25: The Return of History

On today’s show, Chong and Dan examine the elephant in the current affairs room - the Russo-Ukrainian War. We start by introducing the frame of the End of History, the famous work of political philosophy which posited liberal democracy as the final form of human government after the Cold War. The 1990s and 2000s were great, but now History is back with a vengeance. Rather than discussing the intricacies of the war, we unpack why the war matters by reflecting on four ideas:

1. There is such a thing as good and evil
2. Decadence is bad… war is so much worse
3. Be wary of righteous fervour
4. Don’t take peace and civilisation for granted

Music by: Julian Wan
 
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 Show notes
 
The End of History (3:32)

• Francis Fukuyama’s thesis - liberal democracy as the end state
• The 1990s and 2000s were very good!
• History returns… 2016, COVID-19, war on continental Europe

Wikipedia: The End of History and the Last Man

There is such a thing as good and evil (20:15)

• Genuine heroism - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian defenders, good samaritans helping Ukrainian refugees
• Evil is revealed - Russian President Vladimir Putin, foot soldiers and atrocities on the ground
• Reflections - we gravitate to moral complexity (e.g., in art and media), but war clarifies what is good and what is evil

How Zelensky Tamed Ukraine’s Fractious Politics and Stood Up to Putin

Decadence is bad… war is so much worse (34:03)

• Definition of decadence - economic stagnation, political stalemate, cultural exhaustion, demographic decline
• War is certainly not decadent, neither is Russia’s descent into a totalitarian state
• Be careful when you wish for suffering to strengthen resolve, or excitement to remove boredom…

The Age of Decadence

Be wary of righteous fervour (43:33)

• Economic sanctions, calls for military escalation, actual cancellation of Russian culture 
• Being blind to reason, discriminating on the basis of group identity, demanding loyalty oaths - this is what “liberal” ideals are meant to mitigate

Don’t take peace and civilisation for granted (50:45)

• The mechanisms for peace are shockingly fragile… you will always need walls manned by guns
• Jonah Goldberg: “History… is always out there… staring at us with feral yellow eyes that are hard to see through the light pollution of modern civilisation…”

Chesterton’s Defense

Conclusion (1:00:36)

• After the Berlin Wall fell, we were supposed to progress to peace, love and freedom forever… how naive we were
• The Bible takes a longer view - the whole creation is in the pains of childbirth (Romans 8:18-25) until Jesus returns and brings history to an end