Envisioning a Post-Nihilist Society

Envisioning a Post-Nihilist Society

I was once involved in a conversation in which one of the outcomes was that I was called a Nihilist. At the time, about a year and a half ago now, I thought nothing of it, “Nihilists are just people who believe nothing is real” perhaps were the thoughts I played with. It wasn’t until all this time later that I realised what the man had said.

For better or for worse, the internet has accelerated our evolution towards an atheistic tint. What only the great minds of old like Nietzsche could have predicted is the power vacuum this would leave behind.

The ten years that followed the great turn away from religion of 2006 onwards saw significant rises in atheistic dogmatic groups, and indeed the Feminist Movement of third, arguably even fourth wave, got into motion. The cult of identity politics was absorbed, supported and cradled until we see the mess we are in today.

What led to this? Why are we here in this current state? I posit to you it is as much the fault of the dogmatically religious as it is the fault of the dogmatically atheistic. I was and still am to some extent, an atheist of the sort who dismisses all bullshit unless evidence is given, so I can speak with some level of authority on the topic, I believe.

Where the rejectionist movements of Atheism offered nothing, Atheism Plus offered feminism. Where the bulldozer movements of the rationalists demolished faith itself, academic belief in postmodernist ideas flourished.

Atheism offered a polished stone instead of a rough one. A polished stone skims better, but a polished stone can be ground to dust and skim no better than the prior pebble before it.

In other words, the brutal blow of atheism shook the faithful world to its core, as well it should and has to do, but it also did something else: it took with it the respect for, of and the discourse over works of fiction.

Of course, a literalist interpretation of holy books leads to chaos, an adherent of any faith, atheistic such as Communism and Socialism, or Christianity via The Bible can lead people down the path of destruction, but it can be said that without one poison, the classical poison of literal adherence to Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, etc. Socialism and Communism rise to the top of people’s wants and desires, a truly unwelcome outcome for all involved.

Beware the dragons you release into the world, because without the golden blade you can’t slay them, and the sad truth is that often, we don’t see any such dragons being released. Sad in that it’s complete non-action; it’s better to slay a dragon than it is to know one is coming, always coming but never quite knowing when.

Analogies aside, the dragon that is always coming is Nihilism. I say this and posit it as a fact not simply because I think it is, but because it IS a fact.

Where all doubts of one’s faith lay, Nihilism sneaks in in the form of doubt of your right to exist. Where it sneaks in for an atheist, is not in the form of inescapable doubt, but in the form of absolute control over his mind. It writhes and gnaws at your being until you wish you weren’t around.

Even further than this, if it is possible to go further than absolute hate for existence itself, it wraps itself around you like a blanket as it suffocates your mind like thick smog, comforting you in a blanket of worthlessness, hatred and disgust for the universe and the human condition.

What is the antidote to this? To get the fuck over it, abandon it and stop telling yourself you are so weak. Find meaning in your life; make a family, get that job promotion, build your life up and never stop advancing beyond this stage, to the next, to the next and so on.

It’s easy in this world to feel like you are worthless, like nothing is going to work out for you and that you’re a bad person, especially when screaming banshees are telling you this is the case, but it’s on you to buck up your ideas and go prove to yourself and the world that you are worth something.

As for the vacuum in ideas, might I suggest classical liberalism or light conservatism? A healthy dose of each with a little pinch of libertarianism is the best damn antidote to worthlessness and Nihilism I’ve ever seen. It’s turned weak men into strong, thinking individuals and proverbial sheep into rational thinkers.

We are coming to the end of an age, the Age of Nihilism, and we are in the words of others, of history, of psychologists such as Peterson, great writers such as Tolstoy, great musical works such as Tchaikovsky and Bach, in other words, we are finding something we are so sorely lacking within this society, culture and ultimately part of the world: Meaning.

Meaning lies in the past. Meaning can lay in the present, and meaning can manifest in the future. It is always there for those who seek it.

And my closing advice for new atheists is to go find something meaningful, be it historical, psychological or a greater focus. Read to your hearts content, because you are free of the shackles that bound your mind!

But never stray too far from your roots, and never resent the stories you were told, because there can be found value in every story, even if that value is archetypal or entertainment-based, or if you find a verse or passage inspiring, then hold onto it as not true, but as meaningful.

We are approaching the era of meaning. Long live it, and may Nihilism never raise its ugly head again.

Thank you for listening.