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Nietzsche – Socialism & Interpretation

Friedrich Nietzsche, the renowned German philosopher, held a profound contempt for socialism throughout his life. This post also includes my views and interpretations of socialism and similar ideologies, including Marxism.

Key points regarding Nietzsche’s views on socialism:

Anti-Egalitarianism:

Nietzsche believed that socialism, along with other defenders of egalitarianism, aimed to level differences and suppress individual genius. Socialism has many what could be called idealistic and unrealistic views. In his own words, “socialism negates life”.

He saw socialism as a movement of the “herd,” emphasizing conformity, collectivism, and uniformity rather than celebrating individuality and excellence.

Nietzsche socialism quote.

Personal Comments & Interpretations

Equal rights seem like a reasonable goal, however, the idea of equal worth stems from those overly compassionate individuals, and their views are not grounded in reality, but rather a type of naive idealism which is not thought out. The harsh truth is, some people are extremely productive. They invent things, enhance the world and live for the betterment of the human race. Some people, on the other hand, perhaps the majority, mostly live for their own impulsive and self-interested needs and desires. Then we have those that harm society and others, who more directly have a negative impact on society. Equal worth is a delusional belief, nothing more than a fantasy.

On the surface, socialist ideas seem reasonable and compassionate. However, socialism will also attract those in society that are lazy and resentful. The lazy will always want something for nothing; this creates a breeding ground for mediocrity.

It will also attract those vengeful and resentful individuals. These people believe that greed is the main reason why some people attain great wealth. They are envious of those who have gained and acquired capital. They think they deserve some of their wealth without having to work for it.

Laziness and resentfulness are often a mixture that leads to criminal behaviour. They want something without working for it. The resentment that stems from perceived injustice or their oppression justifies their crimes.

Politicians will often demonize those with wealth in an attempt to invoke feelings of envy and resentment in order for themselves to gain power and promote socialist ideas. This is in fact common, and it has been done many times throughout history.

The Ignorance of Socialists

Nietzsche, tyranny of the meanest and the most brainless.

Billionaires are often the target, some believe it’s unfair that certain individuals have so much wealth, and some are simply envious of their wealth. However, many of those who support socialist ideas are ignorant of how much a billion actually is. Many seem to think that a billion is a million million, when it’s actually a thousand million. It’s still a lot of money, however, there is a big difference. One million million is actually a trillion. They are wrong by 1,000 vs 1,000.000, so, just slightly.

They also attribute acquired wealth to greed and corruption. While this can be true, it’s definitely not the whole truth. Success breeds more success, and inequality happens naturally. See the pareto distribution and prices law for more on this. Intelligence and conscientiousness (hardworking trait) are also big predictors of financial income and success.

More government and centralised control is also needed to implement socialist ideas. The more power governments get, the greater the risk that they will abuse that power, and become authoritarian and tyrannical. Also, if socialism is deemed better, then opposition parties and ideas will likely be suppressed, therefore eroding democracy. If there is no democracy, then what is there to stop governments from becoming tyrannical and abusing their power?

Socialists, and people in general also don’t seem to understand that many politicians are not the smartest or moral people. However, this seems to becoming more and more obvious these days. In fact there are very few people probably smart enough and educated enough to be an effective politician. That actually makes a society better, rather than worse. I also think that they don’t realise how difficult it is to make things better. Most government interventions make things worse, especially if big changes are implemented quickly. This is partly the fault of the arrogance of politicians and those with power. They don’t realise their ignorance.

Socialists tend to simplify situations down to a single cause. Therefore, they have a simple solution. Socialism. They will end up giving these incapable politicians more power. Power that will likely lead to the abuse of that power if history is anything to go by. This is the same problem with dictators. Great power without ability always leads down a dark path.

Final Comments

I think many people that support socialism and similar ideologies have good compassionate intentions. However, as Nietzsche said, “it negates life”, it also attracts the lazy and resentful. Humans have a desire to move up the ladder in order to give themselves better opportunities in many aspects of life. Socialism is anti-natural, therefore anti-life. Socialism also attracts those that desire to have control over others, as this is one of the strongest motivators that some people have. History tells us that those who desire power the most are exactly the ones who shouldn’t have it.

Socialist and similar ideologies also promote collectivism, often promoting a group identity over the individual. This basically increases the chance of a type of tribal warfare, especially when you see things through the lens of the oppressed and oppressor, which it also promotes.

Western societies are some of the richest, safest, most free, and generally best places to live in the world, currently, and including at anytime throughout history. Any large scale changes are very likely to make things worse rather than better.

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