Abusing Nietzsche

If I had a bucket of horse hair for every time I heard some head-in-ass grad student tell me that Nietzsche can be considered the hero of Friedmanist ‘free-market’ capitalism I would have, well…, a lot of horse hair (not to mention the buckets!).

Check out this little ditty by the sometimes cantankerous Nietzsche scholar Brian Leiter:

“Nietzsche loathed capitalism and capitalists (and the cultural and aesthetic vulgarity he saw as their legacy) and also despised what he called “the selfishness of the sick” (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) and the “self-interested cattle and mob” (Will to Power). What he admired was “severe self-love,” the kind “most profoundly necessary for growth” (Ecce Homo). “Virtue, art, music, dance, reason, spirituality”–all the things “for whose sake it is worthwhile to live on earth” (Beyond Good and Evil)–all demand such severe self-love, and for this reason, and this reason only, Nietzsche wanted to disabuse those capable of such excellences of their false consciousness about the morality of altruism. He certainly did not think everyone ought to be selfish, or that the pursuit of material goods had any value, or that indulgence of selfish desires was a virtue.”

I no longer think too much about the uber-stashed Prussian philosopher, but I certainly agree with Leiter’s assessment here. Nietzsche indeed promoted the power of the individual, but not for the sake of mindless indulgence or incorporated greed. There is a deelpy ironic current running through most of Nietzsche’s major works that suggests a certain amount of accompaning responsibility.

The use and abuse of Nietzsche should come with a severe penalty – perhaps some lashes or a Milli Vanilli marathon would be in order… Or, even more insidious, we should make people read Glenn Beck. (ok, that might be going a little too far; no need to be that cruel!)

[belated hat tip to Prometheus Bound for drawing my attention to this quote]