Dasia Sade
Dasia Sade‘ello guvna. Feeling crushed under the crippling weight of capitalism’s chaos? You’re not alone. Let’s yap about The Tragic Optimist’s Guide to Surviving Capitalistic Nihilism—a journey through despair, hope, and the absurdity of it all.
We’ll unpack the mental traps of modern society, explore the wisdom of thinkers like James Baldwin, and discover how to embrace optimism without turning a blind eye to the struggles around us.
Because surviving capitalism isn’t just about existing—it’s about finding meaning amidst the madness.
Hope has never been a popular thing. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the attempt.
Sources used throughout this video:
1. Understanding Capitalistic Nihilism
Books: The Culture of the New Capitalism* by Richard Sennett (2006)
Article: Diken, B., & Laustsen, C. B. (2002). “Enjoy Your Fight!—‘Fight Club’ as a Symptom of the Network Society.” Cultural Values, 6(4), 349-367.
- The Tragic Optimist Perspective
Book:Man’s Search for Meaning* by Viktor Frankl (1946)
Article: Wong, P. T. P. (2012). “From Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy to the Four Defining Characteristics of Self-Transcendence.” The Humanistic Psychologist, 40(1), 71-91. -
Impact of Capitalism on Individual Well-being
Article: Deaton, A., & Case, A. (2020). “Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism.” Princeton University Press.
Article: Cabanas, E., & Illouz, E. (2019). “Manufacturing Happy Citizens: How the Science and Industry of Happiness Control Our Lives.” Polity Press.
4. Nihilism in the Modern World
Book: The Age of Em: Robin Hanson (2016)
Article: Stegmann, D. (2018). “Nihilism in the Network Society: A Theoretical Re-Examination of Contemporary Nihilism.” Journal of European Studies, 1(3), 150-167.
- Strategies for Tragic Optimism
Book: Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges* by Steven Southwick and Dennis Charney (2018)
Articles: Bauman, Z. (2000). “Liquid Modernity.” Polity Press.
6. Critiques of Capitalism and Alternative Models**
Harvey, D. (2007). “A Brief History of Neoliberalism.” Oxford University Press.
Wright, E. O. (2010). “Envisioning Real Utopias.” Verso.
Badiou, A. (2006). “Being and Event.” Continuum International Publishing Group
Article: Pyszczynski, T., Greenberg, J., & Solomon, S. (1999). “A Dual Process Model of Defense Against Conscious and Unconscious Death-Related Thoughts: An Extension of Terror Management Theory.” Psychological Review, 106(4), 835-845.
Video Works Cited:
“There go them YNs” Deanté Kyle from the @GritsAndEggsPod – Musiq Headz
Are you depressed or is it just? – Celine Tshika (also on spotify!)
@celinetshika it’s a party in the late stage 🎉 ‘CAPITALISM’ 🎵 written and performed by Céline Tshika, produced by @Mikhaela Faye 🎥 directed by Céline Tshika, shot by DP Meekaaeel Adam starring @Daniele #anticapitalism #leftist #MentalHealth
Mainstreamification of loserdom @Tellthebees :
@tellthebeees #loneliness #genz #millennial #discourse #friendship #rotting #introvert #tellthebeees american loneliness #lonelinesscrisis #socialanxiety
Is anyone else too aware? Lovelyme2.0:
@lovelyme2.0 #duet with @Lmay Hush ya noise girl but Oh no you’re not alone, this is called nihilism and you start to find things quite funny after a while but you’re definitely not alone ✌️#programming #foryoupage #foryou #fypシ
James Baldwin: Love has never been a very popular movement
https://www.tiktok.com/@mubi/video/7434204767515151648?lang=en&q=love has never been&t=1731452511796]
Schulz On BW
[https://www.tiktok.com/@jamaicangirlinasia/video/7415189594842598663?q=black women andrew schulz&t=1731630380334]
“There go them YNs” Deanté Kyle from the @GritsAndEggsPod – Musiq Headz
Movies/TV mentioned:
Fight Club
Wall Street
Bojack Horseman
Rick and Morty
Everything Everywhere All At Once
#hopecore #tragicoptimism #whmpartner
Perks Access:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8_P14XzTUxP93hXPyZnGbg/join
p.s: Find me other places and check out my adult rollerskating course if you like a more structured approach.
From sock practice drills and move breakdowns to skate affirmations and beyond. I’ve got you covered there too boo. https://stan.store/dasiadoesit/p/get-started-with-this-amazing-course-yi8jp
📷 IG – https://www.instagram.com/dasiadoesit/
🎵TT – https://www.tiktok.com/@dasiadoesit
📍PT. – https://www.pinterest.com/dasiadoes/ @WateringHoleMedia
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44 Comments
@LighthouseJaye
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PM31:39
"Pain is inevitable, misery's a choice"
– Daniel Caesar
@jaidenhunsher455
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMI can’t change the world, I can’t change what happens to me, but I can choose how I respond and how I grow from it. By changing myself and being my own individual, maybe I can make others want the same for themselves therefor helping change the world.
