Are we sliding into a new Dark Ages?

[arbusto_baboso]

I mean, many on DU have stated they feel that corporations want to make us all serfs.

But we also have a precipitous decline in knowledge and critical thought.

Not to mention dwindling vital resources and concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands.

And the "world's empire" the U.S. seems to be doing its best to self-destruct, the way Rome did.

Am I just catastrophizing in my own mind, or is it going to to get that bad?

[villager]

1. Are we "Dominican Underground" then, in the manner of middle-age monks?

...valiantly trying to keep some knowledge... alive?

[arbusto_baboso]

5. Or maybe Canticle for Leibowitz?

[villager]

18. Jeez -- was just referencing that book in a writing class the other day...

..must be on my mind a lot, lately... for some reason.... ;-)

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. Oh, damn. Yet ANOTHER book I need to read again. nt

[Glorfindel]

26. From Chapter 6 of that great book

"The Simplification had ceased to have plan or purpose soon after it began, and became an insane frenzy of mass murder and destruction such as can occur only when the last traces of social order are gone. The madness was transmitted to the children, taught as they were — not merely to forget — but to hate, and surges of mob fury recurred sporadically even through the fourth generation after the Deluge. By then, the fury was directed not against the learned, for there were none, but against the merely literate."

You betcha!
Drill, baby drill!

[gateley]

39. This has absolutely nothing to do with this, but it popped into my mind

reading your post. Must have been the word "monks" -- and I needed a laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xmTTzCAALc

[Mimosa]

46. Another Dark Ages hit

Gately, thanks. :)

I've got another for you. Mel Brooks 'The Inquisition'always cheers me up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oppHeMlaLVM&feature=related


I found a clearer version. ;)

[gateley]

50. I started laughing at the opening shot -- I've always loved this. Thanks! nt

[BrklynLiberal]

2. and the slide is being nicely greased by crude oil

[cliffordu]

3. Worse than you can imagine, i suspect.

[mikita]

6. ditto

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. "many on DU have stated...."

Ah, there's your problem.

[arbusto_baboso]

8. Believe me, I'm not taking that as gospel.

But there ARE some disturbing signs, nonetheless.

[Juneboarder]

9. What's wrong with

"many on DU have stated"...?

It seems there are a majority of liberal, progressive minded thinkers here that offer a lot of good insight and opinion.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. A lot of people here are completely fucking insane.

Especially the ones breathlessly hysterical about imminent demise of world, civilized or otherwise.

[Common Sense Party]

17. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Juneboarder]

20. That is a very generalized comment... nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

22. Just as the Romans once said

until the barbarians showed up at the gates.

The Romans of 400 AD firmly believed that their civilization was at its strongest, and would last another thousand years.

Sometimes, those who foresee the imminent demise of the world are right.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

27. It's always back to the Romans.

Putting fluoride in the water system? Look what happened to the Romans!

Letting gays have equal rights? Look what happened to the Romans!

Black president? Look what happened to the Romans!

Get rid of the designated hitter? Look what happened to the Romans!

[RaleighNCDUer]

32. Ah, did the Romans NOT rule the west for 1500 years?

OK, one thousand for the Western Empire, but the Byzantines thought of themselves as Romans five hundred years after the fall of Rome herself.

Can you think of a better standard for the fall of an empire? And wasn't the "dark age" referenced by the OP the direct result of the fall of the Roman Empire?

Or does history just bore you, and you don't see why people bother with knowing stuff? And THAT, my friend, is where the "dark ages" begin.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

41. Is not the Roman Empire the standard go to cliche for every doomsayer?

[Donnachaidh]

25. pot, mr kettle is on line two. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

29. Tell me where I'm wrong.

Best of luck.

[arbusto_baboso]

37. Why don't you tell us where you're right?

Good luck on THAT.

Oh, and btw, I am NOT a truther, a chemtrails knob, or even a jFK assassination conspiracy nut, just in case you feel inclined to marginalize me like to generally do in many of your posts.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

40. Onus isn't on me.

I'm not the one making the extraordinary claim.

And if you're not a woo woo, what's the issue?

[Donnachaidh]

51. is this the neener neener response? n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

55. Not really.

At least not compared to posts #25 and #37.

