlap, the end of one cycle coinciding with the beginning of the next.
Here’s the four cycles laid out in brief form. As the blurb has notes each cycle of revivalist activity lasts a century or more and goes through three phases. The American Revolution happened during the second phase of the first revival cycle and the Civil War happened during the second phase of the second revival cycle. The third cycle gave us the labor reforms, civil rights, and women’s rights movements of mid-20th century America.
The fourth cycle began in the 1960s:
1960-?: Return to sensuous religion and reassertion of experiential content of the Bible; rapid growth of the enthusiastic religions (including fundamentalist, Pentacostal, and Protestant charismatic denominations, “born-again” Catholics, Mormons); reassertion of concept of personal sin; stress on an ethic of individual responsibility, hard work, a simple life, and dedication to family.
Recall that the 1960s also produced the various religious and spiritual movements associated with counter-cultural activity. This cycle moved into its second phase during the 1990s:
1990-?: Attack on materialist corruption; rise of pro-life, pro-family, and media reform movements; campaign for more value-oriented school curriculum; expansion of tax revolt; attack on entitlements; return to a belief in equality of opportunity.
That’s where we are now.
And that’s where the Truth and Traditions Party fits in.
Yes, we’re pro-life, but it’s life in general, among all species, we promote. And we realize that one cannot promote life without promoting women’s rights to control their own bodies. Values, yes: conserve what we’ve got; tell the truth; be kind and generous to your neighbors; don’t bomb civilians. Against entitlements? Yes, by all means, let’s end corporate entitlements; let GE pay its fair share of taxes; let Wall Street pay its fair share too, and how about making up for all the wealth they flushed down the drain three years ago?
Equality of opportunity? Yes. And not only for us, but for our children, and their children, and so on down to seven generations and more. Seven generations of responsible government: government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Is that too much to ask?
Truth and Traditions 
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