INTERVIEW* The liberal democracy creates prosperity and peace. But there is more to human
existence than just money and security, and liberal democracy cannot deliver
that. We must do so ourselves - and it's not going well. The American political
thinker Francis Fukuyama gives some suggestions on why.
By Lars Andreassen, Egå Ungdoms-Højskole, and Andreas
Harbsmeier, Editor at Højskolebladet **
We know him
for something completely different. But Francis Fukuyama’s, one of the most prominent
intellectuals of the last 30 years, home of Palto Alto, California, is filled
with all sorts of tools. Here he spends time – when he is not out and traveling
or teaching at the university – making, among other things, reproductions of
antique wooden furniture, which, according to his own opinion, he would
otherwise not be able to afford.
Now he sits
in a bright room at Aarhus University in Denmark talking about the big questions
of human existence and the basic conditions of life. His voice subdued and
sentences eloquent. He prefers to sit with his back against the big floor to ceiling window, where the early summer sun shines sharply, so he can see who he is
talking to.
"My dad
wanted to build model ships. But he couldn't do it while he was working
so he waited until he retired at the age of 65. I always thought it was a pity
to wait. I might as well enjoy it right away if it doesn’t get in the way of
the things I have to do to take care of my work – so why not?" He asks
rhetorically and smiles.
He rejects
that there is a direct link between his intellectual work and his love for
woodwork – or one of the other hobbies he spends time on.
"But
it's very satisfying to create something you can touch and use. I enjoy doing
it. I think that everyone likes to create something with their hands –
something that can be used," Fukuyama explains, while we inform him that
there seem to be a tendency in Denmark – especially at the folk schools – to explore
artisanal skills and create stuff that can be immediately put to use.
Few other
things give him more satisfaction than building this furniture. But he feels a
bit lonely in his artisanal interests. A few years ago, he wanted sell some of
his electrical tools, but couldn’t even find someone to pass them on to for
free. "People were too busy updating their iPhones."
In one of
his earlier books, Fukuyama quoted the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) saying that labor is the essence of being human.
"People
express their freedom – essence – through their ability to mold and transform
the world and make it a place they can live. Work has the role of being a
source of value and a source of human recognition and dignity," Fukuyama
explains, moving from the concrete to the general condition of human life.
The work
must, of course, satisfy human basic biological needs, but it must also satisfy
the human pride and need for recognition, thymos, as Fukuyama calls it with a
concept borrowed from Platon.
"People
would also want to be recognized to excel, to do better than others. It is the
origin of both envy and competition. The ancient aristocratic understanding of
dignity had to do with putting one’s life at stake in battle. In the context of
democratization, we’ve move from war-based ethics to ethics where dignity is
supposed to be an inherent trait in everyone. Everybody works, but not everyone
is a warrior."
The equality
in citizens is an essential feature of the liberal society – the mark of
democracy - but equality in liberal democracies also means a narrow space for
the thymotic desires to be fulfilled. That is, the urge to be recognized as better
than others.
The defect
in the core of liberalism
Back in 1989 the today 64 years old American with Japanese roots had a regular intellectual world
hit with the idea of the end of history. Fukuyama then looked back
at the two hot world wars and one cold and found that nationalism, fascism,
nazism and socialism all had failed in their efforts to bring prosperity,
freedom and peace to the people of the world. Only liberal democracy remained.
History was over – in the realm of ideas, that is.
However,
Fukuyama wrote at that time that there is a defect in the core of liberalism. It
contains no predetermined meaning, no directions to what is right and what is wrong.
Each individual is his own master in the liberal society, totally unbound and
left to his own judgements, which, Fukuyama warned, may also prove to be the
greatest threat to freedom and peace.
Fukuyama
points out that there is no longer anything to fight for in the liberal
democracy, at least nothing that can seriously evoke a feeling of pride within
us. Liberalism, so to speak, is empty – without the completeness that
traditionally accompanies religious communities. Freedom has won, prosperity as
well, and to a degree so that even self-satisfaction at the end of a good day's
work is endangered. Thus, it thwarts thymotic desires in modern western
society. Boredom and existential emptiness knock on the door and threaten to
restart history. Maybe it already have.
"I
think there is a correlation between political tumult and the lack of
existential guidance in liberalism. What the liberal democracy promises you is
peace and prosperity – basically. It is a political system that can resolve conflicts
without the use of violence. It is an economic system that produces a lot of
material prosperity, so people want to live in that kind of society. But when
they are in it, it appears to them that there is more in life than just peace
and prosperity. They want struggle and they want recognition and other things.
And it creates frictions in liberal societies," Fukuyama says, referring
to many of the negative movements that are taking place right now.
"Some
people turn to religion, other people against endless desires. Or they turn to
other forms of competition that do not really satisfy them. I think it might be
Donald Trump's problem. He does not know when to stop. "
Denmark
is one of the most equal countries in the world – perhaps the most equal. In The End of History you worry
about equality as a threat to stability.
"There
are a number of threats right now because the development of global capitalism
has caused a number of economic inequalities. There are oligarchs in any
society - extremely wealthy people who use their wealth to gain political power
in ways that ordinary people do not have access to. And then we also have a
problem with people who are not working because of automation and technological
development. Many people's jobs disappear at high speed. And if their dignity
is linked to their ability to work, it's a real problem because they then have
no source of pride and dignity in their lives."
