“Are you a man entitled to wish for a child?” asked Friedrich Nietzsche and he then goes on to ask who the man wishing for a child is and what is behind this almost senseless drive.
Looking at the current state of the world and the senseless destruction perpetrated by extremists of all colour and persuasion the world over, we could adapt Nietzche’s admonition and ask the arsonists and killers and stormers of buildings: “Are you a man (or woman) entitled to wish for freedom? Are you the victorious one, the self-conqueror, the commander of your senses, the master of your virtues? Or is it the animal and need that speak out of your wish? Or loneliness? Or lack of peace with yourself?”
“Know thy self” is the advice given by sages through the ages, and “conquer thy self” one must add, before you go out and demand respect by the most brutal and uncivilised way possible while there is no sign of respect for other or self-respect evident in the actions of the “angry, plundering mob” demanding rights, demanding to be “a man entitled to wish for a child”.
Are you a man (or woman) entitled to freedom, the self-conqueror, the commander of your senses?
Yes, there are legitimate grievances and severe shortcomings in society to day that must be addressed as a matter of urgency, but behaving like a barbarian and destroying everything is not going to change the future for any of us for the better, especially not for the people suffering most under the current dispensation.
Long before the development of our current dire situation Alan Pratt reminded us of Nietzsche’s apocalyptic prediction of the implications of nihilism for our post-modern civilization.
“It has been over a century now since Nietzsche explored nihilism and its implications for civilization. As he predicted, nihilism’s impact on the culture and values of the 20th century has been pervasive, its apocalyptic tenor spawning a mood of gloom and a good deal of anxiety, anger, and terror. Interestingly, Nietzsche himself, a radical sceptic preoccupied with language, knowledge, and truth, anticipated many of the themes of postmodernity. It’s helpful to note, then, that he believed we could–at a terrible price–eventually work through nihilism. If we survived the process of destroying all interpretations of the world, we could then perhaps discover the correct course for humankind”.
Add a severe global pandemic to the fry and it is evident that we are heading for total destruction before we will see the Light somewhere in the very distant future.
Wat my die meeste omkrap is dat daar nog mense is wat enige st#$%t wat ‘n sogenaamde leier uiter as evangelie aanvaar.Napoleon Hitler Verwoerd kon en het letterlik met MOORD weggekom en word nog steeds deur party bewonder!
Dit gaan mens se verstand te bowe Ockie. Voeg Putin en die spul Suid Ameriaanse diktators en die klomp Moslem leiers by die moordende haarpraters en almal wat soos kaap agter hulle aanloop en jy het n helse probleem. Raak jy van een ontslae dan kom daar n dosyn in sy plek. Dis om van siek te word.