Are we at the beginning of a new Dark Age?

I"ve been reading Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs, and I'm sorry to say that it confirms what I've been saying for a while - that we are in danger of sliding backwards into a fundamentalist fog that may take generations to come out of, if indeed, we can get back out of it at all.

Jacobs identifies 5 pillars of our culture that should be reliable in providing a stabilizing influence:

• Community and Family

Do you know your neighbors? Live near your extended family? Most people don’t. Do you have to drive to get to work? Do your shopping? Do you walk around your neighborhood? Unless you live in a city with safe, reliable public transit, the answer is probably ‘no’.




• Higher Education

Universities now emphasize ”credentialing“ as opposed to education. We have more citizens with degrees, but they often have to take literacy exams to get them. That wouldn’t be necessary in a functioning educational system.




• Effective practice of Science and Science-based Technology

Too many of the sciences (Jacob’s example is traffic planning) don’t take a purely empirical approach that adjusts according to new information. Incorrect information is perpetuated in schools, and rarely questioned in practice, so that ”bad“ or incorrect solutions and procedures are applied over an extended period of time, wasting time, money and human resources.




• Taxes and Governments in direct touch with Needs and Possibilities



The Bush tax cuts are absolutely counter-intuiitive to the goal of government providing for the general welfare of the people. We live in a wealthy country where people lack food and shelter. Politics and red tape often prevent appropriate use of public funds. Corruption, ”crony-ism“ and fraud are rampant. The people who make decisions about use of taxes are unduly influence by powerful lobbies and contributors, and most are unfamiliar with the challenges facing America’s poor.




• Self-Policing by the Learned Professions



Enron, Adelphia, and WorldCom are only a few examples of the failure of the accounting profession to police itself. Medical Professionals are loathe to self-police, resulting in more malpractice. The Catholic Priesthood is the most tragic example of a theoretically self-policing profession that failed to take action when children were being repeatedly victimized.

All 5 are in severe decline and that decline typifies similar declines seen at the end of other great civilizations.

The Roman Empire was felled by wide-spread conversion to Christianity, which actively sought to oppress other practices. Jacobs expands on the dangers of fundamentalism:

”Cultural xenophobia is a frequent sequel to a society’s decline from cultural vigor. [snip] Armstrong describes it as a shift from faith in Logos, reason and it’s future oriented spirit.... to Mythos, meaning conservatism that looks backward to fundamentalist beliefs for guidance and a world view“ (p.17 - emphasis mine)

This is the very essence of the Culture Wars that are raging in this country now. We have an Administration that habitually changes or obscures scientific data that contradicts its extreme right policies. Scientific theory is under attack by fundamentalists who want religious allegory taught in our schools as if it were science. They seek to suppress scientific information that contradicts ancient texts of dubious origin, and are either incapable or or unwilling to consider that they might be mistaken in their beliefs.

That is the true danger of fundamentalism, no matter what system is works within. The idea that one idea is the only idea demands strict adherence to what may be an arbitrarily chosen code. Our fundamentalists won't consider that their "God" might not be the only "God" -- or even exist at all. They believe that they know the truth and they must impose that truth on the rest of us.

It would seem a rational person would be able to consider the fact that they might just be incorrect, misinformed, or ignorant of other circumstances that should be considered. The failure to distinguish between Faith - a hopeful belief that there is a plan or purpose to life and Fundamentalism - the irrational adherence to an external authority in spite of contradictory evidence, empirical data that doesn't "fit" or the impossibility of proof one way or the other.

We need to be very careful not to let them push this any further. We have to insist that government become firmly based in reality and stay that way. We have to stop tiptoeing around issues every time they try to demonize Liberals as demonizing them. We have to get back into the business of education children, rather than turning out diplomas that mean little or nothing as to the bearers actual capabilities. We need people -- like accountants, doctors, Senators -- to do their jobs, do them well, and be honest in policing their own fellows.

We are already close to the point of no return with our abuse of the environment. A poorly chosen Supreme Court nominee could easily set us back to segregationist, misogynist policies or worse. These are dangerous times and the time for us to tread lightly is over. If my culture ultimately fails, it won't be because I let it go down without a fight. We can turn it around if we band together and get LOUD.