Fukuyama's End of History and the Muslim World - Research Paper Example

Fukuyamas End of History and the Muslim World “The September 11 attacks represent a desperate backlash against the modern world, which appears to be a speeding freight train to those unwilling to get onboard.” 1 - Fukuyama “The End of History” as proclaimed by Fukuyama is the end of ideological evolution of humanity. In simple words, every human being in the world will think and act alike, following their western counterparts. The ancient medicinal forms of the Himalayas, the rich traditional knowledge of African tribes, the minimalistic living style of Japan everything will be a myth, impracticable, read only in Wikipedia. The modern materialistic living style of the western world will influence the third world countries like a giant storm giving them no chance to think about an alternate, peaceful living style. Everybody will wear western clothing, eat their food and follow their lifestyle. Two decades after the book had been written we can now see most of his views have come true. There is a long queue covering three streets in China to buy the new iPhone which will be released in the US the day after. People in Korea alter their children’s tongue at a young age, so that they can speak better English and the most closed markets like India extend a red carpet welcome to Foreign Direct Investment, which comes from west, not from any developing country like Thailand or Indonesia. By far, the one and only people trying to resist these changes are the Islamists. They shoot the girl who wants to learn to read, write and barricade themselves from all scientific advantages in the name of religion. Who is right Fukuyama or the Islamists? In course of time, History will prove both wrong (Lal, 2006). Fukuyama’s theory states that capitalism which started to triumph at the death of communism, in the end of cold war will establish a ‘universal consumer culture’2 which will sweep down the ethical entities ingrained deeply in every individual. This is exactly what we see today. Education is no more a way to hone a skill. It is marks earned to secure a job with high earnings which in turn helps in buying ample things feeding the consumerism. So is it really the end of all indigenous ideologies which had been passed on from one generation to another. Not exactly because every ideology will keep evolving to some other form and liberal democracy is no exception (Marks, n.d.). Liberal democracy which simply evolved from communism based democracy eliminating its flaws and frays, will evolve into something better in the near future. Liberalism and Democracy themselves do not go hand in hand. There are several third world countries which struggle to use liberalism to their economic benefit. As Karl Marx stated, they will realize sooner or later, capitalism will lead to overproduction, low cost, scanty wages and unemployment doing more harm than good in the long run.3 They will start looking for alternate ideologies automatically leading to a better form of government and economic management. History proved aristocracy and communism cannot succeed. Likewise it will prove liberal democracy will also dwindle in some point of time in this 21st century (Marx & Engels, 1848). Do Islamists Have the Answer? Is Islamic idealism the core answer for an alternate ideology opposing liberal democracy? The answer is most certainly no because, evolution should lead to something which is better than the previous methods. But, Islamic ideologies force people to go back to the primitive living condition. Of course too much of sweet is bad for health. The available medicine might have lots of side effects. But, a new alternate medicine or an ancient medicine which will cure the disease should be invented or revived, instead of banning the usage of sweets completely from life. Do the Islamists agree with it? Mainstream Islamic people do agree with it hundred percent. Karshidshak who worked in Iraq with the Muslim soldiers admits they are like any modern American youngsters longing for the latest model mobile and waiting to watch football. Just like the Western world has stamped Islamic people as terrorists, their main stream media has stamped westerners as people coming to steal their oil. While most of the citizens in the US believe Osama Bin Laden to be their inspirational terrorist, they think he is funded by the American government to spoil the image of Islam in the world. The reality is neither of these theories is true. It takes lots of understanding and communication to understand one another. Incidents like 9/11 attacks are funded and planned by international mafias operating under the cover of religion, trade and many other forms to sabotage any small step taken to establish this communication. They serve as middle men earning millions of dollars and can only continue to do so if the West and the Middle East is in constant war with little help or support from the Eastern countries. Middle East is in fact an emerging market for several consumer products starting from cars to Smart phones. It is a living example of how a region will shed its primitive ideologies under the influence of liberal democracy as Fukuyama said. Islamists certainly aren’t the people who pull the progressive train backward, because they have failed to board it. They are eager passengers waiting for the train to arrive at their destination, though it is a bit late. So what justifies the acts of Taliban killing Malala, locking up women in home, sabotaging the life of thousands of youngsters by banning scientific education and incidents like 9/11 attack prove? Who is behind it if mainstream Islamists are not behind them? Such questions can never be answered that easily as several political secrets lay intertwined in them. To simplify it a million times we can pin point the mafia. Osama Bin Laden himself earned millions of dollars every year through illegal