History has ended

[ravengod]

Francis Fukuyama wrote: Now that the Soviet Empire has fallen, the history has reached a final point.
We are witnessing the rise of democracy everywhere in the world.
Totalitarism and communism are buried in the sand of history.
A new democratic golden age will come.

That s pretty much don t you think?

[redstar2000]

No.

[Dhul Fiqar]

I wrote a long essay on this for a Unievrsity project, and came to the exact same conclusion that redstar2000 did.

No. :biggrin:

Although he makes a lot of interesting points in the book, and he defines history very differently from what you'd expect, it's still a statement made almost purely to sensationalize his book. It's a bit akin to saying that war is over, but add a footnote that you define war as large armies fighting with swords and arrows, true but pointless.

--- G.

[Blibblob]

How about: life is pointless.

I will avoid the long essay, and come to the same conclusion. As long as the human race exists, there will be war and revolutions. And democracy hasnt happened yet anyways.

[Dhul Fiqar]

Fukuyama:
"There?s been misunderstanding about my thesis, which largely comes from the failure to understand my use of the term ?history.? Most people are wedded to a fairly conventional view of history as simply events, and the bigger the events the more history. I was using the word in a fairly specialized Hegelian sense, which can be more precisely defined as the history of ideology or the history of thought about first principles related to social and political relations."
--------


Now, Hegel actually said history ended in the early 19th century, and Fukuyama is rehashing his ideas, changing them about so they fit the Cold War, and claiming the end is indeed NOW, not then.

It's mental masturbation in my oppinion, totally bereft of any value as an idea. The man has been working for the U.S. State Department for years and years after all, and if I recall correctly he is a big Reagan fan.

To summarize:
In the end, Fukuyama has basically presented his own definition of the word "history" as a dialectical process with a beginning, middle, and an end. In fact he did not come up with this, Hegel did. What this annoying little man then does is change even that definition so that it no longer comes to the conclusion that history ended two hundred years ago, because that wouldn't sell any books. The result: history just ended, you juuuuust missed it! Isn't that exciting? Don't you want to buy a book about it?

*gag*

I hate the guy.

--- G.

[redstar2000]

Fukuyama is a "court historian" for the ruling capitalist class much as Hegel was a "court philosopher" for the Prussian aristocracy.

Perhaps it is a difference in the times but: Hegel was enormously respected in his own time and there were still Hegelians as late as 50 years ago. Fukuyama was spotted as a fraud almost before the ink was dry on his opus. Maybe intellectual bankruptcy, like corporate bankruptcy, is tougher to hide these days.

[peaccenicked]

This link sort gets to the point.
http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol8/No3/art5.html

[T H mjd]

Quote: from redstar2000 on 12:38 pm on Jan. 19, 2003
No.

lol i agree

[El Brujo]

um, NO.

[red warlock]

Quote: from ravengod on 4:29 pm on Jan. 19, 2003
Francis Fukuyama wrote: Now that the Soviet Empire has fallen, the history has reached a final point.
We are witnessing the rise of democracy everywhere in the world.
Totalitarism and communism are buried in the sand of history.
A new democratic golden age will come.

That s pretty much don t you think?

you should read history between the lines
Huntington's theory on the third wave of democratisation is childish
the third and final opposing wave is soon to come
you will see