The definition of a Dark Age is not one in which we have forgotten things; it is a time when we no longer know we ever knew them. We appear to be entering a Dark Age for a fairly large part of our population. Of course that makes self-government nearly impossible, but the smart one in charge have a remedy for that.
--Jerry Pournelle
From here.
Jerry is the guy who came up with the Iron Law of Bureaucracy:
Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people:
First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.
Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.
The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.