CURTIS MCMANUS
Excerpts From The Age Of Nihilism
On Progressive Historical Determinism: “Given this fervent faith in the determined course and ‘outcome’ of history, the actions of progressive nihilists become so much easier to understand. When they tear down statues of Confederate generals or when they destroy traditional understandings of gender or family, progressives are actually trying to force history forward as their cousins the Bolsheviks did in 1917. They are trying to will the end of history by cleansing society of its impurities in an effort to more quickly bring about its natural and inevitable conclusion which, for them, is not the Kingdom of Heaven as the Christians thought, but rather the Kingdom of Social Justice as envisioned by progressive redeemer Karl Marx.”
On Truth & Nihilism: "We see, then, that our civilization has been overrun by a thoughtless, illogical perversity. The progressive project of making the world better is predicated upon--indeed dependent upon--the non-existence of truth. But since truthlessness necessarily encourages a plurality of views, rather than just one, the progressives were then forced to take the next 'logical' step and absolutise their subjective relativism. In so many words, the progressives broke truth by making truthlessness into truth itself, and we call this 'progress.' But it is not progress. It is nihilism."
On The Cycles Of History: "The point is that when tyrannies, autocracies, and dictatorships appear, they will always bear the same or similar characteristics, and precisely the same dynamic holds true for democracies. A tyranny will always behave in a tyrannical way and it will suffer the fate of tyrannies. A democracy will always behave in a democratic way--and it will suffer the fate of democracies. And when these social and political orders have finally run their course, the cycle will 'reset' and once again begin."
On Tyranny And The Death Of Democracy: "The certain tyranny of our future will be different from those of the past. It will arrive, for example, at the point of a law not the point of a gun; its virtues will be praised in our schools and universities for it will be an anti-fascist tyranny whose virtue will be placed beyond question; and for its success, our looming post-modern tyranny will not need to rely upon force but rather upon the apathy and indifference of the citizens."
On The End: "Some of the most influential thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries connected nihilism with 'decadence, spiritual decline, and a sense of things coming to an end.' This is the end. Welcome to it."
On Truth & Nihilism: "We see, then, that our civilization has been overrun by a thoughtless, illogical perversity. The progressive project of making the world better is predicated upon--indeed dependent upon--the non-existence of truth. But since truthlessness necessarily encourages a plurality of views, rather than just one, the progressives were then forced to take the next 'logical' step and absolutise their subjective relativism. In so many words, the progressives broke truth by making truthlessness into truth itself, and we call this 'progress.' But it is not progress. It is nihilism."
On The Cycles Of History: "The point is that when tyrannies, autocracies, and dictatorships appear, they will always bear the same or similar characteristics, and precisely the same dynamic holds true for democracies. A tyranny will always behave in a tyrannical way and it will suffer the fate of tyrannies. A democracy will always behave in a democratic way--and it will suffer the fate of democracies. And when these social and political orders have finally run their course, the cycle will 'reset' and once again begin."
On Tyranny And The Death Of Democracy: "The certain tyranny of our future will be different from those of the past. It will arrive, for example, at the point of a law not the point of a gun; its virtues will be praised in our schools and universities for it will be an anti-fascist tyranny whose virtue will be placed beyond question; and for its success, our looming post-modern tyranny will not need to rely upon force but rather upon the apathy and indifference of the citizens."
On The End: "Some of the most influential thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries connected nihilism with 'decadence, spiritual decline, and a sense of things coming to an end.' This is the end. Welcome to it."
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