Ressentiment and Redemption

In an attempt to understand better my rejection of nihilism, I have investigated often the idea of hope as its antidote. In an effort to more thoroughly understand hope, I have turned to investigate faith. Further considering the concept of Eudaimonia as an alternative to cataclysm. All of this again, as a movement to overcome nihilism.

The nihilism of which I speak is not only to be found on the right, where it has been most observed of late, but it is clearly present in the left as well. It in fact often accompanies many of my fellow street demonstrators when we gather for what I hope to be a jubilant celebration of our hard won right to assemble. I have long been a participant in and an advocate of street protests. I think by there very nature they demonstrate hope, and a kind of investment and care and concern for the world that is in itself an act overcoming nihilism. But I see often in the actions of those around me at these events, and in the meetings that sometimes precede them, a very dark mood indeed. One of the favored slogans of this crowd is ‘tear it down’ which I hear as a hallmark and troubling indication of nihilism on the left.

I do not wish to be misinterpreted on this count. I am an absolute advocate of and participant in the dismantling of the criminal artifice of our age. It seems to me though enough to tear back the veil that conceals the lies and obfuscations that found such institutions, and let them collapse of their own weight. This I suppose is one of the first examples of the faith that I have in the world. That if the truth be told, the natural laws will do the work of tearing down. Maybe I am naive in this belief, or maybe current events are evidence of this persistence of gravity.

What has become clear to me over the years, is that the root of much political and social and therefore public nihilism, is a private wound, often suffered in childhood or some other naive and vulnerable moment. Ressentiment is born of private suffering but grows into a force with public and political consequences. For this reason I am very sympathetic to the sufferer, in spite of the devastating impacts their actions have in the world.

I have several times referenced Hereclites, and his often quoted phrase concerning the river and its ever changing and subjective nature. This is also the nature of the individual, and though we may wish to name and objectify our opponents, so as to more easily pummel or dismiss them, it is the far greater task to recognize them as the ever changing subjectivity that is in fact their nature. To see an individual as limitless potential as opposed to hardened object is yet another iteration of my faith, and also the first hint of the infinite power of redemption.

Having been raised Irish Catholic, the imagery and mythology of the church is deeply interwoven with my philosophical investigation. At a very young age I concluded that the real meaning of the Crucifixion went far beyond the stories in the Gospels. I imagine the early martyrs to the christian faith who would not utter even the most modest disavowal as an alternative to violent death. It seems to me there must certainly be some very deep human connection with these ideas, a connection that extends far beyond the literal mythology.

What magic is it then that lies hidden behind these stories we tell to our children? How is it that in spite of the mortal threat against us we persevere and remain steadfast in our integrity? What is the key to our redemption? A redemption that is not won in victory, but in defeat. I say simply it is hope. A hope that is the source of great character and great institutions built on great character. A hope that redeems an individual and a people, a hope that sanctifies humanity.