Beyond Nothingness

While Liberals wear the badge of self-righteous compassion on their sleeves, for the world to admire, some of us are looking beyond the hype for an explanation of this Obama philosophy that has trapped us in economic and moral doldrums for the last four years.

Obama came to the national stage as a messianic figure; he could fix our problems and bring Americans together. Not even the most deluded Marxists among us are still clinging to that claptrap, but the human animal is resilient and clever, and the Liberal thinkers, as well as the simple minded, are looking desperately for other attributes, real or imagined that will justify promoting Obama for reelection until a suitable Liberal leader can be found.

He has his shortcomings and personality defaults, some more obvious and harder to deny than others, but it is this elusive nihilism that is the most provocative.

Nihilism is a dubious term; yet, if we keep it simple and simply say it is an abandonment of values and knowledge, Obama’s nihilism may be a far greater deficit than his narcissism. It is from the Latin root word “nihil” or nothing; thus it is the foundation for words like “annihilate” to destroy completely or destroy to nothingness.

The nihilist believes all values to be worthless, and that nothing can be known or communicated with certainty.

The nihilist is imbued with extreme pessimism and radical skepticism, with no loyalties.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is the German philosopher most often identified with the creed of nihilism, but history may eventually identify Obama with a similar distinction, that of being one of history’s most influential nihilists. Unlike Obama, Nietzsche was an intellect and a prolific writer, but while Nietzsche could write about nihilism, Obama applied the philosophy to a modern industrialized country.

Nietzsche wrote in “Will To Power” notes, (1883-88):

“Every belief, every considering something true, is necessarily false because there is simply no true world.”

For Nietzsche, there is no order or structure, unless it is assigned. Therefore the objectiveness of nihilism can be defined through several perspectives:

Existential nihilism, is the easiest concept for college students, because it is the most easily understood; therefore, it is the most recognized form of nihilism. It basically implies that life has no meaning or value.

Political nihilism, is the idea that destruction of all existing political, social, and religions is justified as a prerequisite for future improvement.

Ethical nihilism or moral nihilism is a rejection of absolute or ethical values. Good and evil are vague and necessarily become dubious values assigned by society as a result of social and emotional pressures.

Epistemological nihilism denies knowledge and truth and substitutes extreme skepticism.

Shakespeare was deigned a nihilist because of quotes like this from Macbeth:

Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow,
a poor player That struts and frets
his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more;
it is a tale Told by an idiot,
full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Thus one of the world’s most literate and most intelligent men is judged to be a nihilist because of a few lines, out of millions, lines that may portray feelings with a disdain for life.

But we are left to ponder whether William was describing leaders who were miserable failures or life in general. It seems to be the perfect epilogue for this tragic period of Obama’s tenure on the national stage of politics.

Nihilism is a disturbing philosophy, a philosophy that has been exemplified many times by our president. Whether he is trying to corrupt or neutralize the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church with its belief system on contraception and abortion or ignore our only dependable ally in the Middle East, President Obama is asking Americans to accept his nihilistic theories of nothingness and abandon our traditional belief systems and morality, but choosing to accept “Nothingness” has a price tag. The Nihilist is expected to “feel” as opposed to using logic and reason; thus avoiding the discipline of work required to learn and to reason. To feel requires no input except for a minimum effort, and it compliments the whims of the hedonist.

Nietzsche paid his price for his nothingness. He saw a horse being mistreated and lost his sanity. He began to sob uncontrollably and eventually lapsed into a catatonic state and was declared hopelessly insane. There has been conjecture on whether the mental disease was initiated by syphilis either from a brothel in Paris or a male prostitute in Genoa. Yes, Nietzsche has a similar dubious sexual reputation, but he never married.

Would he have preserved his sanity with a belief system that might have given him a greater moral structure is a question that will never be answered; however, our president will give us insight into the psyche of the nihilist after a rejection or after being given unprecedented powers with little or no restraint in the unlikely event of an Obama victory. In a few hours we will begin to know how the nihilist reacts. As an observer, it will be interesting: as an American, the idea of a nihilist being given the control that he wants to usurp in a second term is frightening, but if he loses, his rejection may well be his mistreated horse.