It seems clear, as this century draws to a close, that it was marked by three major political movements and their mutual cross influence - Communism, Nazism and Capitalism.
This is not the place for historical analysis (nor I am qualified to do it), but it seems fairly safe to say that democratic capitalism has won the day and is the major cultural and organizational influence in the world today.
Of course, as experience shows, if humans have a tendency to let things get out of hand, they also tend to immediately invent mechanisms to tame and control them.
What should we be aware of here?
The danger is the other side of the coin of democratic capitalism's greatest achievement: the rule of the majority. The majority, unfortunately, is not innately wise, not always it sees clearly where its own interests lie.
The solution to counterbalance this danger, however, cannot be found outside its basic tenet of one (bloody) man, one (bloody) vote.
The answer, or so it seems to me, must be found through increasing education and organization in society.
We can already see this in the Non-Governmental Organizations. Some of them are, naturally enough, radical and enthusiastic, as the young tend to be, but in general they supply the humanistic questioning so necessary to enlighten people, to influence and to transform society.
And if, on the other hand, we fear the control and dominance of power groups - today the villains are the large corporations, in the past they were the empires, the dictators, the organized religions or ideologies - let us not forget that in order to succeed, large corporations must please their customers and their employees and that these, can be educated and vote to see that laws are passed to place large corporations at the service of people's best interests.
In essence, Democratic Capitalism also means the Rule of Law, and this is perhaps the greatest legacy the 20th Century has bequeathed to the future.

I am grateful to all of you who read these irregular essays and particularly thankful to those who e-mail me their comments. Happy New Year.