Why There is No "End of History"

There’s this concept called “end of history”. No, it doesn’t refer to the point when the world has ended. Rather, it is a phrase that is limited to some areas only:

“The end of history is a political and philosophical concept that supposes that a particular political, economic, or social system may develop that would constitute the end-point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and the final form of human government.”

Notice that the phrase does not mean that events will stop occurring.

 

In our lifetime, the period most associated with this phrase is when the Berlin Wall fell – it seemed to signify the point when capitalism and democracy had triumphed; from here on, the assumption was that only the details might change, not the basic principles themselves.

 

Today, while capitalism is still ruling, it’s hard to argue that democracy is still the ruling system. Several of the threats to Western ideals are external, from outsiders. In that bucket fall Islamic extremism, and yes, China’s style of governance. (Russia doesn’t fall in this bucket because it doesn’t represent a view (for now at least) – rather, Russia just does what it wants, when it can).

 

Even as the Berlin Wall fell, Francis Fukuyama wrote in his book on the upcoming era titled (what else?) The End of History and the Last Man:

“Experience suggests that if men cannot struggle on behalf of a just cause because that just cause was victorious in an earlier generation, then they will struggle against the just cause. They will struggle for the sake of struggle. They will struggle, in other words, out of a certain boredom: for they cannot imagine living in a world without struggle. And if the greater part of the world in which they live is characterized by peaceful and prosperous liberal democracy, then they will struggle against that peace and prosperity, and against democracy.”

Prophetic words indeed. One can definitely see this tendency in the US. I wouldn’t say India or Turkey fall in this category simply because they aren’t prosperous yet (they are getting richer, yes, but not yet prosperous).

 

Ultimately, I think this perfectly explains why history doesn’t have any direction, any “preferred goal” – not just because no system of governance is perfect, but also because of human nature is what it is. We are not wired to leave well enough alone. Or as Blaise Pascal said:

“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

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