In his 1989 essay entitled "The End of History" Francis Fukuyama wrote:
The triumph of the West, of the Western idea, is evident first of all in the total exhaustion of viable systematic alternatives to Western liberalism. In the past decade, there have been unmistakable changes in the intellectual climate of the world's two largest communist countries, and the beginnings of significant reform movements in both. But this phenomenon extends beyond high politics and it can be seen also in the ineluctable spread of consumerist Western culture in such diverse contexts as the peasants' markets and color television sets now omnipresent throughout China, the cooperative restaurants and clothing stores opened in the past year in Moscow, the Beethoven piped into Japanese department stores, and the rock music enjoyed alike in Prague, Rangoon, and Tehran.
It could be argued that much that has happened since 1989 actually vindicates Fukuyama's thesis. The rise of China, India and Brazil can be seen as the triumph of capitalism, and the emergence of terrorism as the last-gasp reaction of a vanishing world. Western-style liberalism has triumphantly proved better than any other system in facing up to the challenges of the past 50 years.
The question is, though, is it the best system for confronting the challenges of the NEXT 50 years? Is it best equipped to manage a world characterised by diminishing resources, growing populations and aggravated by higher temperatures? Capitalism has risen to the occasion in the past. Can it do so in the future? Speaking as someone who has always instinctively been of a mildly capitalist persuasion, I find myself wondering for the first time whether what is loosely called "western liberalism" is equal to the task.
The triumph of the West, of the Western idea, is evident first of all in the total exhaustion of viable systematic alternatives to Western liberalism. In the past decade, there have been unmistakable changes in the intellectual climate of the world's two largest communist countries, and the beginnings of significant reform movements in both. But this phenomenon extends beyond high politics and it can be seen also in the ineluctable spread of consumerist Western culture in such diverse contexts as the peasants' markets and color television sets now omnipresent throughout China, the cooperative restaurants and clothing stores opened in the past year in Moscow, the Beethoven piped into Japanese department stores, and the rock music enjoyed alike in Prague, Rangoon, and Tehran.
It could be argued that much that has happened since 1989 actually vindicates Fukuyama's thesis. The rise of China, India and Brazil can be seen as the triumph of capitalism, and the emergence of terrorism as the last-gasp reaction of a vanishing world. Western-style liberalism has triumphantly proved better than any other system in facing up to the challenges of the past 50 years.
The question is, though, is it the best system for confronting the challenges of the NEXT 50 years? Is it best equipped to manage a world characterised by diminishing resources, growing populations and aggravated by higher temperatures? Capitalism has risen to the occasion in the past. Can it do so in the future? Speaking as someone who has always instinctively been of a mildly capitalist persuasion, I find myself wondering for the first time whether what is loosely called "western liberalism" is equal to the task.
The answer to your question is...Yes.
ReplyDeleteJust who is this "Drummond" to contradict me so brazenly? Any relation to Bulldog?
ReplyDeleteMy point of view is based on a book called "Consumptionomics: Asia's Role in Reshaping Capitalism and Saving the Planet" by Chandran Nair. To be honest, I haven't actually read his book but I did listen to an exceedingly interesting interview conducted by Peter Day in the BBc World Service "World of Business" programme. You can listen to it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/worldbiz
Mr Nair comes across as one cool cookie.