Economic Outlook

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Yes, as Lewis Mumford stated in the summer of 1974, "The new Dark Age is already here. We just don't know it." Conditions really are that bad . . . and—from muggings in school hallways to corruption in high places to nations snarling over dwindling world resources—getting worse on a daily basis.

But be of good cheer. Unlike our "leaders", you-as a reader of this magazine -at least have a broad view of what is going on. And remember: Western society has already successfully survived another great Dark Age. How? By amassing its useful arts and crafts and skills and books and knowledge in small, decentralized, self-contained, defendable, agrarian communities (they were called "monasteries" and "walled cities", as you'll recall).

Perhaps we'll all be forced to take such drastic steps again. Perhaps no. Whether we do or not, however, it's a safe bet that you and your family can face the trials ahead much more comfortably if you start—right now!—stocking up on real wealth: A little piece of land on which you can grow your food, a passively solar-heated earth-sheltered home, how-to books and do-it-yourself skills, barterable goods, and all the other things that this column regularly recommends. It's always better to be ten years too early in a case like this . . . than one day too late.

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