Twenty years ago, the great Jane Jacobs published a book titled ‘Dark Age Ahead’. In a general sense Jacobs used the book to warn that the United States was slipping into a dark age where ‘even the memory of what was lost’ has faded away. In a specific sense she described the decay of five key societal ‘pillars’: community and family, higher education, science and technology, taxes and government, and self regulation in learned professions. Without delving into the specifics or merit of her societal deconstruction, it seems hard to argue that Jacobs’ general concern hasn’t proved to be correct. Twenty years after Jacobs’ warning, the United States is a dysfunctional polity with a large portion of its citizenry lonely, unhealthy, and economically exploited.
As of this writing, in April of 2024, former President Donald Trump looks to have a slightly better than fifty percent chance of being elected president for a second time. From a certain perspective, the fact that Trump is still supported by millions of Americans is one of the more remarkable occurrences in United States history. By now, any objective observer can see that Trump’s character, temperament, and disdain for democratic norms render him unfit to return to the Oval Office. A person who spearheads the disruption of the peaceful transfer of power in a democracy should never be allowed to return to wield power over others.
Twenty years ago, if Jane Jacobs had imagined the type of person who could rise to political prominence in her described ‘dark age’, she probably would have imagined a person like Donald Trump. A societal vacuum created by broad ‘cultural amnesia’ can easily be filled by a talented demagogue like the former president. And for younger Americans, the chaos and dysfunction that Trump brought to the presidency wasn’t abnormal; because to a certain degree it’s all that they know. This kind of Overton window shift is a standard condition within a dark age. What was once unacceptable or unthinkable becomes normalized, as previous ways of being are lost to time and forgotten.
Many have correctly observed that Donald Trump’s rise was more to do with American society changing, rather than Trump molding American society in his own image. The arrival of the smartphone in 2007 began the trend towards what some have called a ‘mental dark age’ for the American mind (and the human mind in general). Instead of contemplation and rationality, our minds became primed for short attention spans and emotional reactions. So it should be seen as no mistake that a neurotic, mentally chaotic individual like Donald Trump was able to gain and maintain his appeal. For many Americans, the mind of the former president wasn’t disqualifying or even odd. It was something that fit our current times, and resembled what they experience everyday on social media.
In using the term ‘mental dark age’ I’m referring to a situation where our evolutionary programming has been short circuited by our exponentially advancing technology. The digital age has turbo charged our tribal nature as a species. Every political issue has become an extension of tribal competition - a zero sum, ‘us’ or ‘them’ framework. Combine this with a mental landscape that is over-stimulated with information; yet deficient when it comes to being able to determine what is true or false, and you have fertile ground for the political life of Donald Trump.
Look at it this way; in recent times the political situation that most closely resembled what the US is facing with Donald Trump was the situation surrounding its 37th president, Richard Nixon. Nixon’s character faults and authoritarian sentiments resembled those of Donald Trump to a degree. Yet when it was all said and done, Nixon was forced to resign the presidency in disgrace in 1974. The metaphysical, political, moral, and cultural structures within the US at the time led to a situation where Nixon was cast out of power. Yet today, as with Trump, Nixon would probably be able to maintain his popular support despite his criminality and disregard for democratic norms. This is a good indicator of the Overton window shift, and the dark age we are in.
A dark age provides a welcoming landscape for demagoguery - and if demagoguery ran on fuel, it could probably be described as a mixture of anger and resentment. An authoritarian can’t appeal to the grievances of a populous if there are few grievances to appeal to. In 2024 America, Trump’s rhetoric still has appeal to many because it manipulates actual grievances - many of which are economic. In addition to a mental dark age, the US is also in what could be called an economic dark age. This economic dark age doesn’t quite fit the standard definition, as what has been ‘forgotten’ economically falls more into the ethical and cultural realm. The economic dark age in the US is more a product of teleological processes, or capitalism just running its course.
Recently, an analysis by Gallup, the United Nations, and others called the ‘World Happiness Report’ was released. Flowing from its title, the purpose of the report was simple: to track how happy people are in their country of residence. For the first time in the study’s history, the US was knocked out of the top twenty countries on the list. This was largely due to the data collected from US citizens under the age of thirty. For these younger Americans, the chief causes of their reported unhappiness were: the economy in general, the cost of housing, student debt, political polarization, social media, climate change, and the war in Gaza.
