As the AAs say, the cycles they talk about have broad application. Gun control, military spending, inadequate regulation of freight train safety, inadequate environmental protection, etc., etc.

The root of much of this and it all being about maintaining power and profit is the perversion of capitalism and how it is used to actually undermine democracy. There is a brilliant writer on this platform, Douglas Giles PHD, a philosophy professor who writes about all types of philosophies in easily understandable and relatable manners. He recently wrote about how capitalism and free enterprise are not the same thing, yet that is what most have been lead to believe. https://medium.com/original-philosophy/capitalism-and-free-enterprise-are-not-the-same-5e61125809bc I highly recommend the read (and that people scan his profile for other articles that may interest them (another one where your and his work very much intersected is https://medium.com/inserting-philosophy/ufos-are-real-but-our-thinking-about-them-is-not-realistic-c7a57ce14f4e )).

My comment in his piece on capitalism connects dots to your piece today and the cycles that must change:

"Very well explained. Thank you. Over the past couple of years, I have left many comments along these lines: The 1%s with the help of Milton Friedman, who was probably bought and paid for, have perverted capitalism, ... We do not have the free markets that Smith envisioned. We have markets twisted by laws written by lobbyists for large corporations and too-wealthy individuals...."