The best possible story

Abstract

This article offers a critical reflection on the “End of History” thesis and the alleged definitive triumph of liberal democracy and capitalism at the end of the twentieth century. Through an examination of the major modern ideologies—liberalism, fascism, and communism—the author analyzes the discourse claiming that, following the collapse of communism and the military defeat of fascism, liberalism has emerged as the only legitimate and universal form of social organization. The study explores the philosophical and utopian foundations of this view, linking it to historicist traditions that conceive history as a process with a final goal. Against this perspective, the author challenges the notion of a homogeneous, pacified, and fully rational historical order, emphasizing the persistence of social conflicts, economic inequality, exploitation, violence, and new configurations of power. The article also criticizes liberal optimism that reduces historical problems to technical or economic issues and highlights the implicit resignation toward global poverty, racism, and inequality. The study concludes that history has not come to an end and that attempts to theoretically close it amount to yet another ideology, incapable of accounting for the complexity, contingency, and conflict inherent in human existence.