Dark Age Ahead
Ratings3
Average rating3.3
15
Ratings3
Average rating3.3
Publisher's description: Visionary thinker Jane Jacobs uses her authoritative work on urban life and economies to show us how we can protect and strengthen our culture and communities. In Dark Age Ahead, Jane Jacobs identifies five pillars of our culture that we depend on but which are in serious decline: community and family; higher education; the effective practice of science; taxation and government; and self-policing by learned professions. The decay of these pillars, Jacobs contends, is behind such ills as environmental crisis, racism and the growing gulf between rich and poor; their continued degradation could lead us into a new Dark Age, a period of cultural collapse in which all that keeps a society alive and vibrant is forgotten. But this is a hopeful book as well as a warning. Jacobs draws on her vast frame of reference -- from fifteenth-century Chinese shipbuilding to zoning regulations in Brampton, Ontario -- and in highly readable, invigorating prose offers proposals that could arrest the cycles of decay and turn them into beneficent ones. Wise, worldly, full of real-life examples and accessible concepts, this book is an essential read for perilous times.
Reviews with the most likes.
Although Dark Age Ahead was published more than 15 years ago, it amazingly predicted some of the conditions we're seeing today that can lead to a new dark age. The table of contents alone is as relevant today as it was then.
1. The Hazard
2. Families Rigged to Fail
3. Credentialing Versus Educating
4. Science Abandoned
5. Dumbed-Down Taxes
6. Self-Policing Subverted
7. Unwinding Vicious Spirals
8. Dark Age Patterns
And I found the first chapter detailing the millennia long Dark Ages following the fall of the Roman Empire absolutely fascinating! I started taking a pencil to the pages and marking notable sentences or paragraphs. It made me very excited to read the rest of the book.
However, the remaining chapters were no where near as engaging as Chapter 1. Much of Jacobs' writing pursued rabbit holes that I'm sure were relevant to the topics she wanted to discuss, but they quite frequently referenced her hometown of Toronto to illustrate certain points. Had she diversified her examples among several cities, I wouldn't have received the impression she was lamenting the decline of her city.
The book also includes an additional 50 pages of “Notes and Comments” at the end. I started to read them but didn't find a coherence to them. They really were just notes and comments but the main body of the book referenced them infrequently. Trying to relate them back to her discussion (again, greatly about Toronto) just didn't interest me. I feel that I abandoned a large chunk of the text that may have had some interesting tidbits. Wish these had been incorporated better or not at all.
I'm taking chances reading a forward-thinking books written 15-20-25 years ago and hoping they'll be relatable to me today. I'll continue taking chances, but this one just didn't relate to me the way I'd hoped.
