"Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
Image by geralt - source: Pixabay
If you know where that quote comes from, kudos to you; you're probably a fan of Batman, just like me. This was said by Batman's faithful butler, Alfred, about his arch-nemesis The Joker, who is the quintessential nihilistic supervillain. The Joker, a.k.a. The Harlequin of Hate, a.k.a. The Clown Prince of Crime, believes in nothing, has no loyalties and no purpose in life, and he wants the rest of the world to see that he's right, that life only inevitably leads to meaningless death, that we're all going to die and eventually going to be forgotten, like we never even existed. We're but a speck of dust in an uncaring universe that will keep going with or without us. Ironically, this deeply nihilist worldview endows this world famous antagonist with an irresistible urge to destroy; so he has purpose, and he is loyal to that purpose.
One of the domestic terrorists who was smoking a joint inside the Capitol was asked why he was doing this. His answer was that he had nothing else to do at the moment, there was nothing else going on in his life. I would like to correct that young man and say that there was probably nothing meaningful going on in his life. In the nihilist worldview life has no meaning. The nihilist views him or herself as Sisyphus, a figure from Greek mythology, who was punished in the afterlife by having to roll a huge boulder up a steep hill, only for it to roll back to the bottom just before he reached the top, thereby consigning Sisyphus to an eternity of useless efforts and unending frustration. Looking at the big picture of a half century of neoliberal world economy and world politics, we must grant that young man consideration and empathy. He's not wrong at all that middle class and working class people must feel like Sisyphus, and we can't blame them for eventually giving up on rolling that boulder uphill.
I would like to point out that Sisyphus as well as that young man enjoying a joint in the Capitol are trying, as individuals, to move something that's way bigger than themselves. The frustration that led the young Capitol-stormer to his criminal deed is born from a feeling of powerlessness to even slightly change the circumstances that prevent him from rolling the boulder of his live's ambitions up that hill of societal expectations. We've built this society on the values of money, profits, ambition and careerism; the practice of advancing one's career often at the cost of one's integrity. This is completely hollow and empty, and Trump is the embodiment of these societal values, especially the part of advancing one's career at the expense of personal integrity. This is what frustrates me: the citizens who stormed the Capitol did so in defense of the person who embodies the social structure that's keeping them down. Just like anarcho-capitalists and capitalist libertarians cheer for that same socioeconomic arrangement. It's sad and frustrating to see because they sincerely believe they are fighting for good, and I can't blame them for feeling the way they do. But they've been duped, I'm sorry to have to say.
This is the hollow whole; jam-pack a society full of people who measure only their individual successes and failings, and you end up with a society full of individuals who don't see the point in giving rolling up that boulder another try. They can't manage that on their own, and they've been conditioned into not asking anyone for help, as they've been told over and over again to "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps." The real Sisyphus in this little rant is Trump of course, and the ones that stood by his side while he was brainwashing his followers into believing the most absurd claims. The Sisyphus of the Greek legend was also known for his lies, treachery and trickery, and his punishment in Hades, the ancient Greek underworld, was given to him because of his lies and hubris. Trump and people like him, many of which reside in the Democratic Party as well, are responsible for the creation of the hollow whole in which our own Clown Prince of Crime could climb up to the highest seat in the nation. I hope they'll be held responsible and given their own personal boulder to eternally roll up to an unreachable peak...
In closing, I'd like to mention that there is a positive approach to nihilism as well, and that's to see your own tininess, your nothingness, not as the end conclusion, but as the starting point from which to create meaning. Watch this video for some on that other perspective.
The Argument for Nihilism
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