Nihilism, the belief of nothing. Life being meaningless and the rejection of religious beliefs and moral principles. This might be a grim way to look at the world, but you may relate to it. Recently, there has been a rise of nihilism in young people, and that may include yourself. But, really what has caused this rise, and is it surprising? Spoiler alert, not really.

For young people it has felt that the future is very uncertain and seemingly unstable. Some of these feelings could come from stuff like economic uncertainty. How the unsustainability of late stage capitalism is coming to affect, or how it seems even harder to live year by year with prices going up and wages staying the same. Or, the overly rich few hoarding the cash from the majority. And, how the world is burning year by year and it seems like no one is doing enough to stop it. Even the war and instability of the rest of the world can effect or belief in society.

For young people, it has just become increasingly hard to believe in the systems, like religion, that give us hope for the future. We are exposed to such grim realities and news every week, so we need something to give us comfort. And even though this philosophical view doesn’t give us any answers, it does help us embrace the acceptance of there being no point.

Another thing to really look at is the extreme use of social media. Social media has given us a view on everything. It could be news from all across the world, and we could get it in an instant. All the terrible news giving us reality checks every weeks, it can really be tough for us to handle. And, with how media is these days, even with all the good things happening around us it can be drowned out by all the bad news in the world.

With all the turmoil and strife in the world it has been increasingly harder to live in the world with hope. It really gives a hard time finding a purpose, when it seems like it will all end with and “inevitable” end. And from a generation that has been failed by society, nihilism has been something reasonable to attach to.