The Americans Who Need Chaos

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2 points·SkyMarshal··8 comments

Nihilism is not "a need for chaos" (and no, that's not called anarchy either). "We cannot fix the problems in our social institutions, we need to tear them down and start over" is markedly NOT a nihilistic viewpoint. And that's the problem I see with this article and most people's understanding of nihilism: they have none.

Nihilism is creating your own meaning out of things because there is no inherent meaning to anything. Life's whatever you make of it.

I respectfully submit that your perception deviates from the definition of nihilism and not just the connotations…

Belief in Nothing…

You're referring to Optimistic Nihilism [1]. Eg, there is no inherent meaning to life, therefore we are free to create for ourselves the best possible meaning we can.

Nihilism is just, there is no inherent meaning to life, so let's do whatever we want to. That will range from Mother Theresa, to people who just want to see the world burn, and everything in between.

Also the article mentions some people who just want to tear down all social institutions, but with no plan to rebuild them. I think those are the real nihilists here.

[1]:https://www.openculture.com/2017/10/the-philosophy-of-optimi...

Interesting analysis, seems to have some explanatory value for the current state of US politics.

US?

What about Brexit…the yellow vests in France…?

All that too.

Not so fast!

You said: seems to have some explanatory value for the current state of US politics.

——-> Worldwide. Your enthnocentrism was what I was responding to, which you seem to have abandoned without recognizing…

Since we're nitpicking here, I didn't say "for the current state of only US politics" ;)

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