[Greyhound]

65. Is there any other? n/t

[FSogol]

30. +1 n/t

[JuniperLea]

48. Didn't you say the same thing when many of us...

Were "breathlessly hysterical" about American and world finances going down?

[Smashcut]

58. It's a good thing we all have a grown-up like you here to spread reason.

Phew.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

59. It is.

Me and others like me. This place would be like timecube without us.

[yourout]

7. I was thinking the same thing.....

We are Romans with Ipods.

<http://www.artofeurope.com/shakespeare/sha10.htm>

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest -
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men -
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. We've slad.

:D

[The Magistrate]

12. We Are, Sir, Seeing The Foundation of A Hereditary Aristocracy In The United States

It will be another generation or two before titles are trotted out, perhaps, but the essence of the thing will be there....

[arbusto_baboso]

15. But will there be anything fit to rule by that time?

That is the question.

[The Magistrate]

54. There is Always Something Worth Ruling, Sir

The question is, is it worth living under the rule....

Once, long ago, the Sage wrote: "Having too little to live on, the people know not to value life too much."

[RaleighNCDUer]

28. And those titles, when we see them, will not be Lord and Lady, or Prince or King,

but CEO, CFO, President, and Chairman.

[The Magistrate]

56. True, Sir: It Will Be Modern Dress All Around

But the bone and sinew of the thing will be the sturdy old antique....

[Hannah Bell]

49. we already have one.

[The Magistrate]

53. It Is Not Yet Formalized, Ma'am

Nor has the full extent of private exercise of governmental power featured in an explicit aristocratic society been realized quite yet....

[Common Sense Party]

13. Ummm....no.

Despite all the many Chicken Littles, the sky is NOT falling.

It's dark right now, but the storm clouds will eventually roll away.

[Juneboarder]

21. Yes, yes...

nothing to see here folks. Move along...

:sarcasm:

Edited to add the sarcasm tag

[WinkyDink]

35. Thank you, Nostradamus.

[krabigirl]

61. The pendulum swings both ways.

[FiveGoodMen]

75. Not in the last 30 years, it hasn't.

[Mimosa]

14. I hope not, I fear so.

arbusto_baboso, I'd thought the same thing but many years ago.

[dmallind]

16. No. NT

[RavensChick]

23. It feels like it.

I won't be surprised if orgies are more public, as well as being the norm, while Rome burns (and the freepers are gonna picture Obama as Nero playing the violin in the background, if they're not already).

The economy is still shaky, hate is getting more rampant, and everyone is acting coo coo for Coco Puffs every.single.day!

So, to answer your question, yes, dear, it's getting bad and I hate to say it, but sadly it's gonna get worse.

That's also why I feel for those working in corporations who witness the corruption every day and are powerless to do something about it.

[Donnachaidh]

24. help help....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAaWvVFERVA

[kctim]

31. Heck yes we are

The evil corporations are going to turn us all into serfs and the evil government is going to turn them all into slaves.
We are all doomed!

:rofl:

[arbusto_baboso]

36. I don't recall mentioning us being doomed.

Dark Ages and doom are two entirely different things, dickwad.

[kctim]

47. Aw

guess you can add lack of a sense of humor to you're list.

FWIW: I was laughing at all the conspiracy theories of corporate or government takeover of the world, not you're question.

[RaleighNCDUer]

74. You think it can't happen?

Who do you reckon has more real power? Denmark or WalMart?

[agent46]

33. Probably n/t

[Speck Tater]

34. The human race is fatally flawed and doomed to extinction. nt

[Echo In Light]

42. .

[lumberjack_jeff]

38. I hope so. I'm long on leech futures. n/t

[Gregin Orlando]

43. Take one look at the birthers, and the answer is "yes"

The birthers are a good example of the dark ages. Despite all the facts at hand, they still insist Obama is a Kenyan and illegitmate. That's right out of the Nazt playbook, according to this article: http://www.examiner.com/x-38220-Orlando-Independent-Examiner~y2010m6d10-When-will-the-birther-nonsense-stop

[lurky]

44. I'm concerned about the end of the Petroleum Age.

What you are describing is the current decline of the United States, which is getting harder to ignore. But the big worldwide crisis will be the decline of oil, IMO. 20 years? 50 years? 5 years? I don't know, but not even the oil company creeps claim it's going to last much longer than that.