@TheBleanaru
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMLife has the meaning I give it. And that meaning is to give others the love and kindness I was not shown. In order to do that, I need to give that to myself first. So how do I do that? What does being kind and loving to myself look like? And between learning what it means to be kind to others, and what it means to be kind to myself, and what it means to love MYSELF, because loving others was never something I struggled knowing how to do, it has been a profoundly…. It's been an experience. But it's one that I would not trade for the life I was living before, and definitely would not trade for the outcome I wanted before.
I think the moment for me was when my father told me he "always knew I'd be successful" and that he said I was commendable because I rooted for and stood up for the underdogs in society because I have found ways to still help people in spite of being disabled. And hearing my father, my FATHER, say he believed I was successful, while being disabled, a high school and college drop out, all because of who I grew up into. Especially when he himself is disabled, too.
I don't need fancy things, the latest trends. I need my community. I need to connect and build and to help.
I need to be someone the people I love will be proud of.
And I already made my father proud, so I guess I've already made some meaning there.
@nahalxcx
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThis is so beautifully written and everything you mentioned relates/goes so well together. Very cohesive video, I really needed to hear this at this moment in my life 🙂 thank you for your words
@jupibowen
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMthis gave me some ease during a low time. thank you so much
@SaigeEatsGood
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMAnthony story is so sad. I was my most depressed when I had everything I wanted and I found out yrs later had autoimmune diseases the whole time including celiac. I stopped eating gluten and my brain inflammation went away and I have not been depressed again since. I can’t help but think damn what if I unalived during those painful yrs all because I’m allergic to gluten. That was an insane experience. I sometimes just sit in awe not having depression at the fact that people have lived their whole life this way. I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t have half my life in the darkness of depression. Now I find myself feeling lost cause capatalism owns my days. Even after lowering my bills and joining a co living community there is still over 3000 in bills but it’s much better than what I used to pay when my rent was doubled
@lizzettegarcia6636
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMI’m currently on a trip in Scotland. The sun is out and im heading to the beach to just enjoy before I leave this beautiful country. Thank you, I’ve been experiencing so many wonderful things but sometimes it’s inevitable for me not to think that those moments won’t last forever. Watching this video just reminded me that although pain it’s inevitable I can choose to be fully present, happy and free🤍
Thank you so much. Happy tears 🥹
@lizzettegarcia6636
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMLove you😭
@_Ericka
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMIs anyone else like too aware😂😂 u do these videos so well. Def had to subscribe. You're so organized and everything🤗🤗
@_____134
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMyou made me cry in a bus – i don't know you but i feel love for you. thank you
@sleepyspacegremlin
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMI'm 37 and stuck at home because I'm too disabled to work. It's been difficult to regain my sense of purpose & self-esteem. I don't know if I'm going to be this disabled for the rest of my life, or if I'm going to recover. Buddhism has helped me a lot more than the Christianity that was shoved down my throat & told me I was a bad person & going to hell. Why would I believe in a god that hates me??
@sleepyspacegremlin
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMWonderful content! I love your brain & what you have to say ❤
@PAR11369
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMExcellent! Much needed for me! Hey everybody, like the dang video!
@117812410
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThis is quite literally re-wiring my brain.
I'm taking notes as you talk and will revisit them when i need it.
Thank you for your effort.
@SerenelySteph
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThis video is spot on to what I’m currently going through. I’ve been working 12-13 hour days and no one cares. The whole culture is rotten. Please check out my video on this topic from my personal experience.
@SaschaHusenbeth
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PM20:52 I think there's a third, more common camp. It's the people who believe that the hierarchy in place in society must be just. (Pretty much the just world fallacy). In some people's minds, it simply cannot be that people can be so financially successful without having some superior skill or work ethic that sets them apart. The fact that those traits are, if anything, scrupulousness, lying, and greed does not occur to them, and if it does, they interrupt the shiver that it send downs their spines as soon as possible, instead defending the existing hierarchy. Because who wants to line in a world where antisocial traits are the most highly rewarded in terms of material gain?
@adcaptandumvulgus4252
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMIs Steven Pinker a tragic optimist?
@DrQuindelJones
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMcried so much during this video. just tragically lost my young niece and the timing of this message was so necessary. thank you
@Celinealienboo
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThe Tragic Optimist's Guide to Surviving Capitalistic Nihilism
we found ourselves grappling with the innate sense of em
@Linnelly
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMGreat video
@milangibson9231
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMFor years I've called myself naive. Im really just trying to survive, i love myself and I love everyone and I'll never stop!
