Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Revival Through Western Thought


Wow!!! Over two months since my last post. Part of the absence is my lack of topics and conversation, but motivation is the primary explanation. Like 90% (Sicilian estimate) of blog users, I started a page only to watch it grow cold. That was not my original intention of course, but I've never had a website before. I asked myself today, "Why do I have a webpage?" I guess I have a web page to flex the ol brain and keep it from dying. Plus any writing is good writing.

A book I've been reading/studying is Thus Spake Zarathusthra by Neitzche. As most of Freidrich's work, Thus Spake Zarathustra overwhelms the mind. Unless one has a background in Western thought and philosophy, Zarathustra won't make much sense. But my audience has surely read Fisher Price: My First Philosophy, and Playskool: Inside My Head.
Check this link to read Thus Spake Zarathustra.
Thus Spake Zarathustra weaves the tale of a "prophet", Zarathustra. After spending years in meditation isolated in the mountains, Zarathustra returns to humanity. The rest of the story serves as function for Neitzche to get his agenda across. I believe Neitzche wanted to wake people up and consider thier values more than push his own values.

Anyway, I wanted to start a conservation with readers about a topic discussed in the book. Zarathustra introduces then expands on the Ubermensch idea. Basically an Ubermensch lives his/her life with a different set of values than his peers (often unaware of such) and shapes others' undetermined values. He/She can "affect history indefinitely" as my former philosophy professor and author Dr. Robert Solomon described. Think of an Ubermensch as an alpha male dog who herds and influences the weaker, indecisive dogs. For example, Napoleon affected European history far beyond his death. Hitler did the same.

It is important to remember that Neitzsche was very non-political and wrote years before the existance of Nazi's. I become quite petulant when I hear some doosh liken Neitzche to the Nazi's. Irony abounds in sight of Nazi's taking on this Ubermensch idea. The Nazi's used the work of a great German writer to aggrandize thier own propaganda campaign. Fortunately for the Nazi's, most German people had not even read Fisher Price: My First Philosophy. I'm sure the German intellectual community conceived the manipulation, but since they were natural enemies of Nazi's anyway......
An Ubermensch should be content with their own life, and appreciate all things. Creativity, thoughts, and values should be an Ubermensch's tools, not an MG-42 machine gun or a Panzer tank.

The idea of an Ubermensch should inspire courage and optimism, not conquest and genocide. Another associated idea I should have mentioned by now is the will-to-power. Think of this as every human is continually trying to fulfill their desires either through action or thought. An Ubermensch applies this idea on a large scale. He/She gains contentment and realisation of his own life by recognizing that values and meanings will exist as long as the will to power does.

We love feedback here at mackinblack, so feel free to holla to mack_austin@hotmail.com and tell me how great I broke down Neitzche or how I am a Nazi sympathizer for reading German authors.

Mack Out

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