The Madness of Crowd

...
We have been living through a period of more
than a quarter of a century in which all our
grand narratives have collapsed. One by one
the narratives we had were refuted, became
unpopular to defend or impossible to sustain.
...
However, as all schoolchildren learn,
nature abhors a vacuum, and into
the postmodern vacuum new ideas
began to creep, with the intention of providing
explanations and meanings of their own.
It was inevitable that some pitch would be
made for the deserted ground. People in
wealthy Western democracies today could not
simply remain the first people in recorded
history to have absolutely no explanation for
what we are doing here, and no story to give
life purpose. Whatever else they lacked, the
grand narratives of the past at least gave life
meaning. The question of what exactly we are
meant to do now - other than get rich where
we can and have whatever fun is on offer -
was going to have to be answered by
something.
The answer that has presented itself in
recent years is to engage in new battles, ever
fiercer campaigns and ever more niche
demands. To find meaning by waging a
constant war against anybody who seems to
be on the wrong side of a question which may
itself have just been reframed and the answer
to which has only just been altered.
...
Douglas Murray: The Madness of Crowds