Society Neglects Change
In the article “From ‘End of History’, a Look at the Beginning and Middle” by Nicholas Wade, we found interesting points about the political, social, and religious change and transitions of society. "Human social behavior has an evolutionary basis." This was the thesis in Edward Wilson’s book Sociobiology. Because of the shared human nature, he observed that politics are often found in recurring patterns. Dr. Melzer admired Dr. Fukuyama’s view that societies develop politically in several different ways, followed by selection of the more successful, rather than marching along a single road to political development. This is interesting—essentially saying what we look for is the selection of the more successful. If we look back on history, we can see so many examples of times in which society has not chosen the most successful rulers. However, it is indeed our goal to decide on the best possible person to govern or rule our political views. The first major social development, in Dr. Fukuyama’s view, was the transition from hunter-gatherer bands to tribes. This was made possible by religious ideas that united large numbers of people in worship of a common ancestor.
Warfare also forced the second major social transition, from tribe to state. States are better organized and more stable than tribes, since tribes tend to dissolve in fighting after the death of a leader. Institutions can be extremely difficult to change, he felt. This is because once they are created, people start to add religious value to them. Societies are usually extremely slow to change. Societies are not trapped by their past, but nor are they free in any given generation to remake themselves. Just as institutions are hard to change, they are also hard to develop. “Poor countries are poor not because they lack resources,” Dr. Fukuyama writes, “but because they lack effective political institutions.” The absence of a strong rule of law, in his view, is “one of the principal reasons why poor countries can’t achieve higher rates of growth.” I agree with this statement of Dr. Fukayama’s. So does this mean that the recession we are currently in is all due to the lack of a strong rule of law? Looking back on history, there have been so many changes religiously, politically, and socially over the years. From this article, we can learn that many people don’t like to change and transition out of the norm. Due to this fact, it's fascinating how many transitions society has experienced over the many years!
Works Cited
Warfare also forced the second major social transition, from tribe to state. States are better organized and more stable than tribes, since tribes tend to dissolve in fighting after the death of a leader. Institutions can be extremely difficult to change, he felt. This is because once they are created, people start to add religious value to them. Societies are usually extremely slow to change. Societies are not trapped by their past, but nor are they free in any given generation to remake themselves. Just as institutions are hard to change, they are also hard to develop. “Poor countries are poor not because they lack resources,” Dr. Fukuyama writes, “but because they lack effective political institutions.” The absence of a strong rule of law, in his view, is “one of the principal reasons why poor countries can’t achieve higher rates of growth.” I agree with this statement of Dr. Fukayama’s. So does this mean that the recession we are currently in is all due to the lack of a strong rule of law? Looking back on history, there have been so many changes religiously, politically, and socially over the years. From this article, we can learn that many people don’t like to change and transition out of the norm. Due to this fact, it's fascinating how many transitions society has experienced over the many years!
Works Cited
