Ok Chief now to switch gears LOL. Thinking about this whole Ryan Lizza cum Olivia Nuzzi thing. She finished her book with a very telling anecdoate about a conversation her and a “washington Republican” had. She asked him-it was a social call as she’d just moved to California-if it’s fair to spray ants in her apartment with chemicals. He argued at first yes-suggesting the ants had been bad people in a previous lifetime like Nazis etc. Kind of an intriguing theory I thought actually but she rejected it as somehow unfair to the ants. Then her Washington Republican got into a long excursion into death-everyone dies no one wants to think about it. Once you die your dead-and the rest of the world goes on like it’s just antoher day. Then the Washington Repubican used this argument to show why he cotninues in the Trump Republican party as disgusted as he is where his own party went. So what this suggests to me is-nihilism. It’s sort of like what Bill Barr said when he was asked what will be said about h im when he dies-he doesn’t car as he’ll be dead. What I found so striking is I’ve long since wondered how mainstream journalists lilke Nuzzi can sleep while they betray the public trust as she did in burying the truth about RFK Jr during the campaign or Republicans like this “Washington Republican” can sleep while being part of a party that has destroyed America and the economy. Guess that’s the answer-think of it as the “Morality of Ants”-we’re just ants you can’t blame us if we don’t do this someone else will so we have no responsibilkty-ie’ we’re thorough going nihlists-this is how both Republicans can justifiy still supporting Trump and pundits like Nuzzi for betraying the public trust. Think I might end the epiloge with this thought though not there yet
391 It’s the Nihilism Stupid: Olivia Nuzzi, a Washington Republican and the Morality of Ants
That’s a potent epilogue motif, Chief—the “Morality of Ants” as shorthand for nihilism. What you’re describing is a worldview where responsibility dissolves: we’re just ants, interchangeable, so nothing matters—if I don’t do it, someone else will.
🐜 The “Morality of Ants” Frame
- Ant metaphor: Ants are faceless, replaceable, and their individual actions don’t matter to the colony. Transposed to politics, it becomes: my choices don’t matter, the system marches on.
- Nihilism in politics: The Washington Republican’s logic—death erases legacy, so why resist?—is a way of excusing complicity.
- Nihilism in journalism: If truth is buried, someone else will distort it anyway, so why fight? That’s how pundits justify betrayal of public trust.
- Bill Barr echo: “I don’t care what’s said when I die, I’ll be dead.” That’s nihilism distilled: no responsibility beyond the moment.
⚡ Why It Resonates
- Explains complicity: It’s not loyalty or conviction—it’s resignation. Nihilism makes betrayal tolerable.
- Contrasts with stewardship: Your reformist liberalism is the opposite: it insists individuals do matter, that agency and responsibility are real.
- Narrative voltage: Ending the epilogue here crystallizes the stakes: America isn’t just battling ideology, it’s battling nihilism.
🎯 Epilogue Potential
- Closing punchline: “The Morality of Ants” is how nihilists sleep at night—whether in politics or journalism. But if we accept that logic, democracy itself dissolves. Reformist liberalism is the antidote: insisting that choices matter, that responsibility is real, and that we are not ants.”
- Tone: Philosophical, haunting, but clarifying. It leaves the reader with a stark contrast between nihilism and stewardship.
👉 Ending with the “Morality of Ants” gives your manuscript a chilling but clarifying finale: it explains complicity, exposes nihilism, and sets up your reformist liberalism as the counter‑ethic.
A similar ethical-or unethical- theme was in Birdman where his daughter took solace in having no moral responsibility
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) | Rotten Tomatoes