History has seen evolution of many religious constellations and the tribal and ethnic
conglomerations seeking methods of ensuring self-defense, security and searching
dominance over the other groups. The main keys to success have been the military
advantage against the opponents by using knowledge and innovative technological
knowhow. Following power struggles, cultures have taken shapes, evolved and
diversified: Ideas have taken new branches; heaven has become “multicolored”.
With rising military competence of diverse groups power sharing among them has
become a political necessity and the strategy of forming alliance has become pivotal
to success.

The history, which has preceded the modern time, is basically a history of ethnic and religious conflicts, where cultural belongingness to particular ideologies and views have played central roles. Military advantages and strategic alliances to achieve the military goals have been the way to win and subjugate. Military success has given control over
resources and means of exploitations of the vanquished. Thus one`s success has
been the loss of freedom for the others.

In recent history the nations, who had gained military superiority by making use of scientific knowledge and developing technological means of communication, colonized a large part of the world. The purpose of such colonization had been mainly to
transfer resources and exploit the life and labor of the population of the
colony in order to promote one`s freedom and luxury of living. The alliances of
the traders, military adventurists and religious men belonging to the
colonizing power had fed on and exploited the economic and cultural resources
of other people and shaped a history in which humanity still bleeds.

With the end of the colonial period, a new political culture had emerged in the global scale. After the big powers had exhausted themselves during the Second World War, the security of the nations and cultures were sought under the supervision of a
supranational global institution. This gave a platform to build political and
cultural framework of  nations based on universal ideas and values, which all human beings must respect without reservations.

However, in this supranational body, the nations who possessed the highest capacity to destroy the world by using weapons of mass destruction were given the rights of
steering the security and destiny of the rest of the globe. They became the
leaders of the Security Council. By threatening other nations by overwhelming
military arsenals, the Security Council sought to bring peace in the world and
promoted the idea of building governance of nations based on universal rights
and values. All nations and cultures were supposed to submit to these universal
principles. After the world was devastated by a war initiated by racial hate
and fascism, democracy became the ideology in building a new world.

The idea was to strengthen cooperation and understanding among nations. Instead democracy became a way of competition among bearers of different ideologies and views – particularly the communists and the capitalists.  After the colonial powers left nations poor and underdeveloped many came under the governance of military dictators. Those, who took to democracy, got splintered into factions following the cultural diversity existing among them. This weakened their bargaining powers against
the powerful nations, who could meddle into the affairs of the other nations by
using the strength of their economic might and military superiority. Though
colonial era had ended, democracy gave the mightier nations, possessing
hegemony over the global economy, military and technological know-hows, the
power to maintain controls over the global resources. They “bought” loyalties
of political players who could manipulate democracy to serve the interest of
the colonial powers. This is how the powerful nations maintained their hegemony
and secured themselves easy access to resources of other nations by riding on
the idea of democracy.

While the capitalist nations were thus manipulating the global arena to serve their interests, the period of turmoil after the Second World War opened a new political frontier. The socialist and communist ideologies, which professed changes by armed
revolutions, rose to counteract the power of the exploiting class. To thwart
the power of the capitalists trying to tear down socialism and communism, the
new social order resorted to undemocratic methods of control. The liberty and
freedom of the have-nots were given priorities before the idea of freedom of
the elites to compete as one will.

This new situation generated a new form of ideological conflict not known in history before: On one side the traditional players exploiting the population in the name of
religion and tradition, or using the might of weapons and finance; on the other
side the bearer of socialist revolutions brought the prospect of bringing freedom and security to those who had always lived in the dungeon of poverty and insecurity in the past. The fear of the spreading fire of socialism brought backlashes to democracy. Powerful capitalist nations started supporting autocratic military regimes in many places in order to stop the rise of socialism and communism. In a divided world military competitions between the socialist and capitalist nations accelerated giving rise to more and more accumulation of weapons of mass destruction. It resulted into a world balanced by the fear of nuclear annihilation.

Communist ideology of freedom guaranteed by collective social cooperation, and the capitalist concept of individual freedom to compete and secure one`s wealth in the society by using one`s capacities and initiatives clashed head on. Competition to draw
supporters to each side intensified. The people who had found solace in
religion, and lived a secure life abhorred the communists. On the other side
the poverty stricken population, to whom security of survival, the opportunity
to live in dignity and respect, and get proper valuation of their labors were
more vital than the religious beliefs, found their ways of emancipation in
communist ideology. The religious groups supported capitalism, while the
liberal minded humanitarians took to the cause of the liberation of the
oppressed. It was the period of the rise of the liberal intellectuals in
support of humanitarian causes against the financial, military and religious
men.

However, people duped by religion and tempted by the prospect of increasing financial wealth and power, still dominated the history. By using covert organizational support, injecting corruption and influencing activities which money can generate,  while at the same time manipulating the weaknesses of people to religious beliefs, and spreading disinformation about other ideologies the capitalists had succeeded in halting the march of the revolutionaries. The power of advertisement and the capacity of spreading information through mass media by the wealthier class had been the crucial factors in halting social, political and cultural revolution. The idea of democracy had been an effective way to maintain the dominance of the class enjoying unequal financial and
political strengths. The desire to make best use of one`s condition through
competition and bring oneself into an advantageous position of power and wealth
had tempted this class to engage in socio-economic activities with greater
enthusiasm. In contrast, the ideology, which posited all as equal as regards
enjoying the resources of Earth, prescribed authoritarian methods to achieve its
goal. So, communism turned less appealing to the individuals aspiring for
security and happiness for themselves. The communist political system failed to
deliver the freedom required to grow in diverse directions by dictating ways of
freedom through class struggle. With it democracy stressing individual freedom
won ground where capitalist free market competition thrived.

However, since the Second World War the socialist and communist ideologies have lingered on. Unlike the old time, when only the military men, the religious leaders and the merchants decided the social, cultural and political evolutions, now the roles of the
intellectuals, thinkers, philosophers and humanists are recognized. The view of
the importance of the collective interests and freedom of all has gained more
solid footholds in several cultures of distinct religious and cultural backgrounds.

So humanity has evolved one step further. The antagonism between the old players of history and the new revolutionaries professing social and political system where individual freedom must make place for the collective advancement and freedom of all, is characteristic of our time. Both sides try to gain control of the development
of history. One camp tempts individuals seeking power, wealth, liberty without
constraints, and freedom to self-realize the way one may wish. The other camp
tempts those who may fear failure in competitions driven on unequal premises
among the individuals, and seek comfort in a system that can guarantee security
to life, health, education etc. for all.