The Kenin Malik/Guardian article is drenched in the language of humanity's shared condition, nihilism:
'unravelled imperialist traditions' , 'declining progressive social movements', 'loss of faith in universalist values', 'inchoate rage', 'eroded political ideals', 'Islamism filling the void', bottomless 'western cynicism', 'misguided military interventions that succeed only 'destroy[ing] civil society'.
It's as though we've gathered around the rim of the same abyss in a labored effort to pretend there are two sides in order to retain some semblance of meaning and purpose. Each is the designated scapegoat of the other. However there's no existential weight to the purported distinctions. It's mutually assured annihilation under the flimsiest of banners.
|