I agree with pretty much all of what RAH wrote. Nothing in history is inevitable. Human decisions influence events often far in to the future in ways that cannot be predicted. The hubris in all of this philosophy of history is the unfounded belief that humans can predict almost anything. And that’s nonsense. Professional historians, philosophers, and political scientists are always trying to decipher world events and find some overarching principle behind the way things move. It’s a fool’s errand.

And there is nothing inevitable about freedom and capitalism. It all could be lost if we don’t defend them. In life the stronger and more aggressive forces and individuals usually win, and if we do not resolve to actively defend our values and our civilization, there is no shortage of comers who will indeed snatch it all away from us.