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https://theduran.com/the-fantasized-end-of-history-is-now-long-gone-so-whats-left/

The fantasized ‘End of History’ is now long gone. So: what’s left?

Eric Zuesse (blogs at https://theduran.com/author/eric-zuesse/)

In 1992, Francis Fukuyama’s best-seller The End of History predicted that the collapse of the communistic Soviet Union meant that the American system of government was unquestionably the right model for the world — that it was “the end of history,” meaning the big question of the Cold War had finally been answered: capitalism and American-styled democracy can now have no challenger. Even today, that book sells well and receives favorable reviews from its readers. But the world did not become more peaceful. In fact: the opposite happened, and America’s Government was the main reason why. The U.S. Congressional Research Service’s list of U.S. invasions (including increases in existing invasions) lists and briefly describes 297 such invasions after WW II (i.e., during 1945-2022, a 77-year period), and is titled “Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2022”. That 297 U.S. invasions in the past 77 years since 1945 is more than all of the instances put together during 1798-1945 — which was twice as long a period, 147-years. And none of those 297 invasions after 1944 was defensive. These were aggressions. Moreover, since Fukuyama was taking the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union as the historical turning-point: 244 of the 297 U.S. invasions occurred after the Soviet Union ended in 1991 and prior to Russia’s invading Ukraine in 2022. So, 82% of the 297 occurred after peace was supposed to have come. Moreover, during that entire time since 1991 (and even going all the way back to the end of WW II in 1945) there was no U.S. declaration of war and therefore no Constitutional legality for the invasion — not for any of America’s post-WW-II invasions). All of the 297 were unConstitutional (without an official congressional declaration of war). Most of them were purely aggressions (some in order to help a foreign tyrant suppress his own population). After the Soviet Union ended in 1991, the U.S. regime just went wild, internationally, and stepped-up the frequency of its invasions. Those included ones such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and many others. Starting in 2013, there were international polls on such questions as “Which nation is the biggest threat to world peace?” and America has always been named as that, and by overwhelming margins. And there were also U.S. coups, such as the one in Ukraine in 2014, which started the war there, to which Russia finally responded by invading Ukraine in 2022. History didn’t “end,” and America became worse. America’s Founders had insisted that there be no “standing army” in this nation. Until Truman had established the ‘Defense’ Department and CIA in 1947, there wasn’t any. That change, by him, created America’s military-industrial complex, including in 1947 the ‘Defense’ Department and the CIA, and the burgeoning armaments manufacturers, which now controls the country, on behalf of U.S. billionaires. This problem became even worse after the Soviet Union’s end than it had been when America started the Cold War on 25 July 1945.

The U.S. now has 900 military bases in foreign countries around the world, in addition to the 749 U.S. domestic military bases. The U.S. now is spending approximately half of the entire world’s military costs.

On 6 October 2023, the reddit website GENZ BORN 1996-2012 asked its readers, “What is your opinion of capitalism?” and now it shows 618 saying “it’s the best system in the world,” 889 saying “It’s okay, no complaints,” and 1,700 saying “it’s ineffective and should be replaced.”

Globally, only the Anglosphere countries and its admirers seem to agree with Fukuyama’s opinion that capitalism and America’s self-alleged “democracy” are the world’s standard.. Here are relevant extracts from the 

2020 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report

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Randomly selected 1,150 respondents in each of 28 countries around the world, surveyed by Edelman Worldwide, between 19 October and 18 November, in 2019

“2020 Edelman Trust Barometer”

GLOBALLY % (P. 12) say “yes” to: “Capitalism as it exists today does more harm than good in the world” = 56%

The biggest exceptions (where fewer than 56% agreed) were these (P. 66):

35% in Japan

45% in Hong Kong

4% in S. Korea

47% in U.S.

47% in Canada

50% in Australia

51% in Argentina

53% in UK

53% in Saudin Arabia

At the opposite end (high agreement with it) were:

Thailand 75%

India 74%

France 69%

Malaysia 68%

Indonesia 66%

China 63%

Italy 61%

Spain 60%

UAE 60%

Near the average of 56% were: Singapore, Kenya, S. Africa, Russia, Germany, Mexico, Ireland, Brazil, Colombia, and Netherlands.

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Here are other interesting findings from that global poll, and they too don’t seem to be particularly in line with Fukuyama’s thesis:

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GLOBALLY % (P. 17) trust:

(Which groups do you “have confidence … will be able to successfully address our country’s challenges?”)

Scientists = 80%

People in my local community = 69%

Citizens of my country = 65%

CEOs = 51%

Journalists = 50%

Religious leaders = 46%

Government leaders = 42%

The very wealthy = 36%

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SEEN AS COMPETENT (P.20), Only Business

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SEEN AS ETHICAL (P.20), Only NGOs

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TRUST IN GOVERNMENT (P. 40) (percentage in each nation):

S. Africa = 20%

Spain = 30%

Colombia = 33%

Russia = 33%

Argentina = 34%

Kenya = 34%

France = 35%

UK = 36%

Brazil = 37%

U.S. = 39%

Ireland = 41%

Italy = 41%

Hong Kong = 42%

Japan = 43%

Japan = 43%

Australia = 44%

Mexico = 44%

Germany = 45%

Germany = 45%

GLOBALLY = 49%

Canada = 50%

S. Korea = 51%

Malaysia = 58%

Netherlands = 59%

Thailand = 60%

Singapore = 70%

Indonesia = 75%

UAE = 76%

Saudi Arabia = 78%

India = 81%

China = 90%

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TRUST IN MEDIA (P. 42):

Russia = 28%

UK = 35%

France = 37%

Ireland = 37%

Japan = 37%

Australia = 39%

Spain = 43%

S. Korea = 43%

Brazil = 44%

Saudi Arabia = 46%

Colombia = 48%

U.S. = 48%

GLOBALLY = 49%

Germany = 49%

Italy = 49%

Hong Kong = 52%

Canada = 53%

Malaysia = 53%

UAE = 53%

Singapore = 55%

Kenya = 56%

Netherlands = 58%

Mexico = 59%

Thailand = 64%

Indonesia = 69%

India = 73%

China = 80%

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GLOBALLY % (P. 61) saying “yes” to: “Companies should stop advertising with any media platform that fails to prevent the spread of fake news and false information” = 72%. So, it seems that 72% of people want their ‘news’ to be censored. But yet, only 49% of people trust the media. And only 49% trust their government. So: Whom do those 72% want to do that censoring? Maybe they want business to do it? But the Edelman global average trust of business (P. 39) is 58% — still way below that 72%. Furthermore (P. 61): Globally, also by 72%, “ADVERTISERS HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR FAKE NEWS.” So: the global public seem not to want advertisers — BUSINESS — to be doing the censoring. The want it done, but whom do the want to do it? Here is a recent report on whom are actually doing the censoring.   

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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of  They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of  CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.