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rfmcdonaldWhen I was 10, I bought Apocalypse 2000: Economic breakdown and the suicide of democracy 1989-2000 in a remaindered books bin, for $C2.99. It was 1990, and the Berlin Wall had already fallen (I had, in fact, bought two concrete chips certified to have come from the wall by the accompanying East German customs documents), and pessimistic books like Apocalypse 2000 no longer made any sense. Fukuyama was right.
Who would imagine that the United States would be marked by growing internal political visions, ill-judged foreign military adventures, religious nationalism, terrorist violence, and disputed presidential elections? Or that Japan would be paralyzed by a stagnant economy and possessed by growing fears about its future place in the world? Or that western Europe could unify behind a xenophobic populist concerned with defending--and expanding--the boundaries of "Europe" as much as possible? Or that Russia was slowly but surely heading for breakdown? Or that the Middle East and Africa would be scarred by pointless but pervasive mass violence?
I wish that I was 10 again.
Who would imagine that the United States would be marked by growing internal political visions, ill-judged foreign military adventures, religious nationalism, terrorist violence, and disputed presidential elections? Or that Japan would be paralyzed by a stagnant economy and possessed by growing fears about its future place in the world? Or that western Europe could unify behind a xenophobic populist concerned with defending--and expanding--the boundaries of "Europe" as much as possible? Or that Russia was slowly but surely heading for breakdown? Or that the Middle East and Africa would be scarred by pointless but pervasive mass violence?
I wish that I was 10 again.
