Nuclear Weapons + Dark Age = Bad

Humans seem to like dark ages. We've had two in the past 3500 years (1200BC-700BC and 500AD-1200AD, roughly) and we're due for another sometime soon. It seems to be just part of the natural cycle of human history, and it usually follows the fall of a great empire (Greece in 1200BC, Rome in 500AD). So it comes to be that if the United States were to implode, it could take the world with it. I'm cool with dark ages, since we come out better for it at the end (like the whole magna carta after the second). The problem is that, in the past, its been crazy guys with sticks chasing each other around. This time, it'll be crazy guys with enough nukes to destroy the world ten times over. And this is assuming George Bush III doesn't get drunk one day and pass out on the little red button. So, assuming we don't intentionally kill ourselves, we still are heading towards an inevitable destruction if we don't dismantle our nuclear weapons.