Dark Age Ahead is a 2004 book by Jane Jacobs describing the decay of five key pillars in the US and Canada; this decay threatens to create a dark age unless the trends are reversed. Jacobs characterizes a dark age as a "mass amnesia" ¹ where even the memory of what was lost is lost. The pillars under threat are ²:

• community and family
• higher education
• science and technology
• taxes and government responsive to citizen's needs
• self-policing by the learned professions

Community and Family

People are increasingly choosing consumerism over family welfare. Ie. Consumption over fertility. Debt over family budget discipline. Fiscal advantage to oneself at the expense of community welfare.

Higher Education

University are more interested in credentials than providing high quality education.

Bad Science

Elevation of economics as main "science" to consider in making major political decisions.

Bad Government

Government are more interested in deep pocket interest groups than the welfare of the population.

Bad Culture

A culture that prevents people from understanding/realising the deterioration of fundamental physical resources which the entire community depends on.

Footnotes

¹ Dark Age Ahead, Jane Jacobs, p. 4 (ISBN 0-679-31309-5) (Random House Canada)

² ibid., p. 24