A pair of former
postings, “Nietzschean Power of the Will” (February 26, 2019) and “Implications
Related to Self-Creation” (March 1, 2019), provides a description and
explanation of how the ideas of nationalism – the ideology the current
president claims to be his – is an outgrowth of individualism. While the nationalist argument does not
represent a straight version of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy, his ideas are incorporated
into what nationalists believe and overlap what they strive to accomplish.
Here are a few lines from one of those
postings,
…
[T]hose who adhere to nationalism do not necessarily adopt all of Nietzsche’s
view and his construct does not pretend to be an all-encompassing theory or
philosophy. What he was striving for is
an unshackled sense of direction for individuals to follow. Leadership, so directed, will not be
constrained by religiosity, traditional values, or even reductionist bits of
scientific knowledge. And what are the
implications of these ideas? There are
many …
As one’s reason is diminished,
emotions become even more central than is usually the case. Intuitive thinking becomes central. As such, one is much more apt to rely on
prejudices. Impulsiveness is more apt to
be one’s mode of behavior. Less
reflection is probably more likely to occur.
“He [or she] acts from his [or her] gut” will become the mode of action
for such motivated subjects.
The reader is encouraged to click on those postings to more
fully understand from where this posting is coming.
Of central concern here is Nietzsche’s
argument that, one, populations can be divided between the strong – those relatively
few, talented individuals whose will to power leads the them to do what is
necessary to secure that power – and, two, these same individuals are not hampered
by traditional moral restraints – such as restraints imposed by religious
beliefs. And this latter claim can serve
a civics teacher in that it provides an unabashed view of individualism that that
teacher can use as a counter argument to a federalist view.
Jonathan Glover[1] provides
an insightful review of Nietzschean ideas.
He points out various beliefs that constitute what most Western societies
claim to support. Generally, the values
stem from the Judeo-Christian tradition that argues for altruism. Westerners generally believe it is good to
help others. They espouse that value
even if they don’t live by that value all the time. Nietzsche saw that bias as debilitating. He argued that such an argument was only a cover
for mediocracy.
This “bad” conscience instilled on
generations after generations of young people a hurtful message; that is, that in
doing so the message relegates them to subordinate positions in the pecking
order of society. Instead, Nietzsche admires
those who can see this foolishness for what it is, a slave mentality. He admires those who can see beyond the hoax
and unleash their will to dominate.
He did not soft sell the consequences
of such politics. This blog has often
described what happens when one attempts to disregard the interests of others,
especially to advance one’s own interests.
Some form of revenge is a definite possibility and if done often enough,
it is an inevitability. If one expands
this reality over a polity and over time, the result is that the power
structure will need to spend a lot on policing services to maintain order.
So, not only would rights be trampled
but order would be a top level, expense item and one can note that authoritarian
or totalitarian regimes spend a great deal on security forces and on other
tools of oppression such as prisons, weaponry, and surveillance.
Nietzsche marveled at nature and its
constant struggles for survival among animals.
This, he believed, was the fate of humans no matter how much
“civilization” attempts to deceive itself into believing otherwise. Glover writes,
Struggle was not merely to be
accepted, but was also noble. Zarathustra
[Nietzsche’s fictional character] says ‘You should love peace as a means to
new wars. And the short peace more
than the long … You say it is the good cause that hollows even war? I tell you:
it is the good war that hallows every cause.’ Nietzsche admired the products of the
struggle for survival. Before the
struggle was mitigated by modern society, it produced a noble version of man, a
beast of prey who might inspire fear but who also deserved to inspire respect. Modern European man, after centuries of
Christianity, is a ‘measly, tame, domestic animal’.
Christian
morality’s rejection of the law of the jungle had almost ruined the human species: for Nietzsche, it was more than time for that
morality to be overturned.[2]
This blogger finds Nietzsche to be
interesting in his honesty. No, he, this
blogger, does not buy into any of the philosopher’s argument, but he does not
find himself wondering what Nietzsche was trying to say, although the work of
Glover is appreciated. And if this
blogger were presently teaching high school students, any presentation of Nietzsche
would be couched in a lot of language that would invite argumentation. A concern of his would be whether or not a
review of this material would be used to rationalize immature behavior.
There is more to Nietzsche’s views
and they will be taken up at some future date.
What the reader can ask is which political leaders on the national stage
exhibit Nietzsche’s ideals by being out-and-out exemplifications of his
mentality. This blogger can think of
some and it would be interesting to see if students would agree and discuss
what should be done about their influences.
No comments:
Post a Comment