From Hope to Nihilism: How 1990s Optimism Died....

Today I want to try something different. Instead of looking at the current news and my disdain at what is happening in the United States—today I want to take a look back and try to understand how we got here.

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
—Martin Luther King Jr.

For a brief moment, it felt like the world was actually coming together. If you were around in the late '90s, you probably remember it—or at least the feeling. It wasn't perfect, not even close, but there was a sense of momentum. The Berlin Wall was gone. East and West Germany were one country again. The Cold War had ended without a nuclear nightmare. Even in America, things were shifting—Black culture wasn't just influencing the mainstream, it was the mainstream. Hip-hop was the biggest music genre. TV, movies, and sports were reflecting a more diverse country.

It felt like we were heading somewhere better.

And then, little by little, it started falling apart.

By the 2020s, that optimism has curdled into something darker. Hope has been replaced with cynicism, unity with division, and purpose with nihilism. What the hell happened? And why?

The Fall of the Soviet Union: A Hopeful Beginning

The Cold War didn't end in fire and destruction. It just... stopped. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and for the first time in decades, we weren’t living under the constant fear of global annihilation. If you were paying attention, it felt like a win for democracy.

But that optimism didn't last long. Russia never really got its footing as a democracy. By the late '90s, Putin was making his move, backed by oligarchs who turned Russia into a corporate autocracy dressed up like a republic. For a while, the West didn’t seem to care. Russia was broke, struggling, and off the world’s radar.

Then came Chechnya. Then Georgia. Then Crimea. Then Ukraine. At what point do we stop pretending Putin was ever 'playing nice'?

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
—Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

The world thought democracy had won, but in reality, the battle had just started.

9/11 and the End of American Innocence

Then 9/11 happened. And everything changed overnight.

If you were alive then, you remember. The day itself was a nightmare. But the days right after? They were different. For a brief moment, there was a sense of unity, a feeling that Americans—no matter where they came from—were in this together. But that didn’t last.

The War on Terror became a forever war. Afghanistan. Iraq. Homeland Security. The Patriot Act. Surveillance. The fear never really went away—it just got normalized. And that post-9/11 unity? It was gone before it had a chance to become something real.

"When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

The Rise of Division in the 2000s and 2010s

1. The Dixie Chicks vs. The Machine

Remember when the Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) said they didn’t support Bush and the Iraq War? The backlash was immediate and brutal. Boycotts. Death threats. Radio stations banned their music.

That was a turning point. It wasn’t just about them—it was a glimpse into the future. Politics was no longer just about policies. It was about sides. And you better be on the right one.

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President… is morally treasonable to the American public."
—Theodore Roosevelt

2. The Financial Crash and the Death of Trust

Then 2008 happened. The banks lit the economy on fire, got rewarded with free money, and somehow convinced people it was the fault of poor homeowners. Make that make sense.

"The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history."
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

The War on Reality: When Facts Became Optional

Somewhere along the way, we stopped arguing about how to solve problems and started arguing about whether the problems even exist.

And it’s not just ignorance. People aren’t stupid. But when the world feels too big, too complicated, too out of control, people look for anything that makes them feel like they have a grip on it. Even if that thing isn’t true.

"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is."
—Winston Churchill

The 2010s: The Final Break

Social media takes everything and cranks it to 100. Instead of bringing people together, it creates echo chambers that radicalize discourse. Political leaders exploit outrage rather than calm it. Every cultural shift becomes a war zone, and soon, compromise itself is seen as weakness.

And here we are, scrolling through the wreckage, arguing with strangers online about whether the sky is even blue anymore.

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."
—W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming