Our president Donald J. Trump is leading the war against nihilism and the post-modern school of thought, and I am not sure he even knows it.
His slogan “Make America Great Again” is a statement against post-modernism in itself. It implies that there is an objective standard that should be met, and we are not meeting that standard. This contradicts many of the philosophies coming from leftism that believes all things are subjective, and all people can live by their own truths. It is the implication that some people will have to be told that their personal truths are not true in sacrifice for the greater objective truth. It is the giant, obnoxious slogan that is a message to the world about the current short-comings of the country, and the greatness that must be achieved.
Since he gave his bid for president in Summer of 2015, it is almost as if the world has revolved around every little thing he says. It has led to a complete re-evaluation of the established thought system. “Is it racist? Is it sexist? Is it xenophobic? Do I care if it’s racist/sexist/xenophobic? Why isn’t America great? When was America great? What made America great at that point in time? How do we make America great in the future? Do we trust our institutions? Do we trust our system? Do we trust somebody with no experience to lead? Is Trump a Christian? Does it matter if he is truly a Christian? Do we help refugees? Do we turn them away? Are they dangerous? Are they innocent?” ect. ect.
Trump has ripped a hole through the Western reality and pushed people in different directions. The people who have re-evaluated the supposed “values” of the West and came out on a more nationalist side, and the group of people who are still holding tight to their progressive/globalist beliefs. This has cured the nihilism that infected society during the Obama years. Where anything and everything was acceptable, and we should all just “Live and let live maaaan”, as long as it isn’t “racist/sexist/xenophobe”, of course.
People have decided on what matters. Different teams have envisioned an end-game, where one group wants a nationalist free-market society with objective morality, and the other wants a more socialist-styled progressive/globalist utopia. Each team feels their vision for what society should be is under attack by the other team, and this has re-awoken the instinct to strive and fight for what matters.
I predict that all sides of the political spectrum will be at each other's throats for many years. All I can say, is that at least we are exiting this brief flirtation period of nihilism and entering an age where people have to decide what is objectively true, and then fight for that.
