That the answer to these queries mightrnbe “yes” does cross the mind —as Mr.rnFukuyama, undermining his own purposes,rntends to settle it the more by hisrnembarrassing refusal to address, muchrnless lay to rest, his own doubts. I wasrnstruck by the air of scientific analysis withrnwhich he delivers the grim news, in contrastrnto the simple assertiveness that onlyrnpretends to address that news: his apparentrnhope that, by dressing assertions inrnprinciples valid of themselves, the readerrnwill fail to notice that these provide no evidencernfor the argument Fukuyama pretendsrnto advance. Ignoring the experiencernof Russia, the Roman Empire, or lessrnsocially complex places like Rwanda, hernargues, in effect, that modern society willrnrevive itself because it will; because thernmoral decline that was made necessaryrnby the advent of the Enlightenment,rnsecular humanism, or anyrnother deep historical source . . .rnbut is instead the product of “much morernproximate causes like the shift from an industrialrnto a post-industrial economy, andrnthe changes in labor markets this madernpossible.” And though he grants that wern”can accept the fact that capitalism is oftenrna destructive, disruptive force thatrnbreaks apart traditional loyalties and obligations,”rnit is only to drive home the pointrnthat “it also creates order and builds newrnnorms to replace the ones it destroyed.”rnWell, we may all hope those “newrnnorms” will not form themselves into arnmore formal police state to be wieldedrnagainst those who doubt the value of saidrnnorms, but you can be sure that, if theyrndo, Mr. Fukuyama will write a cheerfulrnbook about it, detailing the horrors andrnthen explaining that, really, it was allrnquite inevitable and for the best, and besides,rnthings are bound to get better still.rnUntil then, his present work is sure to receivernaccolades from those who confusernpatriotism with cheerleading, while sendingrnthe rest of us back to our Faulkner,rnhungry for cheese.rnsituation of normlessness—whatrnDurkheim labeled anomie —is intenselyrnuncomfortable for us, andrnwe will seek to create new rules tornreplace the ones that have been undercut.rnIf technology makes certainrnold forms of community difficultrnto sustain, then we will seekrnout new ones, and we will use ourrnreason to negotiate different arrangementsrnthat will suit our underlyingrninterests, needs, and passions.rn. .. There is, in other words,rnsuch a thing as human nature.rnPerhaps sensing this might not bernquite enough smoke, Mr. Fukuyamarnwants us to note the not exactly sociologicalrnpoint that societies, particularly thosernof the United States and Great Britain,rnhave declined and revived before. Indeedrnthey have, but as those revitalizationsrnwere invariably religious movementsrnat bottom and Mr. Fukuyama isrnopenly hostile to the possibility of similarrnawakenings occurring in the present age,rnthey are obviously irrelevant to his argument.rn(He does suggest that somethingrncalled “religion” might be allowed tornplay a part in the Great Renormation asrnlong as it is militantly devoid of any suchrnunpleasantness as doctrinal content.)rnGenerally, however, Mr. Fukuyamarnwants us to know that “God, religion, andrnage-old tradition .. . are not necessary.”rnPerhaps Mr. Fukuyama is just beingrnpatriotic —or just hoping to get paid —rnwhen he insists, against all evidence andrnargument, thatrnthe Great Disruption does not representrnthe finale of some long-termrnWe Went Insteadrnby Robert A. HallrnContentment would have kept us on the farm.rnWe could not place Khe Sanh on any map.rnAnd war was not a glory that we sought.rnBut when the politicians called for men,rnWell, Jack had said to put our country first,rnSo Lyndon’s call and Richard’s call were met.rnWe had no money on the farm, and thatrnLeft Oxford and State U both out of reach.rnAnd Ganada? We’d too much pride for that.rnIt didn’t matter to the Draft at all;rnWlien someone ducked, another took his place.rnThe quotas all were filled by someone’s sons.rnWe didn’t have Dan’s pull to join the Guard,rnNor Bill’s connections with R.O.T.C.,rnSo we were called to take their empty place.rnNow Bill and Dan are leaders in the landrnAnd famous men. We are remembered too—rnOur names are on a wallrn—where famous men may pass.rn32/CHRONICLESrnrnrn