Sifting through the splinters

Reading through a Juli Zeh interview (apparently a big German writer to be) in my favourite newspaper, I came across a line in which she more or less said nowadays children's problem is there isn't anything to revolt against left. All big truths have been destroyed over the past decade, and so we can only weed through the leftovers, sift through the splinters.

Though she was saying this from of her belief in nihilism - to which I am quite opposed as far as I know - I must say I find this quite an intriguing theory. This makes a rather accurate explanation for the lack of rules children appear to suffer from these days, the big 'search' that's going inside of many people.

Whereas in the past the big truths of e.g. the church pointed us towards the 'good' direction, today everyone is looking out elsewhere for whatever fits them best on each level. We don't support one single big truth anymore, we make up our own as a collage from things we find all over the place.

Of course, the discussion is whether this is a good or a bad thing.

Personally I'd like to think it's neither. In the end people will be much more grown up, coming out of their own search, they'll be able to stand up for themselves, to decide what's right and wrong, to see what there is to see while peeking into the distance. But when people make up their own right and wrong, they might choose for a version that isn't always as favourable to the society. The chance of going into a bad direction is higher, your own stakes become much more decisive.

Perhaps another explanation for the incline in people's fear for whatever the media brings up?