Modern agriculture, manufacturing, trade, transportation, and military force are all totally dependent on the availability of cheap oil. There are no viable alternatives to oil at this time, and our leaders don't even want to admit there is a problem, let alone put adequate resources into preparing for the end of oil.

The end of cheap oil means the end of cheap food grown with petroleum fertilizer, the inability to move food and other goods around the world with such ease, the end of cheap consumer products made of plastic (oil) and imported from distant corners of the world using ships burning oil. It means people in cold climates will not be able to heat their houses.

It means our mobile society in which we can jet around the world on a moment's notice is gone. Without oil, we cannot drive, and people in the suburbs will not be able to get to their jobs 20 miles away, or even shop for groceries 2 miles away. I can't begin to imagine what would happen to a place like L.A. or Houston if people's cars were taken away. It also means that our country's vast empire of bases, held together with ships, tanks, and planes, would not be maintainable.

I don't study this stuff, but you don't have to. Just look at all the ways we are dependent on oil, and think about what would happen if it went away. That's where I fear a real, extended "Dark Age" could happen. Sorry for the big post...

[krabigirl]

62. 2nd

[Turbineguy]

45. Knowing there's a problem.....

and at least around here we do.

[bvar22]

52. There are some troubling indicators.

*The biggest indicator that our empire is failing is that we are currently bankrupting the nation to fund our hostile foreign occupations while the lower classes(those who must work for a living) are beginning to starve and go homeless.

*The divide that John Edwards spoke of, The Two Americas, is widening as more money and privilege flows into fewer hands at the top.

*The backbone of America, The Working Class, is in serious decline. Middle Class parents can no longer truthfully tell their children that ,"If you go to school and work hard, you can do better than us."

Those are troubling signs.

We may not be headed to a new "Dark Ages", but we are certainly at the beginning of a new Gilded Age.

[elocs]

57. I wonder, before the Dark Ages did anyone thing they were slipping into the Dark Ages? n/t

[krabigirl]

60. No. I think we are in one, and have been, and are slowly on our way out. However ro

when that is the case, things get much worse before they get better.

[NICO9000]

63. Well, critical thinking has been on the decline in this country for a long time now

Thanks Ronnie, George 1 & 2, American Idol, Faux News, puerile politics, Snookie, etc.

:puke:

[Greyhound]

64. As bad as it is (and it's getting worse daily) here, I don't think so.

At least no to the extent of an actual "dark age". On those rare occasions when we get a glimpse of the world outside WorkCamp America®, one realizes that while we have regressed/stagnated for the last two generations, most of the first world has moved on.

That's still bad news for us, but I think the world is both relieved and better off now that the "American (1/2) Century" is done.

[Cartoonist]

66. Yes

I think things are getting worse all over the globe.
It doesn't bother me though. I turned 56 today and am in good enough health to live another decade or so barring any accident. I pity the young who will see the world turn to crap. I saw man walk on the moon. I grew up with the Beatles in the 60's. I benefited from white privilege all my life. I'll die poor, but I've had a rich life. There's no room in it now for wringing hands, not even over oily beaches.

[nadinbrzezinski]

67. Among other people Carl Sagan wrote about that before he died

in 2000....

We also have increased belief in magic, angels and all that. So the short answer yes.

And given our civilization is oil based...

[JoeyT]

68. One of my favorite quotes from him:

I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudo-science and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive. Where have we heard it before? Whenever our ethnic and national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve, when we agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us—then, habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls. The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir.

Sounds about right.

[Kaleva]

69. When did we have it good?

During the days of the Robber Barons? When the only good Indian was a dead Indian? During the time of the McCarthy Hearings? How about when women couldn't vote and many looked the other way when a husband beat his wife? The good old days weren't so good.

[FBI_Un_Sub]

70. Plus the

sexism and anti-intellectual of Joe Ratzinger.

[Catherina]

71. It's going to be worse than you can imagine. Bet me if you want n/t

[tavalon]

72. I'm going to learn to hunt as a supplement to growing my own food

I'm learning other necessary tasks. I'm starting to sound like one of those Michigan militia types, so yeah, I think it's coming.

[blindpig]

73. Like Rosa said,

Socialism or barbarism.

Kill Capitalism