History is repeating itself. The question: How do we Prevent THE DARK AGES

[opihimoimoi]

from reoccuring....

When Rome fell..a whole lotta info was lost for long periods of time...flushing toilets in Rome disappeared for almost 2000 years until we got um in the 1900's

Concrete, how to make was lost for centuries


etc etc

If Humanity was reduced to 1 million or so...how long would it take to rebuild? And who would build run those sky cranes? etc

Damn, most peeps don't know how to tie a good knot for GS

much less make iron/steel.

Who knows how to make a running generator, build an electric saw/drill/lathe, etc? who makes the blades and bits?

How long before the Telephone gets connected again?

The Cell Phone...? who gets to service those Satelites up there?

Where is the DARK AGES PREVENTION DEPT?

and worse>>> the Bushitters are pushing us toward the Dark Ages what with their Hegelian Dialectic of CONFLICT as a means of CONTROL

[Soloflecks]

1. And here I thought this was the dark ages!

I'm hoping that not even the cabal can destroy the world. Surely some of the infrastructure will remain even if in tatters, and surely some of the folks who know how it works will survive.

On the other hand in a ELE we'd probably be too busy looking for food and water to care about higher technology. We know such events have happened in the past and that we somehow managed to survive and thrive once again, so there's always hope. The prudent thing may be for us all to make plans for that. It's not too late to learn some basic skills and to start growing some veggies, etc. just in case. After seeing people left to die in New Orleans, I got really serious about becoming more self-sufficient and I encourage others to do so. Most of us aren't prepared for a real emergency or to have to fend for ourselves for a long time, but we should be!

I have to say that I'm sick enough of what we're living in today that I'd trade all the technology, all the medical advances, all the entertainment, just to experience real freedom, real living. We've been scared into thinking we need the institutions of control and domestication, and I don't believe that's true. I think those are the cause of what's wrong with us and we'd be much better off on our own.

[opihimoimoi]

12. Imagine the worse and its a possibility..and along came Mr Murphy

[Selatius]

2. When the US finally falls, it will be like the fall of Rome

The only difference is instead of chaos and darkness on the European continent, it will be chaos and darkness on North America. The US will splinter, and from one empire will come many smaller, independent nations.

Rome was a victim of its own exploitation and greed. It's Senators and generals were so busy fighting each other for power they did nothing to stop the barbarians from coming in and settling the land and ransacking the countryside. They did nothing to help the ordinary people, whose lives became worse each year. The economy crumbled as the gap between rich and poor widened, and these rich senators and generals retreated back behind their walled estates that were so large they were self-contained, and these estates became the "feudal manor" of the Middle Ages. Instead of "senators," they came to be known as "princes" or "kings" instead.

Rome was a Republic. Then it became a dysfunctional Republic with corruption overtaking it. Then the Senate voted to gave away its power, and Rome degenerated into a rotating dictatorship before it finally choked to death on its own rot a few centuries later. Then the Dark Ages came, and the long night began.

[opihimoimoi]

13. BushCo learns Nothing from History...Bush don't even read FGS

[rucky]

3. Consider it an adjustment...

of our inflated standard of living.

We'll have to live like the rest of the world does. *GASP*

[opihimoimoi]

15. It will be back to making fire by hand...no gas, no telephones, no TV

No cars, no planes, no farms, no food, no NFL...and worse...No NASCAR

[coalition_unwilling]

4. When Rome fell, there fortunately were advanced Muslim

cultures able to keep the learning of Antiquity alive during Europe's Dark and Middle Ages.

Islam historically has been very tolerant, even respectful, of other cultures' contibutions to global civilization.

[Selatius]

5. Maybe China will play the role of keeper of knowledge this time around

They seem set on becoming the next superpower anyway when our government finally succumbs to the rot.

[coalition_unwilling]

7. Interesting. Based on my limited knowlege of Chinese history

and culture, I would say they strike me as respectful also of other cultures' contributions. They certainly will be better stewards of the legacy of our collective past than America could be. (Of course that's a back-handed compliment, but not by intention :)

[AngryAmish]

9. Gotta disagree about Chinese respect for other cultures

They call themselves the Middle Kingdom, in that anything else that is happening in the world is periphery to them and not worth of attention. This inability to respect and learn from other cultures is what lead to their decline from the most advanced civilization for most of recorded history to weakening to a point where parts of their empire was colonized by a small island nation on the other side of the world.

[opihimoimoi]

17. China has had her book burnings too....she has lost much under Mao's Rule

[AngryAmish]

8. Rome fell in the 400s

Islam rose in the 700s. Middle eastern cultures (Persian mostly) kept many of the classics and also India was a repository of civilization. China of course was always a respository of civilization.

