I didn’t know exactly where to start. So I will start by defining my term “Endarkenment.”

I am not the originator of this term. It is a term that deliberately contrasts the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was the time in the modern era where reason animated the whole of Western Civilization. In the eighteenth century, man’s attention was turned to understanding and living in this world; with reason as his guide, set out to master the natural world. The results were nothing short of world-changing: the Industrial Revolution; the founding of the United States of America; the articulation by John Locke and the Founding Fathers of the individual rights of man; the birth of modern science; and the growth of capitalism.

But here, in 2017, the legacy of the Enlightenment is in peril. The anti-reason forces, that dominated man through most of human history, are once again taking hold in the West. These anti-reason forces are bringing with them war, civil unrest, poverty, and tyranny.  I call the coming times of conflict the Endarkenment. The Endarkenment is marked by the abandonment of reason, the embrace of mysticism, the destruction of value. It will be the legacy of nihilism.

It will herald a time of misery and destruction.

As you read this on your smartphone, your tablet, or your computer, you are employing technology that is the culmination of knowledge that is the Enlightenment’s legacy. But as you view your social media feeds and watch, read, or listen to the news; you will see a disjointed cacophony of stories. You will learn of protests where throngs of university students use free speech to wail that they want to shut down free speech and have “safe spaces” to protect them from being offended. You will hear racists accuse people of racism. You will see Islamic terrorists commit bloody massacres while politicians and media frantically tell you that terrorism isn’t Islamic. You will be told by politicians that you didn’t build that. You will read that you must pay more money and use less energy because the world will end if the climate changes. You will watch violent crowds of rioters destroying property, lighting fires, and beating people up; all the while calling themselves anti-fascists.  You will be warned that firearms are not to be used to defend your family and your own life. You will be admonished that “Islam means peace” and that all your elected representatives are going to commit themselves to fighting “Islamophobia.”

These are all characteristics of the Endarkenment.