---
title: "The will to power will return"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-will-to-power-will-return-c1k0oj1es
source_url: https://world.hey.com/dhh/the-will-to-power-will-return-58ffb9dc
type: article
source: "David Heinemeier Hansson"
published: 2026-07-12T18:54:56.349Z
updated: 2026-07-13T06:18:37.157Z
tags: ["leadership"]
reading_time: 3
upvotes: 90
comments: 20
language: en
---

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# The will to power will return

**[David Heinemeier Hansson](https://daily.dev/sources/dhh)** · 3 min read · 90 upvotes · 20 comments

## Summary

DHH reflects on the West's loss of ambition and will to execute large-scale projects, using France's 1980s nuclear buildout as a benchmark. Drawing on Strauss and Howe's Fourth Turning theory, he argues that civilizations cycle through phases of High, Awakening, Unraveling, and Crisis — and that the current period of managed decline will eventually give way to a new hero generation capable of bold action, though the transition may not be painless.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://world.hey.com/dhh/the-will-to-power-will-return-58ffb9dc>

## Community discussion

Top comments from developers on daily.dev.

**@uranio** · 5 upvotes

> Now, in the EU, the world’s last refuge of democracy, we have the Green Deal. There are men full of flaws, yet they still have a conscience. It would be nice if you were European.

**@randy** · 5 upvotes

> Reminds me of Foundation... Harry Seldon's Crises.

**@andradei** · 4 upvotes

> It was interesting to see Europeans coming to the US for the world cup and realizing they've been lied to about the state of the country, its culture, and the nature of its people.
>
> Their current self-destructive path might be about to change.

**@euklidianspace** · 3 upvotes

> Anyone who shares / mentions this meme, ask them "where do you place yourself on this cycle?".  I can probably guess where DHH would place himself.  Apparently self serving rhetoric is the mark of strong men creating good times.

**@rucaua** · 2 upvotes

> good times create liberals - liberals create bad times

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