There’s no sugarcoating it: the world is a MESS. Between our current war with Iran,  cartel violence in Mexico, Middle Eastern conflicts, the Epstein files, and a myriad of other troubling issues, it’s hard to stay positive.  Conspiracy theorists have turned out to be right, there’s a pernicious air in Hollywood, and international affairs have grown increasingly hostile. It feels like some new catastrophic event happens every day. What many others and I fear is that we are growing desensitized to shocking imagery and events. This begets what I dub “the motto of the year.” “We aren’t angry enough.” And the truth is, we aren’t. 

The idea for this article came to me while I was catching up with my Costco-obsessed mother. The first thing she said to me, before even asking how I was, was that a Costco burned down in Puerto Vallarta. Following the death of the infamous cartel leader, El Mencho, Mexico has grown viciously unsafe. My mother then spent about three hours talking about the state of Mexico, international politics, and the US role in cartel violence. While I won’t get into that, I will discuss what sparked this idea. I go to Mexico yearly, specifically, Puerto Vallarta and neighboring cities. I didn’t realize the gravity of these situations until I did. My mother told me how my grandmother would have to miss my orchestra concert because she could not risk crossing the border. While I am not directly affected by the majority of the aforementioned issues, this has become inordinately real to me.

In Spanish, we call day-to-day life, “La Vida Cotidiana.” I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that phrase. It means for something to be mundane, hackneyed, regular, or stable. I can’t really use that phrase anymore. “La Vida Cotidiana” has been disrupted, and there is nothing the general public or I as an individual can do. Grappling with this fact has been a rollercoaster. I, with a grandiose and inflated ego, am powerless.

In its essence, our strife comes down to essence. “Essence” is the idea that we are imbued with something intrinsic or purposeful. This theory stems from Essentialism and Nietzsche.

Sartre, my favorite iconoclast, contradicts this. He says that maybe we just are.  That we exist first, and then find our “essence.” In other words, Existence precedes essence. We choose who we are and what we live for. In a meaningless world we create our meaning. He counters Essentialism with Existentialism. We were “born without reason, prolong ourselves out of weakness, and die by chance. There is no reason. No rationality. No explanation for the horrible things that happen. What I’ve gleaned from Sartre is that succumbing to the chaos will do me more harm than good. I should instead choose what I prolong myself for, even if it makes me weak. In his play No exit, (Basically just The Good Place for the french and pretentious) Sartre asserts that hell is other people. I have never agreed more. However, since we are basically in hell, in order to stay positive, maybe we should embrace the absurd.

Absurdity arises in our search for meaning. We search for it in religion, and we search for it in morality. But according to Camus, there is no meaning in the world. The absurd is when we keep questioning until there are no more answers. Camus argues that we are forever running away from the absurd. Honestly, he might be right. Sometimes, there is no meaning to life or activities, yet we continue in the hope of finally finding excitement. In Camus’s novel, The Stranger, A man is condemned to death simply due to his attitude. There’s no reason. There is no reason. We live in a world governed by how others view us and the decisions of the powerful. Why not use the lack of meaning in our lives to our advantage? Run towards meaninglessness and do not ask “why.” Questions beget angst. Camus’ driving force is indifference. Instead of ascribing meaning and anxiety to my Mexico issue. I could also choose not to care. What the LA girlies call “boundaries,” I call philosophy-induced apathy.

A combination of Sartrean awareness and Camusian indifference is necessary to live peacefully. We must embody our self-created essence before we freak out about the discord that ensues. So, with the world in the state it is, can we morally continue? The answer is: do you want to? Choose your essence, find your meaning, and run with it. As far as we know, solipsism might be the solution to consciousness. You matter first.