If there is no more material antithesis, the idea itself becomes the antithesis. -Me Proposal: The USSR and Fascism existed as antitheses to Social Democracy in Western Civilization. This resulted in a few key syntheses: 1) The destruction of radical authoritarianism (Fascism) 2) The end of free-market capitalism (1) Was produced by a combined synthesis of Social Democracy and state-capitalist authoritarianism, which historians generally call the United Front against Fascism. This material effort was carried out in each nation in various ways, political (such as the labelling of the German-American Bund a terrorist organization, and the repression of Germans in Russia), and cultural (connecting Stalinist Communism as the lesser of two evils in a fight against Fascism). (2) Was produced by internal antagonisms within the United States mixed with the external antagonism of the Soviet Union. Russian Communism invariably affected the working classes of Europe and America by giving them an idealistic statehood to consider, regardless of their ignorance of Stalinist Russia. This in turn produced demands and place pressure on Social Democratic states to respond to the demands. As a result we see the support for labor institutions throughout America, Britain, and following WW2...throughout Western Europe as well. This appeasement of the working classes was intended for one purpose: To prevent conditions of radicalism. We saw the same process re-occur in the 1950s and 60s during the Civil Rights movement. Together, points (1) and (2) mark the syntheses by which Social Democracy was transformed in the early-to-mid 20th century. The collapse of the Soviet Union was an unexpected turn of events, and ultimately removed the antithesis agitating conditions whereby Social Democracy was required to appease its citizens. Today we live in a society that lacks a material antithesis. The collapse of the USSR, the merger of Capital and State-Capital in China, and the suppression of radical Islam has collectively removed any feasibly material opposition to the Social Democratic order. This begs any dialectical or historical materialist to ask: What now? Was Fukuyama right? The answer is no. The answer lies in the one element of materialist dialectics that most are too hesitate to address: The ideal. Today the only remnant of any resistance to the State-Capitalist/Social Democratic order is the ideals of a more equitable society guided by ethics and morals. As such, it is the only prevailent antithesis. This is not new in the process of history. Marx himself began his entire philosophy of historical change on an idea...not on material conditions. His idea was later rectified by material conditions, but that nevertheless points to the importance of the ideal in manifesting a sense of purpose among antagonists to any given system. If there is no more material antithesis, the idea becomes the antithesis until it alters material conditions whereby a material antithesis is generated.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 20:54:31 +0000
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