Prometheus 6

The history at the end of history
Francis Fukuyama
April 3, 2007 10:15 AM

Fifteen years ago in my book The End of History and the Last Man I argued that, if a society wanted to be modern, there was no alternative to a market economy and a democratic political system. Not everyone wanted to be modern, of course, and not everyone could put in place the institutions and policies necessary to make democracy and capitalism work, but no alternative system would yield better results.

While the End of History thus was essentially an argument about modernisation, some people have linked my thesis about the end of history to the foreign policy of President George Bush and American strategic hegemony. But anyone who thinks that my ideas constitute the intellectual foundation for the Bush administration's policies has not been paying attention to what I have been saying since 1992 about democracy and development.

I do have the rest of this talk. I don't know if it's desired or necessary. I've already gone into the pattern he's trying to establish. I haven't really made a point of how he conflates issues by reasoning reasonably for a step or two then attaching the term for the edge case to the result of his reasoning. That's because I just figured it out.

I do want you to hear him identify his fellow travelers out of his own mouth

This is The Möbius point...where the trail is subtly twisted so that when you close the loop you're actually on the other side of the reality you started out describing. Mead's tool is “as such.”

Again, first the video

then the notes.

What is the connection of all this to poverty

1. The End of History shaped the poverty issue

I will, without any hesistation, blame you for skipping this one.

In keeping with the observation made in my notes on part 1, I take this to mean ”Why We Feel No Need or Desire for to Provide Equal Opportunity Anymore.”

First the video

Then my notes.

Presenting the first segment of Lawrence Mead's presentation on The Politics of Poverty. My notes thereupon, plus the video of the relevant section, so no one can accuse me of misrepresentation. All below the fold in case you're not interested...but you really should check it.

One part per day is coming...I should be done by Sunday.