Good old Fritz continues to appear as a nightmare to “democratic” culture!
Friedrich Nietzsche, the most radical critic of equality, upsets the slumber of regime intellectuals, whose only job is to pester public opinion with an unbearable anti-racist stalking that pursues its victims at all hours of the day and night…
Yet Nietzsche is still the most widely read philosopher in the world: obviously the Masonic ideology of universal brotherhood, so dear to the globalist ruling class, raises more than one doubt and is not universally shared…
Consequently, the pen pushers at the service of globalism are concerned about the possible readings and interpretations of the Saxon philosopher. Given the fact that Nietzsche’s philosophical genius is indisputable and his thought an unavoidable point of reference, the sorcerer’s apprentices who promote globalisation are racking their brains for a way to defuse this Nietzschean dynamite.
Hence the great relevance of Massimo Ferrari Zumbini’s book Nietzsche: storia di un processo politico. Dal nazismo alla globalizzazione (Nietzsche: the story of a political trial. From Nazism to globalization), a work commendable for its clear presentation and intellectual honesty (qualities that are quite rare these days). The book’s title is indicative, as progressive intellectuals, the self-appointed upholders of Goodness, consider themselves authorised to put their adversaries’ ideas “on trial”, even if in reality “democracy” should be put on trial, given that “democratic” societies produce crime, corruption, unemployment, poverty and social disintegration!
Ferrari Zumbini’s work analyses the interpretations of Nietzsche from the late-19th century up to the present day.
At the turn of the century, his sister Elisabeth and Count Harry Kessler created the Nietzsche Archive, an international reference point for artists and thinkers, which was almost a counterpart to Wagner’s Bayreuth. At this stage, Nietzsche’s works began to find favour with the public, although their success might not have been lasting. The philosopher’s fierce attacks against Christianity and the Kaiser risked censure for blasphemy and treason!
The first period of interpretation described by Ferrari Zumbini begins in 1914. With the outbreak of the Great War, Nietzsche was “nationalised” by Werner Sombart, who portrayed the philosopher as representative of a heroic vision of the world. On the other side, British propaganda presented Nietzsche’s thought as responsible for the war. The controversy, nevertheless, had the effect of making Nietzsche an extremely well-known figure.
After the war, Nietzsche continued to be used by right-wing intellectuals as his thought lent itself particularly well to the reductio ad unum of their adversaries: Christianity, democracy, liberalism, socialism were all lumped together in the criticism of equality.
A new phase began with Hitler’s rise to power. Many tales have been told about Nietzsche as the “philosopher of Nazism,” but in reality its use of his thought was partial and problematic. The most active intellectual in this respect was Alfred Baeumler, author of Nietzsche und der Philosoph Politiker (Nietzsche Philosopher and Politician, 1931). The prominent Nazi Rosenberg encouraged Baeumler to provide an interpretation of Nietzsche that could fit the ideological canons of National Socialism. Pointers in this direction were not lacking in Nietzschean thought, although the Nazi interpreters also encountered difficulties that were not easily resolved in the famous passages against anti-Semites and his anti-German tirades. The national-patriotic environment also included currents of thought hostile to Nietzsche: from Christian culture, both Catholic and Protestant, to the Wagnerian environment, which preserved the memory of the rift between the philosopher and musician. The most markedly racist currents of the movement had little interest in Nietzsche’s thought and came to accuse him of being a philo-Semite.
In regard to this entire controversy, Ferrari Zumbini suggests that it is time to finally discard the myth of Nietzsche’s sister having manipulated the philosopher’s writings to make them acceptable to Hitler’s regime. In reality, this manipulation concerned aspects of Nietzsche’s personal life that could have proven embarrassing for the family. Abandonment of this obsession with Nietzche’s sister is therefore seen as one of the most important methodological steps for interpreting the philosopher.
After 1945, the phase of demonisation and damnatio memoriae began: the protagonist of this attitude was the communist philosopher Lukács. Only towards the end of the 1960s, with the new Italian translation by Montinari, did interest in Nietzsche revive and the philosopher was freed from the ideological cage in which had been falsely imprisoned. During this period, Nietzschean thought was able to expand and reflect a variety of interpretations, which were more or less consistent while also revealing the extraordinary versatility of the conceptual tools developed by Nietzsche.
Perhaps this is why, at the start of the 21st century, some progressive intellectuals have once more begun to call into question the philosopher of the “Will to Power”.
