A New Dark Age?
TimeWatch Editorial
July 22, 2016
PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS was the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. On the American Presidency Project website, dated January 30, 1981, Dr. Roberts is described this way;
“Dr. Roberts is currently a senior fellow in political economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University, professor of business administration and professor of economics at George Mason University, Wall Street Journal columnist for "Political Economy," and contributing editor to Harper's. In the U.S. Congress, Dr. Roberts has served in the House of Representatives as economic counsel to Representative Jack Kemp, as staff associate with the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and as chief economist with the minority staff of the Committee on the Budget. In the U.S. Senate he has served as economic counsel to Senator Orrin Hatch. He managed the tax-cut movement in Congress during 1975-78 and drafted the original version of the Kemp-Roth bill.” Nomination of Paul Craig Roberts To Be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, January 30, 1981.
It is important that we properly identify Dr. Roberts and his background, since an article published on the Counterpunch Website on December 30, 2006 by him would suggest a thorough understanding of the world as it is today. the name of the article is “The New Dark Age.” The third paragraph declares:
“At the beginning of the scientific era, men had the hope that the ability to discover truth would free mankind from superstition, dogma, and the service of power. The belief in truth was powerful. Truth would deliver justice and bring an end to status-based privileges and the falsehoods propagated by privilege. The faith in truth was short-lived. Today propaganda is everywhere in the ascendency.” Paul Craig Roberts, “The New Dark Age” Counterpunch Website, December 30, 2006
Now remember, this article by Dr. Roberts was written in 2006 and yet is would appear that he is commenting upon the events that are taking place around us today. In fact the comments are so specifically applicable to the present condition of things that one has to continually check to date publication after each paragraph. Regardless of the fact that the name of the president at the time of Dr. Roberts writing is different, the environment is the same.
“In the US today, demonization and propaganda substitute for facts and analysis. Professors and journalists are quick to lend their names and voices to the untruths that rule our lives. Just as Hitler’s foreign policy was based in propaganda, so is Bush’s and Blair’s. The success of propaganda enhances government’s illusion that it has a monopoly on truth. It is the monopoly on truth that gives the Bush regime the right to define the “Iran problem,” the “Syria problem,” the “Lebanon problem,” and the “Korea problem” and to apply coercion in place of understanding and negotiation.” Paul Craig Roberts, “The New Dark Age” Counterpunch Website, December 30, 2006
So we find ourselves at a crossroad. This is not just a philosophical problem but according to Dr. Roberts, it has invaded every aspect of life. He continues by expanding the evaluation of the entire society.
“Without commitment to truth, science, justice, and debate falter and disappear. The belief in truth is fading from our society. It is unclear that scientists themselves any longer believe in truth or the ability to discover it. The discovery of truth is no longer the purpose of our criminal justice system. Once prosecutors believed that it was better for ten guilty men to go free than for one innocent person to be wrongfully convicted. Today prosecutors believe in high conviction rates to justify their budgets and re-election.” Paul Craig Roberts, “The New Dark Age” Counterpunch Website, December 30, 2006
What is amazing is the fact that Dr. Roberts associates the events he has described with the Dark Ages. The subtle application of these conditions, reveal a far advanced understanding of the religious undertone of the direction in which we are heading. The perversion of truth, the element of purposeful deception is the deep rumbling of the storm to come.
“In America today each faction’s “truths” are defined by the faction’s dogma or ideology. Each faction bans factual analysis that it doesn’t want to hear. This is as true within the universities as it is at political rallies. The old liberal notion that “we shall follow the truth wherever it may lead” has long departed from America. Think tanks reflect the views of the donors. Studies are no longer independent of their financing. In America, truth has become partisan.” Paul Craig Roberts, “The New Dark Age” Counterpunch Website, December 30, 2006
As far as Dr. Robert’s article is concerned, what is to come, is already here, we must be ready for the full impact of The New Dark Ages.
Cameron A. Bowen
