[lbo-talk] Nietzsche (was: Iran's Youth Movement)

Charles Brown cbrown at michiganlegal.org
Thu Jun 28 05:51:30 PDT 2007


BklynMagus magcomm


> No, actually, the goosesteppers liked him.
They had the superman thing in common.

But doesn't fascism want conformity which is what Nietzsche is very much against? He also seems to have little regard for the concept of a German Reich.

^^^ CB: Good question. My position has long been that N. is a sort of phony rebel, petit bourgeois rebel, combined with a weird representative of ruling classes through history, the master classes. He actually wants the slaves to conform to the power exercised by the supermen. Lately, I've been thinking it might make sense to investigate whether he is an intellectual representative of the dying ( at the time) feudal aristocratic class in Germany.

^^^^

As for the ubermensch concept: the Nazi version doesn't seem to jibe with what I am getting from reading the texts (I am on "Geneology of Morality" now -- the Cambridge edition). I have a long way to go with understanding Nietzsche and his writings, but the popular image of a promoter of tyranny and subjugation seems off the mark -- a straw Nietzsche set up by parading some quotes around out instead of deeply grappling with what he actually wrote.

^^^^^ CB: Well, I've grappled with him, and , then we get a lot of reports on him from others who have. Even his fans seem to concede that he's a political reactionary, i.e. promotor of tyranny and subjugation. So....

^^^

Fascists and other party-line types seem to decree that once a decision is made a person must go along with it (even if she disagrees with it) for the good of the (fill-in-the-blank with your favorite authoritarian concept).

Brian

^^^^^^ CB: Nobody seems to thing N. is democrat at all, so, I don't think you are getting the message from N. He's not for democratic centralism, sure. He's not for democracy at all.



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