"Nihilism light"

[Lenin McCarthy]

All even remotely successful empires and states in human history have had to rely on some sort of ideology to legitimize itself, from the God-kings of Sumer to fascist and communist states in the 20th century. Today, it's harder to spot than before. There are few signs of any personality cult. No great, overarching ideas. Just some mostly empty phrases about freedom, democracy and human rights.

But in a backroom somewhere, faceless suited figures hiss into the ears of "your" elected official: "THE MARKETS DEMAND IT." He obeys, and willingly complies with the markets' demands. There is little room for questioning. Politics is just administration and theatre. Nevermind the possibility that "the market" is not a metaphysical being, some sort of deity demanding regular sacrifices to save us from oblivion. Nevermind the possibility that what is really happening is that the decision-making process is being moved somewhere less accessible for us mere mortals. "THE MARKETS DEMAND IT." the voices keep hissing, impatiently.

The distinction between good - bad and non-sinful - sinful seems to have been partly replaced by healthy - unhealthy and normal - abnormal. Get exercise, eat healthy, be happy, or at least go through the motions and pretend to be. Social media leaves plenty of room for keeping a facade (the vague sense of being a fraud that gives you is useful by the way, it makes you less prone to going after the real frauds).

"We have discovered happiness," -- say the Last Men, and they blink. Perhaps we are a variation of the Last Men Nietzsche wrote of in Thus Spake Zarathustra.
^{(By the way I am skeptical of the idea that history of humanity is moving towards any sort of end point, other than our own eventual extinction. If we are approaching something similar to Nietzsche's Last Men, I doubt that those will truly be The Last Men. There will be something afterwards, and I don't think any of us will like it.)}

The world is full of nice people who are blind to the injustices around them. They appreciate human warmth. It keeps sentimentality in force, for it satisfies the craving for good feelings towards oneself and the world. One still loves one's neighbor and rubs against him, for one needs warmth. But this sentimental search for warmth and fuzziness is disconnected from the idea of having to do anything for other people. One might even have pity on those who suffer, but it is a distant thought that one personally should intervene and try to change the existing conditions. They refuse to admit that declarations of sincere compassion are binding and must be accompanied by deeds, they live in an imaginary world in which few things leave traces and where there are no serious consequences. People are offered the choice between Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, but this brand of Diet Nihilism has little competition. I think we ought to give it some.

So, what are we to do?
Expand the definition of "normal" so it's a comfortable space to exist in for real people. Real people are weird. They can try to repress it, and many people try, but then it just oozes out at the other end and that can be truly TERRIFYING.
How?
By being and behaving like real people. Weird, but not zany. It might involve shouting at buildings. It definitely involves showing empathy. And not just to your own kin. It involves compassion, and anger, and getting involved in your surroundings. Realizing that the world does not revolve around yourselves, and that pretending it does eventually will break your necks. It involves not giving a few less fucks about the dominant ideologies of POSITIVITY and HEALTHINESS and NORMALITY, and instead just having a good time and being a decent human being. (This is very much a reminder to myself.)

It probably won't save us from anything. But at least we won't be playing Candy Crush while Rome burns.

Or Kill Me

[LMNO]

Well, goddamn.

Hi Lenin. Nice post. Kinda takes the wind out of a person.

[Lenin McCarthy]

Hi LMNO!
Thanks. Yeah, it is a bit tense and gloomy. Probably because nobody has been recognizing my awful Twitter puns lately.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

This is making me have feels. I'll see if they can get boiled down to interesting words.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Radical Normality.

I like this.

[Reginald Ret]

Diet Nihillism is a terrifying concept.

[hooplala]

I love this piece, but I don't see the nihilism spoken of.  Am I having one of those moments when you open a drawer to look for a pair of scissors, but even though you're looking right at them you can't see them?  Perhaps my personal take on nihilism is flawed.

[Reginald Ret]

I love this piece, but I don't see the nihilism spoken of.  Am I having one of those moments when you open a drawer to look for a pair of scissors, but even though you're looking right at them you can't see them?  Perhaps my personal take on nihilism is flawed.

The nihilism spoken of here is the wrong kind of nihilism, so i think your definition of nihilism may be fine, but that is not the nihilism people use when they believe that the market demands something. Or that clicking like on facebook is te same as actually giving a bum a dollar.

[popeluvicasksc]

You're absolutely right. Trying to shake off the monotony of rhetorical dialogue, obligatory sentiments and micro-transactions in pseudo-emotional investment in order to rekindle some sort of real connection, personal involvement and productive existence outside the social boundaries that we've been brainwashed to believe are normalcy sounds like just what this world needs

[P3nT4gR4m]

You're absolutely right. Trying to shake off the monotony of rhetorical dialogue, obligatory sentiments and micro-transactions in pseudo-emotional investment in order to rekindle some sort of real connection, personal involvement and productive existence outside the social boundaries that we've been brainwashed to believe are normalcy sounds like just what this world needs

Holy fuck, this scans exactly the same as one of LMNO's corporate jargon riffs. Congratulations. You've elevated pseudo-intellectual wankery to an artform 

[popeluvicasksc]

You're absolutely right. Trying to shake off the monotony of rhetorical dialogue, obligatory sentiments and micro-transactions in pseudo-emotional investment in order to rekindle some sort of real connection, personal involvement and productive existence outside the social boundaries that we've been brainwashed to believe are normalcy sounds like just what this world needs

Holy fuck, this scans exactly the same as one of LMNO's corporate jargon riffs. Congratulations. You've elevated pseudo-intellectual wankery to an artform 

Hey Thanks!
Now that I see how things operate around here I figure I'd better start blending in by puffing up my ego and acting affronted by everything anyone else has the audacity to post. If only I could get my head a little further up my ass I could actually start to believe that anyone gives a fuck about what is posted on this obscure and dying, probably due to the shitty holier than thou attitudes that seem to prevail, forum. Your opinion means the world to me, choke on it.

[LMNO]

You're ADORABLE.

[popeluvicasksc]

You're ADORABLE.

You too, cupcake.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I love this piece, but I don't see the nihilism spoken of.  Am I having one of those moments when you open a drawer to look for a pair of scissors, but even though you're looking right at them you can't see them?  Perhaps my personal take on nihilism is flawed.

I think the OP seems a bit more in line with Absurdism, rather than nihilism.

[hooplala]

You're absolutely right. Trying to shake off the monotony of rhetorical dialogue, obligatory sentiments and micro-transactions in pseudo-emotional investment in order to rekindle some sort of real connection, personal involvement and productive existence outside the social boundaries that we've been brainwashed to believe are normalcy sounds like just what this world needs

Holy fuck, this scans exactly the same as one of LMNO's corporate jargon riffs. Congratulations. You've elevated pseudo-intellectual wankery to an artform 

Hey Thanks!
Now that I see how things operate around here I figure I'd better start blending in by puffing up my ego and acting affronted by everything anyone else has the audacity to post. If only I could get my head a little further up my ass I could actually start to believe that anyone gives a fuck about what is posted on this obscure and dying, probably due to the shitty holier than thou attitudes that seem to prevail, forum. Your opinion means the world to me, choke on it.

Clearly the obvious answer is to continue posting at a forum you loathe.