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The End of Ideology?

Patrick Nulty
Riversdale Community College

The tenth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall has been and gone amid much celebration and commemoration in Germany and the western world in general. This event signified to many people in both Eastern and Western Europe, the collapse of the old Communist regimes and the end of the ideological struggles that dominated this century and the latter part of the previous century. This is far from the actuality of the situation.

When the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe fell the Western powers claimed it to be a victory for human rights and democracy. However, the governments of the West proved that their concern for human rights was only a fleeting one as they stood back and allowed the industrial, economic and judicial branches of the State, particularly in the former Soviet Union, to collapse resulting in economic chaos and huge social deprivation. Today we hear nothing from western governments about human rights in Russia or elsewhere in Eastern Europe instead the people of these countries have been left in the hands of politicians just as corrupt as their Communist predecessors as well the ever increasing power of organised crime. This can be seen in the huge black economy in many of these countries combined with constantly changing governments.

Just as the repressive and corrupt Communist systems of Eastern Europe, which had long since abandoned the idealism and humanity of great Socialist thinkers like Marx and Trotsky, could not be sustained neither can the rampant individualism and greed found in Western Europe. The question is not if it will be replaced but when and what will replace it.
Throughout Europe the evil face of Fascism is raising its head once more. The far right has made significant electoral gains in France and Austria over recent years and is growing as a political alternative in many other European countries like Germany, Italy and so on. In Eastern Europe too, the far right and extreme Nationalists with their promises of strong leadership and renewed National pride are receiving ever-increasing support.

Another threat comes from the rise in membership of so-called new Christian Churches, which provide clear and distinct answers to people's worries and concerns about the world. Although the established churches are decreasing in power and influence these radical Protestant churches as well as Islamic Fundamentalism are rapidly increasing in membership. In America there are calls in many of the States, like Kansas, to stop teaching evolution in schools and instead abide by the biblical explanation for creation. This is simply the politics of "Superstition and myth" and is of no greater value than the tribal witchdoctor or a carnival fortune-teller.

The capitalist system sets people targets they can never hope to achieve, standards which they can never attain and produces a general lack of contentment with themselves and the world in which they live. Capitalism causes many people to either drive themselves into the ground striving to reach the ever-increasing heights set by big business and media or else to drop out from society altogether. Many people will then follow the most basic and least attractive side of human nature, which is apathy towards the world around you and gross selfish indulgence. This can be seen either through an over reliance drugs, alcohol or something else.

The alternative to all these apocalyptic scenarios is to construct a society in which people are provided the necessary levels of education and health care as well as an income which allows them to genuinely experience the world rather then just existing in it. To create such a society will require ambition and unrelenting political will. However, if people elect and are given the opportunity to elect politicians who, when making every political decision from the minor to the major, ask themselves if the decision they make will lead to a more tolerant, more open, more equitable society then progress can be made.

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