The Italian scholar Domenico Losurdo, in his work Nietzsche, il ribelle aristocratico (Nietzsche, the Rebel Aristocrat), once again presents an image of the German philosopher as the ideologue of the selection of the strongest and suppression of the weak. Losurdo returns to the stereotype created by Brandes, which he updates with the obsolete tools of Marxism.
Thomas Mittmann, for his part, wrote an important essay entitled Vom “Günstling” zum “Urfeind” der Juden: Die antisemitische Nietzsche-Rezeption in Deutschland bis zum Ende des Nationalsozialismus; this work, on the anti-Semitic reception of Nietzsche, does nothing more than place the philosopher’s thought in direct relation with the favourite story of the democratic flock: the Holocaust…
In this regard, Ferrari Zumbini highlights the evanescence of certain ideologised positions, as the history of revolution is certainly not free from violence. It can, in fact, be seen, even without questioning the official version of the Holocaust (often imposed by law), that the victims of political persecution in communist regimes were much more numerous than those imputed to fascist regimes!
Ferrari Zumbini devotes a chapter of his book to the relationship between Nietzsche and anti-Semitism. Much has been said and there is still great discussion about Nietzsche’s true feelings towards the Jews, and Ferrari Zumbini examines the various interpretations. Nietzsche’s vitriolic and radical criticism of Christianity can obviously be extended to the other two monotheistic religions. Moreover, Nietzsche’s philosophy lends itself to a conspirative view of history and provides conspirationism with very interesting ideas. Beyond the observations of Ferrari Zumbini, we should also consider the need to address the issue in the light of what our paranoid “democratic” culture means by anti-Semitism: the idea has now gained ground that whoever does not belong to the “chosen people” is considered ipso facto anti-Semitic…
The most interesting part of the book is the final chapter, entitled “Colonial Holocausts”. The ruling class at the start of 21st century is in fact conducting a revision of the past aimed at presenting the era of global capitalism as the culmination of history, in which human happiness can be secured by a diligent supervision of “crimes against humanity”. In this context, the offences, real or imagined, of the white peoples during the colonial period have become the original sin to be expiated in saecula saeculorum! There is no shortage of scholars who see in the fierce repression of revolts in Germany’s African colonies a propensity towards extermination typical of Germanic peoples: a thesis inspired by the most sinister biological racism…
In this perspective, the interpretation we wish to provide of the most popular philosopher of all time appears decisive: Nietzsche himself denounced that morality of hatred and resentment which is now seen in “humanitarian morality”!
Ferrari Zumbini notes that the ideology of human rights enjoys general consensus, and international institutions certainly do not seem to encounter any opposition to their definition of globalist legal categories. However, more astute observers cannot help but wonder about the enigma of the consensus that underlies “humanitarian” ideology. Modern states are in fact characterised by a progressive restriction of individual freedoms and an entirely specious application of “human rights”. Think of the martyrdom of Palestine, the so-called “humanitarian” wars, the dramatic situation of political rights in China, the European arrest warrant, the American anti-terrorism laws…
These are blatant examples of violation of the most basic human and civil rights by countries that comprise the lion’s share of the UN!
The cultural climate of globalisation is clearly inspired by Marxism: Marx and Nietzsche are without doubt the intellectuals that have most influenced the mindset of contemporary man and they provide an exemplary summary of the cultural trends that have characterised the whole of Western history. On the one hand, there is the thought of Marx the Jew, rooted in monotheism: dogmatic, irrational and intolerant. On the other hand, Nietzsche’s thought, inspired by paganism: critical, problematic and differentialist.
Yet in the 21st century, the century that celebrates the gloomy triumph of egalitarian uniformity, the boring, mediocre pages of Marx are no longer read even by left-wing militants and are studied only by economic theory specialists, while the words of Nietzsche still flicker like flames and never cease to fascinate readers with their enchanting power, always fraught with fruitful developments.
Such a context offers space for a great revival of Nietzsche’s thought, which, as always, can provide a very original stimulus for the development of new ways of thinking, as long as Montinari’s appropriate warning is borne in mind: “to interpret Nietzsche historically and not ideologically, using a philological rather than an actualising approach”.
Nietzschean thought, which exposes all hypocrisy with a blunt and timeless language, offers us a way out of the impasse of globalisation. Moreover, it is precisely for this reason that the German philosopher is still feared so much…
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Massimo Ferrari Zumbini, Nietzsche: storia di un processo politico. Dal nazismo alla globalizzazione, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli, 2011, pp. 324.
http://www.store.rubbettinoeditore.it/nietzsche-storia-di-un-processo-politico.html
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