Nihilism

In the beginning of the podcast, Bob Reiman poses the question “what is the best society?” Throughout the podcast, he examines what he considers the best society and how America does not stand up to his expectations. One theme that is present throughout the podcast is that we are a nihilistic society. Reiman defines nihilism as a philosophy where “there are no intrinsic values”. He also paraphrases this by saying “That is what nihilism is: the cultivation of meaninglessness. This relates to America in that we are a heavily materialistic society and want instant gratification of our wants and needs. It is clear to any thinking person that the media today spews forth (quite frequently) tons of useless garbage that does nothing but desensitize the masses. As an example of this, consider movies like “Saw”, and “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”. These movies are full of senseless violence and do nothing to contribute to the overall character of the viewer. Reiman shares this point of view. He also thinks that America needs more of the arts today, which I completely agree with.

I disagree that fundamentalists are bad. I find nothing wrong with fundamentalism. Fundamentalists do not necessarily encourage meaninglessness. In fact, some fundamentalists found their philosophies on the classics, which are generally considered to have great meaning. Thousands of meaningful songs, hymns, poems and books have been written on the Bible, for instance. I think the problem is that the some of the wrong types fundamentalists are in places of influence now, thus encouraging nihilism. Despite the fact that the people that are in power may be somewhat corrupt, and the fact that America needs more art, we are most certainly still a democracy. We simply need to change our course, which is not all that simple to do. This relates perfectly to what Reiman says, “… [these life giving qualities] are not for free.” Not only do people need more education in certain areas, which is definitely costly in time, but also people may need to change their lifestyles somewhat. This could be even more costly to a person than their time.

In conclusion, it is my belief that the best society would be one with a balance between artistic values and practicality. Neither of these make a society that is healthy for its citizens when they exist by themselves. However, when you combine the two, you can make advancements in science, etc. and also gain insight and meaning from great literature and other forms of art. With both, you can look to the future with a head that is well grounded in the wisdom of the past.