The End of History and the Last Man

The End of History and the Last Man created quite a stir when it was published shortly after the end of the cold war. The book is primarily a response to Marx's belief that history would end with the Communist revolution. This didn't happen. Instead, Fukuyama argues that a modern system with democracy and capitalism as the base has emerged as the primary system in the world.

The book is quite dense and explores many different forms of political rule and economy. War and territorial aggrandizement are no longer preferred means of growth. In past times people were willing to risk death to become rulers. Those that wanted the easier life became servants. Now things have moved more economical with people choosing what to do and optimizing for it. Economies where the government pretends to pay people have workers that pretend to work. Included in the afterward is time looking back at the decades following the publication.