Some Substance: Capitalistic Nihilism

I found myself doom scrolling and I came across this youtuber, Dasia Sade, that has a very interesting take on capitalism and nihilism. She uses the words “nihilistic capitalism”, which I haven’t heard used together before. I’ve heard of them being used separately but I never thought of using those words in the same phrase. I always viewed the two ideas separately. I thought of capitalism as a system and nihilism as a philosophy but the way she explains nihilistic capitalism hit home for me. It explained perfectly this feeling I’ve been having as I attempt to fill a void with online content after a long day of work where I worked hard and still feel fucked at the end of the week. It explains the same system that my employer tries to impose on us, telling us to work harder, faster, and longer but won’t consider offering avenues for raises in pay. At the end of the day, I blamed myself for feeling miserable, questioning if I worked hard enough while scrolling online and watching friends living their best lives.

This video not only piqued my curiosity in nihilism again but also gave a better understanding of what nihilism is. Before I watched this video, I believed that Nihilism was just a negative point of view or better said a perceptive in which the hopeless found hope. Now I see Nihilism as more of a reaction to the environment in which one is in, looking for meaning in the meaningless. I know these two ideas sound oddly similar but the perceptive switch comes from the meaning of nihilism to the cause of nihilistic thought.