If you’ve spent time talking to less-engaged students about activism you’ve probably encountered at least one form of nihilism at some stage (and perhaps you’ve felt it yourself at some point). This feeling that nothing can get better and that change isn’t possible is oddly pervasive as of late - especially among us young people. But what exactly is this nihilism, what causes it and how can it be countered?

In order to get a solid definition of what nihilism actually is we need to turn to the work of the late theorist Mark Fisher. In a 2006 blog post entitled “Reflexive Impotence” Fisher argues that British students “know things are bad, but more than that, they know that they can’t do anything about it. But that ‘knowledge’, that reflexivity, is not a passive observation of an already existing state of affairs. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy”. Fisher goes on to argue that because of this impotence a majority of the students he taught were stuck in a state of so-called “depressive hedonia”. In other words, Fisher argued that when we as students were faced with the ever-worsening realities of our times we responded by (understandably) losing ourselves in comfort food, Netflix specials and all-nighters. But what leads to this nihilism?

In my opinion, the main cause of this nihilism is what I’m going to refer to as “cynical realism”. We as students are perpetually told by the press, pundits and politicians that the current way of doing things is the only way of doing things and that alternatives do not exist.

The defenders of the status quo no longer bother claiming that the current way of doing things is the best method (or even a good method in the first place) but instead that it is the only feasible method and that anything else is a pipe-dream for radicals and cranks. When we rally against the impending catastrophe of climate change we’re treated as crazy radicals for having the “unrealistic” dream of wanting a planet to live on.

When we advocate for a fairer education system we’re met with a cynical shrug veiled behind the language of pragmatism. When we propose compromise solutions and call for reform in our systems we’re treated as if we’re trying to tear them down. Cynical realism saturates our press and politics to the point where we unintentionally internalize it. If you hear something over and over again it slowly seeps into your thoughts. Eventually it does seem as if change isn’t viable, as if things can’t get better. This is where the main irony of cynical realism lies - if we hadn’t internalized it change would have been possible. In other words, it’s useless unless it’s in our heads.

So how do we overcome this nihilism? The answer is currently staring us right in the face in the form of the climate strikes. When Greta Thunberg first staged a climate protest just thirteen months ago she sat alone. However, by daring to take a stand and by daring to go against what is cynically perceived as “realistic” by the press she was able to foster a worldwide movement, inspire real change and gain the attention (and derision) of world leaders. She went from being just one student sitting outside of Swedish parliament with a sign, to the spearhead of a global movement addressing the United Nations. Change is possible, regardless of what we’re cynically told. A better, fairer future is within our grasp - even if snarky op-ed writers claim otherwise. Although it sounds clichéd, the best, most effective response to this nihilism is simple - daring to dream and taking a stand.

By Ciarán McEvoy