On the road back to the Dark Ages? A retired economics professor’s reflections on the future of civilized society

Abstract

Our social and economic system is in the process of reorganisation. The final outcome of any system's reorganisation is unpredictable and I wonder how the new generation can find its way out of the present wasteland of the spirit. I do not presume to be able to offer a route map, but I think that I know the charts which have been used to shepherd us into it, and the dangers of continuing to use them. Living is action, and human living implies choices that, whether free or circumscribed, are choices to prefer one action rather than another in the hope that they will lead to one rather than another kind of future,1 and I believe that our decisions may influence the system’s future. The fate of the humane values of western civilization is still in the balance – the battle for a more decent world is not yet lost – but their successful defence requires a vision of a future worthy to be struggled for...