Byzantium really kept the legacy of Rome until it was sacked (Crusaders ands Ottomen).

[opihimoimoi]

24. Amazing the penchant to destroy has never been subdued...

BushCo is using Conflict as a means to control...read Hegal...that dude set this whole thing in motion...gave it new meaning...

[coalition_unwilling]

38. My apologies for my sloppy and vague wording. You're

absolutely right that Islam did not rise until the mid-700s C.E, about 3 centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire. Although I cannot provide you with sourcing for this, my memories of my Islamic history classes are that the Greek and Roman classics were kept alive in Islamic cultures (following the rise of Islam) and had pretty much disappeared from European culture until the late Middle Ages-early Renaissance. I never bothered to find out how those Islamic cultures inherited the artifacts of Greece and Rome three centures after the fall of the Roman Empire. I guess I need to do some more reading

[sutz12]

39. Western Rome fell in the 400's

The Eastern Empire, which we know as Byzantium, survived until it fell to Sulieman the Great in 1453. :)

[opihimoimoi]

16. Only 2 universities on the Planet...one in Spain and one in TIMBUKTU

Only China had the knowledge of STEEL at the time...

[AngryAmish]

40. Damascus steel?

Depending on your time frame, knowledge of steel was well established in the middle east

[malaise]

22. Many forget that n/t

[AngryAmish]

6. The year 1994:

From out of space comes a runaway
planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon,
unleashing cosmic destruction. Man's civilization is
cast in ruin.

Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn...

A strange new world rises from the old: a world of
savagery, super science, and sorcery. But one man
bursts his bonds to fight for justice! With his companions
Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, he pits his strength,
his courage, and his fabulous Sunsword against the
forces of evil.

He is Thundarr, the Barbarian!

[opihimoimoi]

18. He was killed by the ELOI

[Bad Penny]

10. I don't think the concept of a Road Warrior future

is much of a stretch really. A handful of people have ever accounted for the genius achievements of mankind. The rest have just been mindless consumers/watchers, or the exploiters

[opihimoimoi]

19. We are not destined to reach the Stars are we??

The crabs keep coming

[longship]

11. "A World Lit Only By Fire" by William Manchester

This is a *great* little read. Anecdotal stories about life in the Middle Ages by the noted historian. Very readable and entertaining.

Ex Libris Review

I shudder to think of the world descending to those depths. But between Chimp and global warming, anything is possible. :scared: :scared:

[opihimoimoi]

20. If its POSSIBLE, Shit can and will Happen...Mongo, of RockRidge

[Book Lover]

35. Quick note

Manchester was not a medievalist, and that book contains many factual errors. I would recommend searching the U of Toronto's press website for inexpensive books on medieval social history. European medievals were less religious and backward than most moderns think.

[annabanana]

14. um.. reprint the Whole Earth Catalogue?. . . . . . . . n/t

[opihimoimoi]

21. we will not the capacity to print doo doo...no electricity, no paper,

no pressmen, no ink...

[gatorboy]

26. Yes, but who would ship you your stuff?

:P

[jwirr]

23. The book "The Long Emergency" by James Howard Kunstler

is a good look at this situation.

[opihimoimoi]

25. The Reality/Possibility of it all is SCAREY

[jwirr]

27. Yes, especially when you read the whole book. We are used

to talking about one emergency (global warming, etc.) at a time. His book takes all of it and puts it together. At least in the last chapters he looks for some hope.

[opihimoimoi]

29. Someone get the BushCo to read this book...Bwahaha, like asking for the

MOON...

[jrw14125]

28. get ready to be skinned to death with abalone shells!

[opihimoimoi]

30. Stone tools much sharper and easier to make...Knapping will make

a come back.

[jrw14125]

36. lol, they used the abalone shells on Hypatia

... per Sagan, she was last keeper of the ancient library at Alexandria. christian mobs pulled her off her chariot, ripped her clothes off, and skinned her alive. the bishop that caused the trouble ended up being sainted. par for the course.

[opihimoimoi]

37. I would guess they wanted pretty cutting tools..lol

[enid602]

31. PNAC

Ask PNAC. I'm sure they've already thought long and hard about these and other pressing questions.

[opihimoimoi]

34. They are so selfcentered they don't even know what the Hell they

advocating....

Greedy bastards they are....

[leftofthedial]

32. my name for the bush era is the Dim Ages

[opihimoimoi]

33. Wine and lobster tails to you...the DIM AGES...LOL