Nihilism is Not Dead

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304743704577379830492408956
“Nihilism is Dead” by Robert Zaretsky
The name of the article seems to be used ironically rather than seriously. A joke for those already familiar with philosophy, and a seemingly unintentionally sardonic counterpoint to Zaretsky’s main idea. He describes Nihilism’s rise through Ivan Turgenev’s character Yevgeny Bazarov, from the novel Fathers and Sons. Turgenev represented that periods powerless cynicism; a hatred of the government and their future, and of their place in it. Zaretsky asserts that Turgenev’s death was thought necessary by his creator, who was terrified by the philosophical implications presented by his character. He links this to Nietzsche’s writings, providing a good retrospective of nihilism and how it compares to today; however, his main argument that the Wests’s modern, jaded cynicism proves a partial adoption of nihilism’s tenets, without the the reconstructive elements provided by Nietzsche ignore the idea of a natural progression for philosophy and of distortion through the cultural lens that is western society.
Much like a prophecy yet unfilled, although the groundwork is laid out, the entirety still needs to be carried out. In my opinion, today’s ironic use of the idea of meaningless is simple the first stages of adopting nihilistic theory. Although it could be seen as a bastardization of what nihilism truly stands for, the next steps in human thought, it seems to me to simply be a vague version of idea’s propagated by nihilism finally beginning to show themselves in our society. YOLO and it’s hedonistic effects are society’s natural response to adopting a new cultural outlook. Sexual transparency went through the 1960’s indulgent hippy culture before becoming a measured social norm. The first fee years after a new philosophy comes into the public sphere it will be twisted and misused by those only looking for personal gain. After the initial introductory period though, things will cool down, those looking for instant gratification will leave, and the movement will be reclaimed by those looking for real progress.
Nihilism will continue to evolve beyond it current form to suit whatever new environment it is introduced to. In this case it just turns out that 19th century Russia is far different than modern day America. If one doesn’t allow for the idea of a philosophy’s progression than the tracking of it though history and geography will prove impossible, and nihilism is no different. While strangly optimistic, my hope for the spread of nihilistic thought can only be proven or disproven by time, and looking at how long it’s taken to get this far, it might be a while before I get my answer.