Read This Book!
<The Fourth Turning, by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Published in 1997, some of the conjectures made then are chillingly close to what has transpired since. Also recommended (but not required to read first): their predecessor volume, Generations.
The short answer to Ben Stein's rant is: "This, too, shall pass." How it passes is up to us.
Fox
(preparing to become a Grey Champion)