The Alterrans who colonized Earth in Sumerian times are ruled by a single family. This wasn’t always the case. Long ago, they had a civilization like ours, with slightly more advanced technology.  One step leading to global dictatorship was the disruption in the educational system.  When all knowledge could be held in a palm device and downloaded directly into the brain through the Teacher, the educational system became obsolete. All knowledge, that is, until the ruling family began to assign permissible Teacher programs by the rank assigned to each Alterran at birth. 

Could this happen to Earth?

The Alterran Legacy Series by Regina M. Joseph.  Book 1, Colony Earth, and Book , Khamlok are available now on Amazon and other on-line booksellers.

Check out my great interview :http://richlikesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/interview-with-colony-earth-author.html

In Colony earth, the Alterrans' fate is sealed when thee colony is damaged by a comet. Here is the latest research proving that the comet existed and caused the subsequent cool period on Earth known as the Younger Dryas.
http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/prehistoric-climate-change-due-to-cosmic-crash-in-canada-researchers-say/

Dear Readers, through my blog, I hope to bring you links to scientific, social, political or economic develops that mirror the historical path taken by the Alterrans in The Alterran Legacy Series.
This post concerns telepathy through implants. In Colony Earth, Lil and selected guardsmen are fitted with implants that permit them to communicate telepathically. They refer to it mencomm. The memcomm technology is actually an ancient technology that was banned because eons ago it was deployed by terrorists to highjack the minds of jet pilots, nuclear reactor operators, train conducts, and similar folks to plunge their world into darkness and chaos.Needing to survive on Earth, where his colonists are stranded. En.Lil breaks Alterran law to use mencomm so that his men will be able to communicate over long distances after their high tech devices lose power. In future series, En.Lil's mind will continue to evolve with his mencomm powers.
This technology is emerging in our present day. Here is a link to one of many experiments.
http://homes.cs.washington.edu/~rao/brain2brain/
As usual, though, rat experiments have beat out the humans.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23221-first-mindreading-implant-gives-rats-telepathic-power.html#.Uilr2r7D9D8

A scene in Colony Earth envisions the characters participating in a sacred procession along a well traveled avenue to a ceremony what is now Stonehenge. Today, it was announced that a recent excavation has uncovered the avenue to Stonehenge.
http:www.nbcnews.com/science/ancient-path-leading-stonehenge-discovered-8C11131074