@saadauh8503
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMTears welling up, BRAVO 🤍
@dundithe24824
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThank you 👍🏾
@momisthatyou2542
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThank you for telling me to do my laundry and then melting my mind with this beautiful essay! This video really lifted my spirits and was a great note to end my day 🙂
@lexxiloveless7163
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMforgetting is why i take so many pictures and would prob get the brain chip. I feel like i have good memory as much as an adhd person can but the lack of depth of memory is my number one fear but also i have so many tools to capture things
@jewelzinthelotus
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMLove your content thank you so much!
@overfierce1312
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMI'm really sorry about your brother's passing🫂 and it was so beautiful to hear you talking about mindfulness, thank you for this video❤️🩹
@csmiller12
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMPhilosophy major here! Does anyone know if James Baldwin was considered a black philosopher?
@JonesZen4WholeSumLiving2
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThe break down is because of the estrogen effect.We need to chat about how you can help people because you are advanced in logic than the average.
@JonesZen4WholeSumLiving2
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThe pirates on pirates of the Caribbean the lustthirst want hunger never satisfied. Cortez’s gold curse. Greed.
In the deed makes the heart and soul bleed.
@JonesZen4WholeSumLiving2
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMBlack people are the most susceptible to estrogenic effects.
@JonesZen4WholeSumLiving2
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThe Estrogen Effect
@sittingbear1425
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMI have my own version of 'tragic optimism' that I've been calling 'stubborn optimism.' Simply put, I killed off my ego and unshackled my bonds to social roles that were suffocating my soul. I turned into "a man with nothing to lose"…well, other than my humanity. I held onto that, and never let go of the belief that I could be what I wished to see. It takes a whole hell of a lot of courage just to be yourself in this country.
A quote I love by Brené Brown on authenticity and belonging goes, "true belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn't require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are." So with that, finding connection has been difficult, to say the least. Mostly, I wind up retreating to my hidey hole to avoid adding to my list of failed relationships and feeling like a stranger in this great race to get ahead of our neighbors. But SOMETIMES I remember the times when I was brave, when I was loud, and I stood in front of the onslaught of rejection so that others could see it's okay.
I felt like a martyr, but I'm only 29, and now still trying to figure out how to share myself without burning out in the process. Where's the balance ☯
@thecriminal0105
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMHoly shit no video has ever described how I feel and my points of view on life and how I navigate it more than this. I’ve seen videos and peoples perspectives that are portions of how my brains works but this video is basically everything of how I feel and what I have done and still do to get through it all. I didn’t even quite understand it but after this it all makes perfect sense and I can finally explain why my brain works the way it does. Thank you so much.
@phaser1312
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMDude, the one lawn mower, or like 2 or 3 for your neighborhood- that has never occurred to me! It makes perfect sense. We could absolutely collectively share so many things and have actual community. Shifting to that way of thinking and living could help us be so much stronger, make our dollars so much more impactful. That is the kind of stuff that should be called "civic engagement." We should teach THAT, rather than being taught that being a good community member just means voting and donating your time/money to political campaigns.
@jacquedeville5538
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThis was so beautiful made me cry I want to keep this video in a locket near my heart
@MadMax-gc2vj
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMPeople take your misery with a big smile because even the rich are in misery and why well we are all DEAD but of course we call it birthdays.
@hindleygj
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMThis is what I needed to hear this morning, thank you.
@arjayoproductions701
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMDang, best philosophy video I’ve watched in a long time. Thank you
@86fifty
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMI came back to this vid, had to watch it in chunks, after experiencing a playthru of the video game, Disco Elysium, which is so so much written in this exact vein of Tragic Optimism.
I hadn't seen that scene at the very end, the monologue by Mort having replaced himself in a new reality AND BURIED his previous self, holy mackerel, that gave me chills…
@LF-Loud
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMI’m so grateful for you, Dasia. What a deep, lovely essay that touches my heart. I decided earlier today that, after decades of trying to feel better, I’m going to accept that this empty sadness will always be with me. At least I know that I didn’t single handedly create this feeling. That’s something.
@gaiathemuse
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMDamn I needed this. I've made some fumbles this month (on top of the sh*t storm that will this era) and though I know I'll bounce back, I was tweaking something serious and my father said to look for some self help videos and I found your video and it's put a finger on what I've been feeling. Nothing matters in the "grand scheme" of things, but that doesn't mean they can't matter to us.
@emiliam3597
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PMNeeded to hear a lot of these things… thank you.
@arich557
03/09/2025 - 11:28 PM🎯🔥🔥