At the end of the Cold War, Francis Fukuyama pronounced, “What we may be witnessing [is] the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalisation of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government." What was predicted as the acme of civilisational development has instead turned into a perennial catastrophe for humanity, even the planet we inhabit.

Liberalism has failed. It has ‘become more fully itself’. A political philosophy, emboldened by globalisation, that was aimed at reforming the world order, investing more autonomy in individual rights, and promoting human dignity and liberty, has slowly morphed into a kind of neo-fascist ideology, eventually exacerbating human conditions in the name of giving more choices and freedom. Let’s say, for example, it is far easier to imagine an alternative world on Mars than to churn out conditions for our habitability on this planet, much in the same way, as globalisation promises free circulation of goods and capital but restricts the movement of migrants across borders.

Liberalism’s virtues have died essentially because these have been hijacked by the core principle of wealth generation under the guise of choices and freedom. In other words, freedom of individuals has been replaced by an unchecked freedom of the market, thus treating citizens as consumers, and states as collaborators.

In 2013, Stephen M. Walt, the Harvard Professor, put this phenomenon very starkly. He asked, “Are you a liberal imperialist? [Who] are like kinder, gentler neoconservatives: like neocons, they believe it’s America’s responsibility to right political and humanitarian wrongs around the world, and they’re comfortable with the idea of the United States deciding who will run countries such as Libya, Syria, or Afghanistan." Evidently, Pankaj Mishra avers, “Uncontrolled liberalism, in other words, prepares the grounds for its own demise."

What the world essentially needs is, therefore, liberation from the distorted ideology of liberalism itself. Its Janus-faced character has not only been largely exposed but also severely infected. This reminds me of the hilarious joke offered by the Slovenian Philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, in which Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut, on his return from the space visit, was welcomed by Nikita Khruschev, the general secretary of the Communist Party.........

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