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Towards a New End of the World?

During the summer of 1989, Francis Fukuyama wrote an essay, published in the American magazine “The National Interest” where he declared the “End of History”. Since then, many have tried to interpret what he might have wanted to express. One way to interpret his saying is by examining the social and economic circumstances of the world at that time. In the summer of 1989, the “Cold War” had reached its end. The fall of the Soviet Union and its subordinate communist countries in Eastern Europe signaled the final victory of Capitalism over Communism.

Three years later, Fukuyama wrote a book about it, explaining what he meant. He believed that the end of the “Cold War” meant the end of the fight between ideologies and that the big winners were capitalism and liberal democracy. He also stated that he was sure that there were going to be societies that would choose a different path but without a doubt, the best possible solution for the well-being of people would be capitalism and liberal democracy.

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This end of history and the declaration of capitalism and liberal democracy as the winners of competing systems, resulting end of ideological fights, was believed to favor people’s well-being. With the fall of socialism, a new system has risen. Neo-liberalism, which was introduced some decades back, overthrew liberalism and conquered the world. Liberty, equality, and fraternity were replaced by profit margins. Capitalism and neo-liberalism were relatively new and people were completely unaware or uninterested in its future consequences. They wanted to escape the authoritarian regimes of communism and welcomed neo-liberalism.

Many have underestimated or overlooked the periodical crisis that capitalism and neo-liberalism generated in order to survive, evolve, and expand. Among the consequences of these crises were the rise of fundamentalism in the Middle East, increasing terroristic actions, the U.S. campaigns in the Middle East, the economic crash of 2008, and the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor people of the world.

The endurance of the system walks on thin ice. After almost ten years of austerity, people hoped for a turn towards growth and development. 2019 seemed the start of a turning point. Especially the countries of southern Europe started to experience a ray of hope. But then something unexpected happened: A pandemic surfaced, the first since the Spanish Flu back in the 1930s, and it challenged the capabilities of the system to retaliate.

Western Europe and the U.S., the founding fathers of capitalism and liberal and neo-liberal democracy, are facing a danger that can decide the future of the end of history. After 10 years of austerity, a new challenge is rising. The health crisis leads neo-liberal democracy to a crossroad, that has two paths. The first path follows the high ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity which constitute liberal democracy across the world. This means small or no profit margins at all but the maintenance of people’s standard of living at a satisfying level. The second path follows the laws of the free market which is promoted by capitalism and neo-liberalism, and the choice is between people and profit margins. So far, governments across the world have chosen the second path. To follow this path, people may have to undergo yet another financial crash in order for capitalism to survive.

If governments stick to choosing the second path, people will start revising the alleged “end of history”. The results of this revision are of a wide range. Racism, xenophobia, nationalism, socialism, anarchism, military coups, a new “Cold War” or even a third World War may resurface.

It is the start of another “end of history”.

Chinese Technology – A Political Tool of the Chinese Communist Party?

Investments in research and development are key factors for the competitiveness of one’s economy, and according to research, the correlation between a country’s technological innovation and its economic power is indeed positive. As Xi Jinping has done everything in his power to utilise Chinese technological supremacy in international politics, it is vital to examine the relationship between technological development and political power to explain how it has come to the point of China soon overtaking the US as the most powerful country in the world.

Women in Power: Peggy Carter, the World of Intelligence, and a Powerful Role Model for Women

Representation in media (comics, films, television series, and video games) has become a hot button issue over the past decade. In March of 2022, the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film of San Diego State University found “that men outnumbered women onscreen by a factor of 2 to 1 in 2021”. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is no exception and has had its share of sexist, derogatory, and stereotypical depictions of women. However, in at least one, rather niche area, the MCU does excel in their representation of women: particularly in their representation of women within Intelligence Communities (IC) around the globe via the character of Peggy Carter.

The Cost of Fast Fashion

Fast fashion has become a bane to the fashion industry, society, and the environment. While fast fashion opens doors for ordinary individuals to partake in and enjoy fashion, it comes at the expense of exploited garment workers, the plagiarism of artistic work of fashion designers, and most inimically, inhibits any climate protection activism and progress.

Is democracy failing us?

In recent years, especially after Covid-19, Europe has seen a rise in far-right attitudes and change in the internal political systems of single states. Some far-right parties have encountered more support from the citizens, some governments changed directions altogether. Can this phenomenon be considered a consequence of the health crisis and to what extent was this development already apparent before the pandemic?

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