【作者】埃贝尔,R.L.
【内容提要】
Few can doubt that the past two years will be remembered as turning points in world history. The collapse or decline of communism in Central Europe, the accelerating pace of change within the Soviet Union (including strong secessionist movements), the first steps toward democracy in South Africa, the reunification of Germany, and now the Persian Gulf crisis (with ramifications throughout the Mideast and for the world economy). What is the direction of world history and how should we respond? Martin Krygier repeats the dominant refrain-a mixture of "we told you so," "hey, ho, the witch is dead," and "never again." The collapse of communism demonstrates to Krygier that Marxism has failed as a social, economic, and political system and an ethical ideal. The only alternative to Marxism is capitalism. The failure of Marxism proves both the inevitability of capitalism (an ironic inversion of Marxist dialectics) and its moral superiority. Krygier advances his case in elegant English and decorates it with erudite citations. But the argument is full of logical flaws, leaps of faith, and unsubstantiated generalizations.