From the point each of us checks into the political arena, we are vulnerable to, what I call, political nihilism. It is born out of the insurmountability of our current bleak political, economic and societal situation. The prospect of almost incomprehensible odds — alongside the back-to-back catastrophes we’ve all endured — I imagine, has the capacity to put any sane person in a state of political nihilism: A mode of thinking that perceives politics as a meaningless endeavor.
A symptom of this virus is an increasing amount of hopelessness. No hope to solve ecological devastation; no hope to acknowledge, let alone heal, harshly infected wounds of injustice; no hope for people to take political and economic power from multinational corporations to foster democratic rule.
Those of us who are politically active are always under threat of succumbing to political nihilism and the intractable despair with which it infects us. Activists, year after year achieving only smaller and smaller victories, are constantly hounded by this feeling that a genuine social transformation is simply not possible. Similarly, when we ourselves harbor the belief that reform is implausible, we put ourselves on track to check out of the political arena.
Logically, the ultimate outcome of political nihilism is political apathy: complete indifference toward the current political system. A survey following the 2020 presidential race concluded that twice as many non-voters than voters agree that “It makes no difference who is elected president.” Despite record turnout that year, 80 million Americans stayed home, even in the face of a pandemic requiring a decisive governmental response, economic collapse, and several police murders. Non-voters were also more likely to say that the media cares more about profit than the truth, that the economy is rigged for the wealthy, and that the majority of issues discussed in D.C don’t affect them personally.
This virus of political nihilism flourishes in the debt economy. The average American holds a little over $90,000 in debt. Whether it be credit card delinquencies, student loans, or mortgage payments, such debts have shackled everyday people since the mid-20th century rise of American neoliberalism — a political philosophy that characterizes the private marketplace as the fundamental source of national prosperity. Consequently, for 40 years, the U.S political economy has been dominated by military spending, privatization, and tax cuts, prioritizing the whims of wealthy elites while leaving everyday Americans overburdened with the inflated expenses of life. In doing so, neoliberalism neglects issues that might improve quality of life, including those that could bring Americans back into politics.
Furthermore, neoliberalism is more than just a political or economic system: It is an ideology motivated only by profit maximization. As such, corporations and businesses often have little regard for the financial capacity of everyday people, inevitably contributing to the debt spiral in which many Americans find themselves. The result? Widespread social misery. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that debt burden increases the risk of attempted suicide. Student loans are discouraging young people from buying homes and having children. Unsecured debt has also been implicated as a correlate of voter disengagement. It is, thus, clear that the debt economy is amplifying a new culture of despair that puts the future on the backburner.
So, what is the vaccine for political nihilism? One of the most prophetic voices of our time, brilliant scholar and public intellectual Dr. Cornel West, describes himself as a “prisoner of hope.” As Dr. West puts it, “Hope is a verb, not a noun, it’s motion and movement, it’s active.” Blind optimism without action is purposeless, but blind despondency has the potential to cause irrevocable damage. We must, instead, West claims, adopt actionable hope.
Cornel West comes from the Black prophetic tradition. He prides himself on coming from the same vein of thought as Fredrick Douglass, W.E.B Du Bois, Ida B Wells, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These figures never needed empirical evidence to decide whether they wanted to take a stand against illegitimate power structures. These figures did their work not by checking the polls but rather by listening to those who were suffering. After all, the condition of truth is to allow that suffering to speak.
The remedy of active hope is being proposed today. Dr. Joanna Macy, faculty member at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and Dr. Chris Johnstone MD are rereleasing a revised version of their book “Active Hope” in the summer of 2022. They define active hope as “finding, and offering, our best response to global issues,” especially in this moment of crisis. When our responses are guided by the intention to act, it draws a semblance of meaning essential to our well being.
Some inchoate modern social movements have chosen to take this vaccine of active hope. Fifteen to 26 million people in the U.S. participated in George Floyd protests. Medicare For All rallies swept 50 of the nation’s cities on July 24, 2021. Most recently union workers at Kellogg, John Deere, and student workers on university campuses straightened up their backs for better conditions. Whether or not we check out, struggles like these will always push for progress.
Such efforts are overlooked as soon as the media lets go of the story. But it is of utmost importance that we — as journalists, activists, and citizens constantly wrestling in the political arena — prevent the struggle for change from falling out of the social consciousness. Recognizing rising cynicism and despair while simultaneously responding with active hope is the most difficult existential dilemma we face.
Active hope is a great catalyst and inspiration to involve ourselves in the struggle. However, to be a hope takes a deep commitment; to be a hope takes tremendous fortitude. Political battles will include political losses, many of which will cut deep. But daring to struggle is daring to win. And if we dare not to struggle, we don’t deserve to win. Active hope implies that peace and justice only are as possible as our willingness to fight for it.
We must acknowledge that our society’s quest for revolutionary transformation is inseparable from a radical tradition of faith. Moving headstrong exclusively in the direction of the rational or logical will only lead us down the rabbit hole of political nihilism, especially in a profit-motivated society that feeds debt and precipitates despair. If there is any chance at a better world, it will not be because the numbers are in our favor, but because of the durability of our perseverance. Only one question remains: Are we up for the challenge?
