August 21, 2004
DOES ANYONE THINK IT'S NOT? (via Political Theory):
America's most famous THINKER (Bryan Appleyard, AUG 15, 2004, The Straits Times)
When he speaks, presidents, prime ministers and pundits sit up and listen. If it's happening, if it's big, if you're arguing about it over dinner, he claims to have the answers. Francis Fukuyama, the man who famously announced the end of history, is back with a new book that examines whether failed states (think Iraq) can be rebuilt.'WHASSYA business?' asks the bored but vaguely threatening Customs man at New York's Kennedy airport.
'I'm here to meet Francis Fukuyama - you know: The End Of History.'
'Oh yeah,' he chuckles. 'He sure got that wrong.'
In 1992, Francis Fukuyama, previously an obscure Washington policy wonk, made himself famous with everybody - Customs men included - by announcing that the collapse of Soviet communism signalled the end of history.
Triumphant liberal democracy was the last word in human organisation, the climax of a process of political evolution, the most productive system ever created and the one most in accord with human nature. History was over because there could be no further arguments about the best political system.
In the ensuing carnage - the Balkans, 9/11, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq - many, Customs men included, concluded he was wrong.
Nevertheless, The End Of History and the Last Man sold by the million and made Fukuyama a global conference darling and arguably the world's most influential thinker. This, it seemed, was the issue. And he had a knack for finding the issue. [...]
[I]'ve always found him an infuriating figure. His arguments seem to be absolutely true on the surface and yet, beneath, profoundly implausible. Can anybody seriously believe that history is over?
A very wise man once explained the End of History so clearly and concisely that it's near inarguable:
Alright. Here's how it works. It order to be rich enough to dream of fighting the United States, you have to become the United States. Of course, by that time you won't want to fight the United States. You don't want to become the United States? Not to worry: plenty of room on the ash-heap of history.Posted by Orrin Judd at August 21, 2004 7:45 PM
-Lou Gots, August 21, 2004, 03:25 AM
Does anybody real Hegel anymore; the thesis and the synthesis; as Stephen Schwartz, among many
has pointed out Wahhabism isn't new; pre-Enlighten
ment; more ultramontane than Mohammed's original creed; the current clash is very much in keeping
with the very hot war, the west has had with Islam; since 711 and more pointedly; Roland's victory at Tours
Please accept my gratitude for your kind words from this humble seeker of truth, who occasionally has the good fortune to stand high enough on the shoulders of giants to see far off.
Posted by: Lou Gots at August 22, 2004 4:23 AM
Narciso:
Regarding Hegel, has Kerry ever been asked who his favorite (or most influential) philosopher is? My guess is he would either say Rousseau, Hegel, or FDR.
Posted by: jim hamlen at August 22, 2004 12:57 PM