"The memes, the trolling, and the Epstein video slop are all a cultural defense mechanism amid a crisis of impunity. The files are more proof that elites of all persuasions seem plenty comfortable saying the quiet part out loud or engaging in egregious, shameless behavior, banking on a culture that has given up on demanding consequences. When faced with evidence of the worst kind of sexual deviancy and conspiracy and no consequences, who could blame a bystander for choosing to hold nothing in their heart at all?
A convincing argument I’ve seen for the prevalence of nihilism, especially politically, is that younger generations have mostly known only political and economic dysfunction.
Five years out from the GameStop ordeal, you can see a similar dynamic shot through the economy, in cryptocurrency speculation and graft, in vapid meme coins and an obsession with gambling and prediction markets. These elements—described as financial nihilism—are especially prevalent in younger generations, who feel that the path of predictable progress (homeownership, access to a thriving job market out of college) no longer exists. “Faced with that reality, taking a gamble on Fartcoin or betting how many times Elon Musk tweets in a week can feel strangely rational,” the Gen Z economic writer Kyla Scanlon wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
Scanlon further argues that this kind of nihilism is “an attempt to find personal agency in a system that’s increasingly denied it to them.” Online, young people wrap their humor in so many layers of irony that figuring out what they’re talking about can seem like a wild goose chase. The posters want people to research and agonize—it only serves to drive more attention to the joke. And so you get nonsensical memes (“six-seven”) and brain rot as Oxford University Press’s word of the year in 2024...”
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/02/internet-nihilism-crisis/686010/?gift=SCYx-5scVta3-cr_IlgTyXqgVL6VjGwYwL3Yc7w9iUE\
#Nihilism #Memes #SocialMedia #4Chan #Cryptocurrencies