Right Here, Right Now absolutely nails the vibe of 1991! It unfailingly transports me right back to that heady moment.
I was in Germany that summer after grad school, and that song was truly everywhere (along with REM's Losing my Religion).
Laat fall, I was in Germany again, listening to friends concerned about rising costs of the Ukraine war, rising costs of fuel, and the rising far-right.
Thud.
Europe is once again heavy with history: similar complex geopolitics, insecurity, tension.
I was there at that same time as a high school exchange student. It was an amazing time. I also remember the civil wars in the Former Yugoslavia starting while I was there.
I do recall hearing of Fukuyama's assertive title and considering it both in a literal sense and in a figurative sense. Now, that said, I must add that I am not nearly as well educated as you, Professor Potter (I say that with great humility) and I have notably more than two decades of age on you, so my perspective is somewhat different.
I further recall noting to some friends that, while I was not present at the previous time, THIS time reminded me greatly of the events of 1848. Again, I was not present at that earlier time and could comment only from reading history books; I was simply noting that the (then current) disruption - albeit not resulting from war but from immense civil unrest and ferment - was similar to that of the previous period, i.e. 1848. Strangely, I have had no reason in the more than three decades since to change my comparison. Odd, that.
I don't think it changes until the basic information space of our political conversation changes. Maybe AI will change things. But right now it's very hard to see.
"The division of the world into two opposing ideologies, and the entire cultural, social, economic and military apparatus that went along with that, was the water in which we had swum for our entire lives."
As fate would have it, I'm writing this from a hotel in Berlin, located in what used to be East Berlin. Of note, we were informed upon checking in that this part of the city is undergoing a development boom, the result of opportunities being viewed through the lens of the free market. Years after breaking free from the subjugation of totalitarianism and the stagnation it left in its wake, those looking for investment potentials have had their eyes opened to this part of Berlin. Quite the renaissance underway around me.
My first time here, I found quite the contrast striking between Berlin and other great European cities, particularly Paris, where we had started our journey earlier this month. When one visits a museum there, it is usually to see the art works of the great masters - Jacques-Louis David, Théodore Géricault, Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh - among many others. Berlin is another story.
Everything and every theme seems centered around the Nazi and Communist eras, seven horrific decades that fundamentally altered and scarred this otherwise beautiful city. The wounds of conflict and oppression are visible everywhere one walks - bullet holes patched on the stone façades and pillars of its architectural wonders; cobblestones marking the route where the Berlin Wall once stood (only a few remnants of that oppressive symbol still remain).
The first museum we toured was "Topographie Des Terrors", located on Niederkirchnerstraße (just down the road from "Checkpoint Charlie"), previously the site of the Nazi's Reich Security Main Office and apparatus, headquarters of the SS, Gestapo, and other deplorable agencies. Pulverized during the Battle of Berlin in 1945 and later bulldozed, the site now serves as a memorial and a museum, which includes a permanent exhibition highlighting the reach of despots establishing and developing the instrument of outright terror over Germans, then expanding it to other countries the Nazis conquered in the years after Hitler and his party came to power. It also includes an extensive overview of the efforts by the communists apparatus to oppress and restrain the free movement of people yearning for a better life - certainly not the one communists quickly ushered in after the Nazis were crushed.
My point in all of this is that Fukuyama had it wrong. If the events around the world (including Canada) over the last decade are any indication, history continues to evolve. Those intent on pulling everyone else into their orbit of influence and control are still out there. The fall of communism lulled most into thinking that we've reached the end of the book, when really it was just the closing of another chapter. The next chapter is still being written.
The same theme that emerges throughout human history is the struggle that follows when despotism - whether through ideologies, movements, political entities, or the individuals leading them - rears its ugly head in some form to dominate and subjugate others to its will...
"Demands for unequal recognition ": in a nutshell, the encapsulation of what has become of our western liberal democracies. If everyone deserves special recognition, no one has it. The essence of our current culture wars.
Right Here, Right Now absolutely nails the vibe of 1991! It unfailingly transports me right back to that heady moment.
I was in Germany that summer after grad school, and that song was truly everywhere (along with REM's Losing my Religion).
Laat fall, I was in Germany again, listening to friends concerned about rising costs of the Ukraine war, rising costs of fuel, and the rising far-right.