Combine this economic pessimism of younger Americans, with the economic demoralization of countless middle class and working class Americans, and it begins to make sense why Donald Trump is still able to maintain appeal. He has a deep well of authentic (and justified) resentment to draw from. Resentment that reflects a disillusionment with what is often referred to as the ‘American Dream’.
Decades ago, the American Dream went something like this: you finish high school or college, you work hard, you get paid fairly, you find a partner, buy a house, have a couple of kids, and maybe you can find happiness along the way. For younger generations especially, the idea of the American Dream has long since faded. This loss of faith is a prime indicator of the economic dark age that the US is in. Like a road that has reached a dead end, laissez-faire capitalism has run its course. Modern day capitalism functions primarily as a system that funnels wealth to the top of society while enabling cultural and political instability.
The final, and saddest part of the dark age the US is in, could be described as a ‘civic dark age’. In the past, no matter what was happening politically in the country, there was a general agreement in terms of the importance of democratic norms. As mentioned earlier, former President Richard Nixon was forced to resign the presidency. However, what’s interesting is that Nixon quit because it became clear he had lost the support of his own party. When Nixon’s transgressions finally became undeniable, Republicans in Congress chose fealty to American democracy rather than loyalty to one man.
In America’s current dark age, much of the Republican Party, and many of Donald Trump’s supporters have completely disregarded democratic principles. They ignore or excuse Trump’s meddling in elections or investigations, while expressing support for authoritarian leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, or Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. Their idea of ‘America’ and ‘the flag’ is buttressed by a kind of faux patriotism. A patriotism that is centered within the cult of personality around one man - not the ideals the country is supposed to represent. In their view, to oppose Trump is to oppose America itself.
A democratic country where a large swath of its population has forgotten the importance of democratic principles is a country in trouble. Yet America’s civic dark age isn’t just a product of the democratic amnesia of one political party. As the country has splintered along ideological, economic, and educational lines, any coherent sense of authentic patriotism has faded away. Years ago, after the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001, there was a period of time when the US was truly united. Citizens across the country felt emotions and sentiments that embodied a collective patriotism. Yet today, if a similar attack were to happen, it seems obvious that division and rancor would erupt instead of national unity.
This is not to say that patriotism is inherently good. Blind patriotism can quickly lead a populace to support leaders or actions that are clearly wrong. Yet for a democratic country to function properly there must be a certain level of authentic national pride within the citizenry. Without this basic national bond, fellow citizens become enemies, and rhetoric surrounding democratic ideals begins to fall on deaf ears. The justified cynicism many Americans have felt over the last twenty years relating to their government’s economic and foreign policy has contributed to a kind of patriotic malaise. Combine this with our increasingly solitary, screen based, digitally individual lives; and you get a polity that has no use for nationally binding, patriotic sentiments.
Describing the dark age America is in now, is not a signal that American society was perfect in the past. In my view there are no utopias, or wholesale ‘good’ times. There are only degrees of bad, and varying circumstances surrounding the human condition. Yet decades ago, at least American society was a society. It was a society that was rife with injustice, and other problems, but at least it functioned. There was a center of gravity, where things made sense, and where politics was governed by certain norms. Economically, there was inequality and poverty, but there was still breathing room for the middle and working class. Most importantly, for the country at large, there seemed to be a recognizable path forward to better times, and hope for the future.
In 2024 America, it almost seems like there is no path forward - at least one that can be seen and understood. The dark age the country is in makes it seem like the entire chaotic polity is trapped inside a pitch black house with only one exit. Factions reach out into the darkness; only to crash into each other in bitter anger. Their confusion forces them to create competing narratives about what is real, and what is not. Meanwhile, Donald Trump stands outside with a flaming torch ready to set the whole house on fire, and burn it to the ground with everyone inside.
Decades before she wrote about America’s coming dark age, Jane Jacobs wrote about what made cities worth living in, and what didn’t. In her most well known work, ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’, she made clear the kind of structure a city needed to really be a ‘city’. The underlying point to Jacobs’ detailed insight was that a city needs certain things in place in order for a city to succeed and thrive. Without the things Jacobs identified, a city can still exist - but metaphysically and culturally, it will be dead. Not to mention that in a practical sense, the city will begin to literally fall apart. Jacobs’ concern for the trajectory of city development grew to include the trajectory of America decades later. She warned about America losing certain things it needed to maintain its civic and national health. Sadly, in the year 2024, it seems that she was right.