Following the horrors of 9/11, [Francis] Fukuyama and his ideas were derided as triumphalist nonsense. But he was only half wrong. Fukuyama, a Hegelian, argued that Western democracy had run out of “contradictions”: that is, of ideological alternatives. That was true in 1989 and remains true today.
Fukuyama’s mistake was to infer that the absence of contradictions meant the end of history. There was another possibility he failed to consider. History could well be driven by negation rather than contradiction. It could ride on the nihilistic rejection of the established order, regardless of alternatives or consequences. That would not be without precedent.
The Roman Empire wasn’t overthrown by something called “feudalism”—it collapsed of its own dead weight, to the astonishment of friend and foe alike. The centuries after the calamity lacked ideological form. Similarly, a history built on negation would be formless and nameless: a shadowy moment, however long, between one true age and another.
― Martin Gurri, The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium
“Do you know what time it is?” This question has been tossed around over the past few years, separating the traditional Reagan-style conservatives (me in 2018) from those who’ve noticed the ideological sea change in our politics (me today).
One man far ahead of the curve was former CIA analyst Martin Gurri. Back in 2014, he published the little-read The Revolt of the Public. As Trump roared to the forefront of the GOP primary field, dog-eared copies of the book were passed around. Turns out, Gurri read the public mood early, giving him a jump on Brexit, Trump, and the rise of anti-globalism. As a result, he revised and reprinted the book in 2018.
The British political class was horrified when the rabble rejected membership in the European Union. A few months later, their American co-religionists were equally horrified when Trump was elected president. Both groups labeled the voters racist-sexist-homophobic morons; most still sling those lies today. They’re stuck in the early ’90s “end of history” groupthink whether they realize it or not.
Gurri realized early that a growing number of people around the world — Egypt, Spain, the UK, Israel, you name it — had lost trust in their institutions and wanted to tear them down. Some were on the left, others on the right, and few had a realistic program of what should replace the old order. But they all agreed on one thing: the current institutions had failed and needed upending.
Most people remain in this “repudiation mode,” denouncing zombie elites in zombie institutions. They still have power but they have no moral authority and little legitimacy. It will be hard to replace the zombies without a positive vision that will supersede them. The fall of Rome was slow and grinding, and it took several painful centuries to settle on its replacement.
No one knows what will replace the collapsing “rules-based international order,” but all serious thinkers know that history still has several twists and turns in store for us.
Published in GeneralThanks for reading Quote of the Day: The End of History That Wasn't - Ricochet.com. Please share...!
0 Comment for "Quote of the Day: The End of History That Wasn't - Ricochet.com"