June 3, 2011
The latest book from that ?End of History? guy is dedicated to Samuel Huntington, his former teacher and intellectual antognist, and starts with pre-history:
Fukuyama rejects reductionist attempts to explain political and social institutions as mere epiphenomena of underlying economic or technological structures. ?It is impossible to develop any meaningful theory of political development without treating ideas as fundamental causes of why societies differ and follow distinct development paths.? In particular, ?religion can never be explained simply by reference to prior material conditions.?
via Book Review ? The Origins of Political Order ? By Francis Fukuyama ? NYTimes.com.
His conclusions don?t bode well for the U.S., which needs to clear its sclerotic political system and adapt if it hopes to retain vibrancy, relevance, and a future:
Noting historical instances of societal collapse?the Mameluke Sultanate in Egypt, the Ming Dynasty in China?he cautions that America might face a similar fate. ?Political decay occurs when political systems fail to adjust to changing circumstances,? he writes, adding that American institutions ?may well be headed for a major test of their adaptability.?
The problem is gridlock. Extreme polarization between conservatives and liberals, the growth of entrenched interest groups, and rising inequality all threaten to undermine the effectiveness and legitimacy of the American political system, which has been slow to adjust to changing circumstances. ?We Americans pride ourselves on our pragmatism, but right now we?re more ideological than the Chinese, who are willing to try all sorts of public policies,? Fukuyama tells me. Most significantly, he says, the Chinese experiment with a market economy. ?It worked, so they stuck with it.?
via The Beginning of History ? Chronicle of Higher Education
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