At American Universities, Civilization Under Assault

The ascent of civilizations is a wondrous thing. On the way up, each generation produces treasures of its own, building on the achievements of those who came before. Alas, civilizations are like tides. Sooner or later they begin to recede. Often the tide rushes out even more quickly than it came in, and within a few generations, society has succumbed to a dark age of illiteracy, destruction, and despotism.

One of the first things to disappear is one’s own history. The Acropolis at Athens was one of the centers of ancient Mycenaean civilization, which arose in the second millennium b.c. That civilization collapsed in an invasion of Dorian tribes around 1200 b.c. A dark age ensued during which letters were lost, and for 600 years no further construction was done at the Acropolis. By the time the dark age finally ended, at the dawning of Classical Greece, the Greeks had developed fantastical myths to explain the origins of those monuments, having forgotten that they themselves had built them.

About the Author

Mario Loyola

Mario Loyola is a professor of environment at Florida International University and a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

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The ascent of civilizations is a wondrous thing. On the way up, each generation produces treasures of its own, building on the achievements of those who came before. Alas, civilizations are like tides. Sooner or later they begin to recede. Often the tide rushes out even more quickly than it came in, and within a few generations, society has succumbed to a dark age of illiteracy, destruction, and despotism.

One of the first things to disappear is one’s own history. The Acropolis at Athens was one of the centers of ancient Mycenaean civilization, which arose in the second millennium b.c. That civilization collapsed in an invasion of Dorian tribes around 1200 b.c. A dark age ensued during which letters were lost, and for 600 years no further construction was done at the Acropolis. By the time the dark age finally ended, at the dawning of Classical Greece, the Greeks had developed fantastical myths to explain the origins of those monuments, having forgotten that they themselves had built them.