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End of History Francis Fukuyama doge meme example.

End of History (Francis Fukuyama)

Updated Apr 23, 2024 at 01:29PM EDT by Zach.

Added Apr 23, 2024 at 05:06AM EDT by sakshi.

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Overview

End of History is a political and philosophical concept often attributed to Francis Fukuyama in his book The End of History and the Last Man. The "End of History" refers to the idea that a particular political and economic system may constitute the final form of human government. According to Fukuyama, this takes the form of a liberal democracy and a market economy. Memes about the "End of History" play on the idea put forth by Fukuyama, with some memes joking about how the rise of ideologies like fascism contradicts his conclusions about liberalism being the final form of governance.

Background

Fukuyama was not the first to theorize about the "End of History," with philosophers like Hegel and later Heidegger grappling with what it means to "historicize" and reason with the past. However, Fukuyama came to be most closely associated with the phrase after he published his book The End of History and the Last Man in 1992.[1]

The idea for Fukuyama's book sprung from the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and centered around the idea that liberal democracy and the market economy are now the standard for governments, now that ideologies like fascism and communism have both fallen to give way to largely liberal democracies around the world.[2]



Online Presence

Fukuyama's "End of History" thesis gained renewed attention after the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections, as seen in coverage by Vox.[3]

A meme posted to Reddit's /r/dankmemes[4] on October 28th, 2017, used the phrase "end of history" to joke about Spain's final form of government being communism, gathering over 100 upvotes in seven years (seen below).


DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM M X لحمد لحد The past The near future End of history

On July 6th, 2019, Redditor[5] /u/ZviHM posted a meme about Fukuyama's work being proven wrong by "current events" (seen below).


The works of Francis Fukuyama Current events

On July 19th, 2019, X[6] user @BungaCast posted a meme about Fukuyama's "end of history" thesis, gathering over 600 likes in five years (seen below, left). On September 30th, 2023, Redditor[7] /u/New_Antelope2060 posted a meme about Fukuyama's theses to /r/NonCredibleDiplomacy, gathering over 300 upvotes in six months (seen below, right).


Francis Fukuyama History Francis Fukuyama History Francis Fukuyama DUNDER MUFFLIN STOP trying to end history! Sam Huntington Francis Fukuyama -YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M GONNA end history EVEN HARDER. FRANCIS FUKUYAMA THE ORIGINS OF POLITICAL ORDER FROM PREHUMAN THORYTE THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FRANCIS FUKUYAMA POLITICAL ORDER AND POLITICAL DECAY to 200 GLOBIizione OFDEMOCRACY

Various Examples


IDEAS A The Atlantic Subscribe More Proof That This Really Is the End of History Over the past year, it has become evident that there are key weaknesses at the core of seemingly strong authoritarian states. By Francis Fukuyama I want you to put the word out there that we back up. End of History Francis made with mematic Fukuyama CN+D Unipolarity Machine is broke CN HD Francis Fukuyama: *writes "The End of History"* History: "Aagh, call an ambulance!" "But not for me"
Che end of the end of the history *...Brother America and Brother China are gearing up for war...* *...Europe went authorian, and Russia is paranoid again...* *...I always knew that my little end-of-the-world post-modernist utopia would not last forewer. The reality is objective, the laws of nature and civilization development would not change just because you wished them to. At some moment you just need to stop delude yourself. * *...But I never thought it would happens so soon...* End History I Am No Longer Asking Zane Follow @crackazhouenlai When it's the End of History so you just start making s--- in CAD francis.fukuyama Palo Alto, California 0 108 likes francis.fukuyama Just created this replacement part for my drill press on Fusion 360. 11:30 AM Jan 8, 2024 · 90K Views Σ

Search Interest

External References

[1] Jstor – Fukuyama

[2] YouTube – Fukuyama Explains

[3] Vox – How The 2016 Election Undermines Fukuyama

[4]  Reddit – /r/dankmemes

[5] Reddit – HistoryMemes

[6] X – BungaCast

[7] Reddit – /r/NonCredibleDiplomacy

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Top Comments

qx1511
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qx1511

Whatever the End of History was, I’d say in practice, all that mentality did was set in a feeling of complacency, which allowed corruption to destabilize Liberalism as well as allowed rogue actors like China and Russia to make their moves. Even if Liberalism is the best system out there, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need careful maintenance

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Nox Lucis
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Nox Lucis

I could have sworn we already had this entry.
But more to the point, this whole political theory is the equivalent of trying to use fairytale logic to explain geopolitics. The whole premise is so laughable, its only serious merit is to serve as a point of reference for when similar bullshit pops up.

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