We are under attack.
I would be lying if I knew when it started, but for the longest time, we have all been victims of an incessant and vicious bombardment. This bombardment is not one of artillery shells, but rather one of slogans, headlines, breaking news — “This is a Fox News alert!” — and doomscrolling. In a world where we are constantly inundated with stimuli, tragedies to mourn, atrocities to deplore, achievements to applaud and even music to cringe at, it isn’t surprising that many young Americans feel a proclivity for doomerism.
It can be easy to turn a blind eye to the rest of the world and become the archetypal doomer. It can seem that we’ve all got too many problems in our own lives already to have to heed any attention to all the other things that we are told we must care about. Sometimes, it feels like we can’t do anything about it, or that whatever we do is pointless. However, if being a student of history has taught me anything, it is that such widespread fatalistic thinking is incredibly dangerous.
Nihilism begets populism and populism begets authoritarianism or violence. It is myopic to view the current rise of populism as a novel one. In times of peril and collective helplessness, leaders like Andrew Jackson and Huey Long claimed to be champions of the ‘common man’ and offered a bold new vision by promising to make “Every Man a King” with just one catch: they get to be authoritarians. It takes little stretch of the imagination to see the parallels between these figures and contemporary populist politicians who tout statist solutions in the form of mass deportations or government-run grocery stores.
Certainly, the message of these populist candidates may sound endearing to the eyes and ears of those lost and yearning for a strong leader to simply come into office and mend all the problems inflicting a nation or locale. Thus, the Trump-Mamdani voter is born. They may be on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but they share some striking similarities: both are seen as political outsiders, both promise radical solutions and both have populist appeal. Yet, as we’ve seen with Trump, and as I suspect we’ll soon see with Mamdani, they will not be able to deliver on their lofty promises. Pithy slogans may sound nice on the campaign trail, but run into serious challenges in the legislature.
So, what’s the solution? We need not be doomeristic. We need to return to being individualistic. I’m a native New Yorker, and as I find myself getting acquainted with the relative isolation of Cornell’s geography, I am constantly reminded of the tale of Walden by philosopher Henry David Thoreau. Just as Thoreau found solace on the shores of Walden Lake, we too find ourselves left to ponder and wallow by the Lakes Cayuga and Beebe, far from shimmer skyscrapers and subway lines.
All Cornellians should all look inwards as Thoreau did. This begins by putting down the phone and escaping from the algorithms intended to suck you down to the oddest and most ill-informed crevasses of the Internet. As fellow Sun writer Hazel Tjaden put it, “Thoreau is telling Cornell students to get outside and do something, something that requires practical action alongside thought.” A society of nihilists only leads to the rise of radical populists and even more polarization. There is always a cost to populism and it should not be the future of this great nation.
To be civically engaged does not mean you must be universally engaged. It means you must have values, apply them consistently to the issues you care about, and most importantly, do something practical about it. When we feel helpless and begin to underestimate the ability of individuals to solve their own problems in favor of outsourcing it to a distant bureaucrat, we lose a bit of our liberty. When we give in to populist appeals, individualism degrades. Little by little, almost imperceptibly, this erodes until we are confronted with mounting problems and increasingly unable (or worse, unwilling) to take any initiative to address them.
Let me be clear: you shouldn’t simply settle for a milquetoast candidate. It’s no folly to believe that there will be more charismatic candidates who bring the same effervescent buzz and reformatory zeal as contemporary populist candidates do, but approach politics realistically, democratically and govern with a light touch.
Come this Election Day and all the ones beyond it, instead of embracing candidates whose promises run on ampersand after ampersand and ultimately fall short, I hope you heed Thoreau’s self-reliant words and find it within yourself to stand steadfast against the tide of doomerism and populism sweeping this nation. Vote pragmatically. Vote for liberty. Vote to protect your own individuality.
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Rayen Zhou ’29 is an Opinion Columnist and a student in the School of Industrial & Labor Relations. His fortnightly column Rhyme or Reason seeks to provide an eclectic view on politics and campus life informed by history, philosophy, culture and a healthy dose of inquisitive skepticism. He can be reached at rzhou@cornellsun.com.
