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comment by johnnyFive

Wouldn't that be Übermenschen if we wanted to go full pedant? Just sayin'.

But seriously, and not having read the context of that comment, that sounds like the cliché misinterpretation of what Nietzsche actually said. So not only are they wannabes in that sense, but they're wrong in how they're justifying it. I hope there's a German word for "wrong in premise, wrong in conclusion."





user-inactivated  ·  3099 days ago  ·  link  ·  

In the way reactionary uses of Nietzsche always misunderstand him, because it's still ressentiment. It's unfortunate that there wasn't a strong right in Germany at the time Nietzsche was writing, so while you can quote his objections to the left but actually have to read and understand the Geneology of Morals or infer from aphorisms against nationalism and antisemitism and The Flies in the Marketplace that his aversion to the left doesn't mean he was a friend of the right. His sister being a protofascist nutjob and promoting him as the same didn't help.

The comment I quoted didn't actually mention the Ubermensch, I was just using that as shorthand for the type that quotes Nietzsche but doesn't read him. It's not completely irrelevant though; the Ubermensch is neither master nor slave. Even if the commenter was correct in his implicit identification with the master morality, they would be incorrect in treating that as a thing to be proud of. The master morality is also a thing to be overcome.

johnnyFive  ·  3099 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've really wanted to read Nietzsche and try to understand him directly. One of a thousand things on my self-improvement to do list.

But yeah, I know enough to know that the Fascists distorted his message quite a bit. Such a shame that it seems to still be working.