Thud.
Europe is once again heavy with history: similar complex geopolitics, insecurity, tension.
And that was before Trump 2.0 was unleashed!
I was there at that same time as a high school exchange student. It was an amazing time. I also remember the civil wars in the Former Yugoslavia starting while I was there.
I wish I had been less up my own ass that year, and had gotten on a plane to Europe to be there.
I do recall hearing of Fukuyama's assertive title and considering it both in a literal sense and in a figurative sense. Now, that said, I must add that I am not nearly as well educated as you, Professor Potter (I say that with great humility) and I have notably more than two decades of age on you, so my perspective is somewhat different.
I further recall noting to some friends that, while I was not present at the previous time, THIS time reminded me greatly of the events of 1848. Again, I was not present at that earlier time and could comment only from reading history books; I was simply noting that the (then current) disruption - albeit not resulting from war but from immense civil unrest and ferment - was similar to that of the previous period, i.e. 1848. Strangely, I have had no reason in the more than three decades since to change my comparison. Odd, that.
This ends rather pessimistically, but I can’t see how it could end any other way, unfortunately. Sigh.
I don't think it changes until the basic information space of our political conversation changes. Maybe AI will change things. But right now it's very hard to see.
That Jesus Jones song is 100% the song for that moment. I want to cry at the idea that the “upshot” of any of this is eternal culture wars.
Maybe not eternal; I think they will wax and wane, but I think we will always be pushed in that direction.
One hand in my pocket and the other is giving a peace sign….
"The division of the world into two opposing ideologies, and the entire cultural, social, economic and military apparatus that went along with that, was the water in which we had swum for our entire lives."
As fate would have it, I'm writing this from a hotel in Berlin, located in what used to be East Berlin. Of note, we were informed upon checking in that this part of the city is undergoing a development boom, the result of opportunities being viewed through the lens of the free market. Years after breaking free from the subjugation of totalitarianism and the stagnation it left in its wake, those looking for investment potentials have had their eyes opened to this part of Berlin. Quite the renaissance underway around me.
My first time here, I found quite the contrast striking between Berlin and other great European cities, particularly Paris, where we had started our journey earlier this month. When one visits a museum there, it is usually to see the art works of the great masters - Jacques-Louis David, Théodore Géricault, Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh - among many others. Berlin is another story.
Everything and every theme seems centered around the Nazi and Communist eras, seven horrific decades that fundamentally altered and scarred this otherwise beautiful city. The wounds of conflict and oppression are visible everywhere one walks - bullet holes patched on the stone façades and pillars of its architectural wonders; cobblestones marking the route where the Berlin Wall once stood (only a few remnants of that oppressive symbol still remain).
The first museum we toured was "Topographie Des Terrors", located on Niederkirchnerstraße (just down the road from "Checkpoint Charlie"), previously the site of the Nazi's Reich Security Main Office and apparatus, headquarters of the SS, Gestapo, and other deplorable agencies. Pulverized during the Battle of Berlin in 1945 and later bulldozed, the site now serves as a memorial and a museum, which includes a permanent exhibition highlighting the reach of despots establishing and developing the instrument of outright terror over Germans, then expanding it to other countries the Nazis conquered in the years after Hitler and his party came to power. It also includes an extensive overview of the efforts by the communists apparatus to oppress and restrain the free movement of people yearning for a better life - certainly not the one communists quickly ushered in after the Nazis were crushed.
My point in all of this is that Fukuyama had it wrong. If the events around the world (including Canada) over the last decade are any indication, history continues to evolve. Those intent on pulling everyone else into their orbit of influence and control are still out there. The fall of communism lulled most into thinking that we've reached the end of the book, when really it was just the closing of another chapter. The next chapter is still being written.
The same theme that emerges throughout human history is the struggle that follows when despotism - whether through ideologies, movements, political entities, or the individuals leading them - rears its ugly head in some form to dominate and subjugate others to its will...
This is super interesting. Thanks so much for taking the time to write this. I really need to get to Berlin....
"Demands for unequal recognition ": in a nutshell, the encapsulation of what has become of our western liberal democracies. If everyone deserves special recognition, no one has it. The essence of our current culture wars.