Publisher's Synopsis
In our world of nuclear weapons and global warming, when the future of humanity appears uncertain, battlegrounds have opened up between the US and China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Libya and Syria. In this atmosphere of global economic and military conflicts, we tend to forget what unites us - what is the "Goodness" that has created large communities living together in peace and relative harmony, while the "Evil" of violence and exploitation has been progressively suppressed over our long evolutionary history? In this brief but comprehensive review of human history, the author investigates the development of tribes, nations and multinational states to determine what kind of a state would satisfy the needs and desires of human beings at this time. In the process of this investigation, the following important questions are dealt with:
- How does Freud's theory of human personality and Darwin's law of evolution, explain the existence of, basically, two classes in our societies - the exploiters and the exploited. Why can't we control the blind greed of some among us - leading to violence, intrigue and exploitation? Why can't we create a peaceful world with happiness for all, while our desire for such a world is progressively becoming more urgent? Why is social and economic inequality rising in our societies?
- What is real democracy? People parade through polling booths, hoping for better lives for themselves and for others. Their hopes never seem to materialize. Why?
- Is the world splitting up into a multi-polar world of economic and political super-states?
- What motivates creation and maintenance of empires? What are the imperial powers of the present? Why do wars occur?
- How is globalization shifting the balance of power from the West to the East? In the conflict between the US and China, what lies ahead in the future?
- What should be the political structure of an ideal state? What policies should it pursue? Is the desire for fraternity, equality and freedom still alive?