drug and arms trading. He needed Sudan and the neighbouring countries which served as a passage into the Middle East for cultivating opium. He kept the area under full control terrorizing the world. His death opened an unrestricted route for the westerners to enter the Middle East market easily. Everything from internet to video games started to enter these areas. One immediate outcome of this new wave of influence was the Egypt Lotus revolution. Though it is known in many different forms as people’s war, Facebook revolution etc, it is an example of how much such downtrodden Islamic countries, mainstream Islamic people long to live a normal life according to western standard. The strong rise of Muslim brotherhood aims in relieving themselves from the clutches of their own suppressing religious forces and age old policies rather than fighting the West. The youth in the Islamic countries show more courage than ever as they are able to see the world around them keep passing beyond them in a very fast pace. They desperately want to be a part of it like the youngsters of any other country. It is not fair to restrict one segment of the world’s population from all fun and frolic when all others get to enjoy it. At what cost is a major question again, but changes cannot be prevented not even in the name of religion is the answer. Rabindranath Tagore mentioned, human products enjoyed and understood by all will be accepted no matter where their origin is. 4 It is true for liberal democracy too. Just because a large number of people adopt them, does not stop history from resumption. After all, monarchy was practiced by humanity from time immemorial. Women liberation which was considered a total taboo is a reality now. History recomputed even though most of humanity accepted it, just because a few like Bernard Shaws "unreasonable men" whom all the progress depend upon decided to change it. 5 Is Fukuyama Correct? Fukuyama was correct up to the extent that ‘universal consumerism’ will influence several third world countries severely. But, these people will return to their roots sooner or later in a short period. India is the second most populated country in the world. Western medicine caters nearly 90% of the countries medical needs. But, alternative medicines like Ayurveda and Homeopathy and exercises like Yoga which has its roots deep in ancient Indian way of living have started to appear back in full fledge there. Good marketing and the immigrants are taking them across borders to the Western world too. Same can be said with Chinese Green tea, Kung Fu martial arts etc. There will be no “end of history” as Fukuyama stated. But, there will certainly be“stagnancy in history” for a short period after which the world will move towards using the “best of both worlds” automatically. Why Liberal Democracy is not the best Possible Solution? Amartya Sen once said, ‘no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press’.6 There is no report of any major famine in the US soil or the European countries (Herscovitch, 2011). But, capitalism determines what we should eat in an indirect way controlling everything from what is sown to what is sold. Power is given to huge corporate companies like Wal Mart who decide what a common man should consume daily. It is a literal form of slavery in the name of freedom. Only the message is communicated in a much hypnotic way through advertisements and super models instead of whips and canes. The choice is abundant, but the freedom to choose is restricted. A person can choose from a variety of chocolate brands, but not opt to go for a traditional home made cookie unless he travels out of the town. Karl Marx wisely perceived such a situation will occur right after American Freedom. This is where liberal democracy hailed so highly by Fukuyama fails drastically. The Eastern countries which have an option of eating their traditional food and living their eco-friendly life style will return to it sooner or later. They will take back with them the rich technological knowledge gained from the Western world too. The world will combine both and start living in a much friendlier, hype less society which knows exactly how to combine the old and the new together. We can term it “Rational Democracy”. Conclusion Fukuyama wrote The End of History and the Last Man on the aftermath of the cold war . He hailed “Liberal democracy” as the universal solution for the future world. He added several arguments to support his theory out of which most of them are true. But, “Liberal Democracy” is certainly not the end of human ideological thinking by any means. Like any concept, it will evolve by time into a much better one, eliminating its current hidden evils. The Islamic ideologists back to the Stone Age theory will not serve as an alternative for “liberal democracy” as the mainstream Muslims themselves do not support it or rather loathe it wholeheartedly. They want a secure and good life for their children and themselves just like any other citizen in the world. “Liberal democracy” will evolve into “Rational democracy” taking the best things from both the world gradually in course of time. History or natural logic will make it happen sometime in the near future, proving both Fukuyama and the Islamic ideologists wrong. References 1. Fukuyama, Francis. "The End of History". The National Interest. (1989). < http://www.wesjones.com/eoh.htm> (16 December 2012). 2. Herscovitch, Benjamin. "Liberal Values and the End of History". Policy. (Summer 2011-12). (16 December 2012). 3. Lal, Vinay. "The Beginning of History". Opendemocracy.net. (May 2006). (16 December 2012). 4. Marks, Susan. “The End of History? Reflections on Some International Legal Theses”. European Journal of International Law. 5. Krashidshak. "Muslim World". StudyMode.com. (June 2011). (16 December 2012). 6. Marx, Karl & Engels, Frederick. “Manifesto of the Communist Party”. (1848) (16 December 2012). Read More