In the ancient teachings of the Upanishads, the Kali Yuga is the final, shortest, and worst of the four Yugas, or world ages. The Upanishads say that our present age is part of the Kali Yuga, the Age of Darkness.

A Dark Age has well-defined characteristics such as violence, conflict and the failure of the rule of law, as well as intellectual, cultural, moral and economic decline. As the Dark Age continues, ordinary legal structures lose their power to control and govern. As a consequence, ordinary people lose their trust in the law, and there is an increase in violent means of control. War is the common denominator among nations and becomes increasingly more violent and destructive, until the entire world is involved. Hundreds of millions will die.

As law loses its power to govern, tyranny rules. Autocrats gain control of the levers of power and rule by violence, intimidation, and fear. Corruption is the hallmark of such rule. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" (1887 quote by British historian John Dalberg-Acton).

Those in power enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary people. This gives rise to a class of plutocrats--rule by the rich and powerful. Suffering is worldwide. What was once considered common knowledge, such as how to survive off the land, disappears, replaced by dependency on the tyrant, superstition, and suggestibility where people are easily duped, taken in by lies and rumors. The tyrant gathers about him a cadre of fawning boot-licking sycophants who elevate him and praise his every move in order to maintain their position near to the source of power and wealth.

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