Voltaire 1694-1778

The Best of All Possible Worlds….

It did make me laugh when Francis Fukuyama wrote ‘The End of History’ after the triumph of Capitalism over the ‘evil empire’ of Soviet Communism. As if history actually stops or is ‘going’ anywhere in particular. History, like Evolution, has no end goal. People who think that it does don’t really understand History at all. It is also symptomatic of a certain kind of mind set. This mind set not only proposes that this is the best of all possible worlds but that this is as good as it gets. This is the pinnacle of Human Civilisation.

You have to wonder what planet these people are from. I mean if this is the best that things can be was all the effort to get here really worth it?

Personally I think that this attitude stems from several things. First amongst these are a basic lack of imagination and a deep ignorance of history itself. Think about it for a moment. Obviously things were different in the past, right? So why won’t things be different in the future? Makes sense doesn’t it. Why should things stay as they are? Look around you at all the new stuff and new ideas popping out everywhere. Are any of these going to have a lasting effect? Are any of these going to change things? Of course they are.

Obviously if you have the attitude that this is the pinnacle of Human Civilisation then any change must be for the worse. After all if it can’t get any better then change must, by definition, be bad. Again this shows a great ignorance of History (and an incredible arrogance). Granted it is difficult to ‘think outside the box’ and look at your particular part of civilisation as a transition between the past and the future, but that’s how it is folks. Human minds don’t really think that way (seeing their particular time as transitory) – but this is where history comes in. History necessarily gives you a greater perspective on things, a longer view than the ‘here and now’. I’m pretty sure that commentators at the height of the Roman Empire thought that it couldn’t possibly get any better than this – well, it did.

Fukuyama’s position that Capitalism had finally triumphed made me chuckle. Capitalism is a fairly new ‘kid on the block’ – 300-400 years old maybe – but there is no guarantee that it’s going to be around forever. I don’t know what it might be replaced by but I do realise that it can (and probably will) be replaced. I also can’t help laughing at quite a few Science Fiction movies. Their ideas of the future amuse me greatly. If you’ve seen any/many you’ll know what I mean. They either see the future (no matter how far ahead) as either the same as now or as a throwback to our past. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen portrayals of the Roman Empire projected into our futures as if historical motifs are somehow endlessly recycled. If there’s one thing we can say about the future (and maybe it’s the only thing we can say) it’s that it will be different from the present (and from the past too). Of course many people don’t like that idea and either ignore it, rationalise it or actively try and do something about it (like outlawing certain types of research that make them uncomfortable).

Science fiction films in particular (books are generally MUCH better in this regard) play on our fears of the future – from alien invasion to rampaging robots they portray the future as dangerous if not downright lethal. Maybe it’s part of the larger process, particularly in the USA, of the apparent flight from reason and the denigration of science. There is a lack of trust - a lack of faith if you will - that we can build a better future. We, as a species, seem to have lost our self-confidence. Maybe that’s also the reason we don’t seem to write Utopia’s anymore. Those who have tried to build a better world are often deeply distrusted or vilified as fools, charlatans or worse demagogues. It’s true that many would-be Utopia builders in the past have tried to instil their vision of a ‘perfect world’ on largely unwilling populations (usually resulting in much death and destruction) but it doesn’t follow that the only way to make things better in the future is by destroying the past or the present.

Despite a particularly bloody 20th Century not everyone has lost all hope that things can improve. As a species we have a lot going for us – despite our many flaws – and I refuse to admit that it is beyond our capabilities to build a better world for our children and the generations that follow them. A first step in this process is the recapturing of hope and faith that we can do it.