Introduction

Abstract

The End of History was the title of Francis Fukuyama’s book (Fukuyama 1992), suggesting that with the demise of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall, the consequence was that The Market had come out victorious after the Cold War, and now there was only one way ahead, and the savior capitalism would relentlessly lead to democracy. Now we know that this is not the case, and Fukuyama issued in 2006 an extraordinary mea culpa. Recent history shows that variants of capitalism can thrive well—and perhaps even better—with authoritarian regimes, and China is a case in point. Russia is another example, although economically not so successful as China. In Europe, pseudo-fascist governments have taken over in the name of capitalism and “illiberalism”: Hungary, Poland, and Italy, to name a few. In Brazil, an openly fascist president has taken over with the avowed promise to “crush communism” (Lula and the Workers Party) once and for all. Even in the United States—the beacon of freedom—the alternative right has taken over the White House. “Every age has its own fascism,” warned Primo Levi, and continued, “It does not have to arise through violence. It can suffice with the manipulation of the opinion, and the poisoning of the legal system” (Levi 1959).