Dr. Richard Smith, FSC Chairman

A note from the Chairman on FSC's In-Person Conference


Dear FSC Friends,

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about cycles, Edward R. Dewey and the future of the FSC. It’s hard to believe but we are wrapping up our 6th year as a reborn FSC. Our official reincorporation date was November 15, 2018. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished, and I’m confident that Dewey would have appreciated it too.

Besides more or less always thinking about cycles, what’s really got my mental wheels turning is FSC's first in-person conference in nearly 40 years. It’s official that the FSC will be gathering in NYC from June 12 - 14, 2025. I think that this conference will define the FSC for at least the next several years, and I can’t wait to get together with many of you in person.

In every decision I make at the FSC, I always ask myself, “What would Dewey do?” It’s not that my own ideas about cycles are exactly the same as Dewey’s. But I am always keenly aware that the FSC was built by Dewey and was done so at great personal sacrifice, and that must always be remembered and respected.

What I do know that Dewey and I share as a belief about cycles is that cycles are whispering to us that something isn’t quite right about our current approach to understanding the world we live in. For Dewey, it was economics, the dismal science, that first clued him into the fact that something was missing in our understanding of our world.

I think that the problems that Dewey recognized in economics have only intensified since his death and are now chronic problems in not only economics but also in ecology, health, philosophy, and even in science itself. Something is wrong with the way that we look at our world. In our obsession with novelty and progress, we have lost sight of the recursive nature of reality. We have lost sight of cycles.

Improving our personal economic outcomes with the knowledge of cycles is an important and valid aim of the FSC. But it’s also about restoring balance in our lives and sanity in our society.

What if, for example, instead of seeing every presidential election as the “election to end all elections,” we remembered that every election is a cycle and that there will be another one after this one, as there has been for the past 235 years?

For me, the FSC isn’t just about “using” cycles. It’s about learning to recognize and cooperate with cycles – and learning to see ourselves and our world in new ways – even if others would rather try to manipulate us all by pretending that cycles don’t exist or don’t matter.

That’s what I’m really thinking about as we plan our upcoming conference, and it’s what I’m thinking about as we chart the future course of the FSC. It’s also what I had a great conversation about with “America’s Rabbi” Daniel Lapin, which will premiere on Cycles TV on Saturday, November 2, at noon ET. It was an important conversation for me personally, and I encourage you to check it out.

I also encourage you to let me know what you’re thinking about for the future of the FSC. It’s a critical time for the FSC and your feedback is impactful and appreciated.

Time rhymes,

Dr. Richard Smith
FSC Chairman of the Board and Executive Director


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