A Doormat? Is That What She Made Me Lug Up From Memphis?

Drink up ladies & gentlemen; here's a topic that hopefully appeals to the inebriated and nihilstic. when i go to heaven.../st peter he will say.../how did you earn your living?.../how did you earn your pay?... my reply was with a little bit of thunder.../earned my livin killin down under... when i go to bars.../the girls they will say.../how did you earn your living?.../how did you earn your pay?... my reply was with a cool kinda nod.../earned my living killing commies for my god... when i go home.../the hippies they will say... i replied as a pulled my 9.../get out of my way before i take your life... Ignore the absurdity of d Nova working out to Marine cadence. Consider instead the notion of Purpose; how the work of the individual relates to society. The quoted words above belie a machismo of mission and an individual that grasps a simple understanding of his relationship to his culture. He can feel confident in his position; he can express his Purpose without uncertainty to God, lovers, and antagonists. He can not, however, place that purpose within a larger context. He has a purpose, but that purpose is only immediate. Determining purpose in the events of the world is the act of writing a universal history, defined alternately as an attempt to find a meaningful pattern in the overall development of human societies(Hegel). Two texts out of Jack's bookshelf that deal with the modern incarnation of this concern are Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man, and Levy's War, Evil, and the End of History. Why the emphasis on the end of History? For Hegel, the end of history has been reached when society is universally just. Fukuyama's work was published in 1992, while Levy's was published ten years later. Any brief here would fail to do the texts justice, so it should suffice to reach the point...now: Fukuyama viewed the world with optimism, attempting to prove that the end of history had indeed been reached as liberal democracy and consumer capitalism swept the globe. Levy's travels to the Third World revealed and end of history that was stark and despairing. It may be that the challenge of this time is choosing one End or the other, and frankly, they both seem desperately static. Thoughts? What purpose should an individual apply himself to? Is there a point in applying one's self to any of this?