memes

Probably right.

I'm half a century old or so, I've seen the cycles the US goes through and the world broadly. I know that the pendulum always swings, and sometimes it swings further in one direction than another, but that just means the back-swing is going to go further and harder. But those are generally 20 - 30 year cycles or so, that's how long it takes for a new generation who forgot everything about their childhood to take the reigns and start the cycle over.

The thing that we need to shake off our species though is the idea of an "end."

Your laundry never ends. Washing the dishes never ends. You never exercise so much you don't need to anymore. You will always be moving forward in time and through periods of change. Yes, this too shall pass... to be replaced by new things that will also pass.

If we could get better about managing our present moment we wouldn't need to keep staring out for some imagined end-of-the-road where everything is fine and we're suddenly happy again for some reason. While you're staring out looking for that, your current life and opportunity to find peace is just rapidly slipping past.