How
about the elections in Holland and France [where populist parties didn’t succed
to the degree expected or feared]. Would you interpret them in the sense that
it is now occuring to people that democracy is not something we can take for granted. It's not
just something we can count on. Perhaps we may even transcend our personal life
and find something worthwhile in the struggle to preserve democracy – maybe a
thymotic struggle?
"I
hope that's what's happening. People have found out that there is a real threat
to democracy from within. They mobilize to defend. This is happening at least
in the United States. Many young people did not even vote for the latest
elections. But suddenly, with Trump as elected, they have realized that it may
make a difference," Fukuyama says, and move a little back in the chair.
"In
Europe, there are many problems with unemployment, especially among young
people, but in many respects Europeans have forgotten the reason why the EU was
created. They wanted to avoid war. They wanted to create a foundation for
prosperity. And they did. But now, the European population take it for granted.
It is especially striking to witness excatly that in Eastern Europe as the generation that grew up after the fall of communism is coming to power. They do
not remember any of the great ideological matches so they assume that they live
in a democracy and that they do not have to fight for it. Part of the problem
is that people underestimate the value of democracy just as soon as they get
it."
The meaning
of life
While Trump
according to Fukuyama does not know where to stop, the opposite is true for
many young people in Denmark. They really don’t know where to start. They are
sucked into this meaningless void in the midst of the liberal society's
abundance of material goods and opportunities. They seem to struggle to find
out how to get into life, find purpose and meaning. Where should they look?
"Earlier,
religion gave that kind of meaning to people - or the ideological struggle,
which nowaday, however, is largely absent too. We live in secular societies
where people no longer believe in any transcendental purpose. People do not
think there is an utopia they can fight for. We almost inhabit utopia,"
Fukuyama says, but people do not realize it. There are other possibilities
which he wants to point out:
"Even
if Denmark or the United States or another developed democracy is peaceful and
prosperous, it does not mean there are no injustices in other parts of the
world. Once I led an international development program in my teaching where
people went to poor countries to help them with development. Such
activities complement many young people's idealism," he says. Something like that of course could resonate with most Danish folkschool students.
"Another
obvious purpose could be just to make money. It is not a particularly rewarding
thing to do, but there is a group of people who see it as their challenge to
become richer than others. It's a empty life, but it's better than using your
time to gather weapons and rule other people with violence," says
Fukuyama.
His third
example is from a completely different domain. "If you are looking at
extreme sports, it is fascinating", he says with a suggestive smile,
"to see how many people, who for example are trying to climb Mount
Everest. There are many approaches you can take in the seach for meaning. Much
of it is also empty, but it is one of the problems that arise when we leave all
thoughts of a transcendent purpose of life," says Fukuyama, looking out at
the University's Park.
In your
book Our Post-Human
Future (2002), you notice that we tend to try to make the existence less
complex - and reduce human life to a matter of well-being. And if we struggle
then we struggle to avoid personal suffering and pain.
"It's
difficult to argue for it, but I think that being human is also about dealing
with suffering and disease. No one wants more suffering and death, but in a
sense, the greatest human virtues come out of the struggle to overcome those
things. We admire people who risk their lives for the community - even if they
are killed. Because they strive for something higher than their own lives. I
think that much modern biomedicine tries to pretend that suffering and death
can be overcome on a permanent basis. And I think it will make us less human in
the end."
A potential
dehumanizer
In Denmark
it is often argued by people with liberalist views that the welfare state
pacifies people and thus prevents them from searching and creating their own
meaning in life.
"It's
a typical objection in the US toward the welfare state that it relieves people
from personal responsibility. But it is imperative that the
Government can take over from time to time, because much of what happens to
people is not a result of their own choices. They cannot take responsibility
if the entire industry in which they are engaged collapses because of foreign
competition. The state has a certain obligation to step in and help them with
for instance education. But you can come in a situation where, if you do not
feel that you have any responsibility for your own life you become
less of a human."
Is it
fair then to say that the welfare state might lead to dehumanizing?
"Yes,
it is. The problem is that no welfare state is rich enough to satisfy
everyone's basic needs. There is a lot of debate about the need for universal income because of the technological development and as a
consequence of that there will not be enough meaningful work left. This is a
big problem because, as I said, people's dignity depends on their ability to
work and that they are paid to make something useful to society. If you just
get a paycheck from the government, you will not spend your time creating
something creative and beautiful. You'll just feel bad about yourself."
There
are some people in Denmark who live on social benefits and seem to accept a
life with entertainment and consumption, who do not seem to have an internal
drive towards creativity and enterprise. The lack of internal drive also seems
to apply to some young people. How do we inspire and motivate those people?
"What
you are doing is important. You work with young people. You must teach them
that work is meaningful and has an intrinsic value. The Folk High
Schools sound like an excellent institution."
* The interview was published in Danish in
Højskolebladet #4 /June/ 2017 /pp. 18-24
** Thanks to Chase Doctor for help with the translation.
