This "fourth turning" is just some author's prediction or vision of what is to come, right? That's what I understand it as. If this is all it really is, I'm not going to get worked up over it. Even if "all the signs" are pointing to this prophecy coming true. It's like all those people wearing wooden billboards preaching about the end of the world. Every last one of them has been wrong so far. Even though some of the signs they were touting were indeed present.
Eventually, one of these forecasts of doom will come true. But I don't think "now" is any more likely than the previous predictions that didn't come true. "Eventually" is most likely quite far in the future, beyond any of our lifespans.
I just watched the 2013 movie "Contagion" the other day. It was interesting how many things similar to the recent Covid days were in that movie. Before they even happened. But I don't consider that movie to be a "prophecy fulfilled" with a clairvoyant screenwriter who could predict the future. It's just a movie.
From what I understand of The Fourth Turning (and I admit, that isn't much), it's whole premise is "this has happened before, therefore it will happen again". There is obviously no proof of that prediction. You have to take it on faith. Other than parts of my religion, I rarely take anything on faith. I prefer a bit more solidity, evidence, proof, logic, etc. before I jump on the bandwagon. Anecdotes are not evidence in my mind. I think The Fourth Turning would make a better story for a book than something to base your life plans on. A book is what it started out as in the beginning, wasn't it?
I expect to be told that I am ignorant, have my head buried in the sand, normalcy biased, etc. So be it. But I simply don't see anything presently happening that signals the end of the world as we know it. We've got our problems for sure, but it's not time to break out that wooden sign and start preaching the end of the world quite yet, IMHO.
I like
@Neb 's quote from the article above. The fourth turning could be anything between the end of man and a nothing burger it seems. With caveats like that, one can't hardly be wrong in their prediction can they? It's like a mathematician prophesying that when you add two numbers together, you're either going to end up with an even number, or an odd number. Well duh, not much of a prophesy there.