On Slave Mentality

=1=

The word 'deference' is a way through the issue of 'collectivism':

"We must learn the difference between deference and submission. We defer to allow others to do their job well, express their gifts, and make an offering to the community—but we don’t submit, we don’t abdicate the responsibility to conscience. We become better, greater when we realize that we can accomplish more together, far more, than we could ever achieve alone. Enlightenment is a collective experience."

- Dr. Douglas Brooks

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I must add that a clear distinction must be made between 'deference' and 'collectivism', to me equivalent to getting paid whether you work or not, which was a demoralizing force in the country I lived in prior to america.

=3=

Nietzsche talks about how the lower classes have their own ideology, a slave morality, that is adopted by the weak and that helps them cope. This morality makes a virtue of weakness and passivity and teaches that denying your impulses, playing it safe, and following the dogma will ultimately resolve the problems of death and suffering.

He warned about movements that might emerge where this kind of ideology might take hold of the state and corrupt the zeitgeist of an entire people.

Instead, he passionately studied the geneology of morality, tracing it through the contours of the human psyche and the spirit of numerous cultures. Freud said this about Nietzsche:

"he had more penetrating knowledge of himself than any man who ever lived or was likely to live."

Nietzsche proposed that a type of man might emerge that could live beyond the duality of good and evil - a man that might instead forge new values for himself. I don't think a person can read him and learn how to be this 'superman', but reading his works can be a training of sorts for dissecting ideologies both created by fearful, weakened people as well as imposed upon others for the benefit of the decadent.

Ayn Rand is most definitely a student and admirer of his - although he is often misunderstood. I grew up with the promise of heaven from a catholic upbringing, and I remember how comforting the stories could be. As I grow older, I realize the folly of this form of social programming, and when I turn to Nietzsche, as I sometimes do, I don't find the same form of comfort. Instead, I feel challenged to confront my fears - I feel challenged to face what is happening within human experience - reality. So, I don't bring him up as any form of solution to the problems that trouble everyone I know and have ever met - but I do want you to understand that you don't have to explain yourself. I agree with most of the Ayn Rand storyline and yet I also strive to understand where slave morality comes from - even though it holds people down and suffers greatness in its infancy - and we can't tolerate this form of treachery - and yet I still want to at least speak the word 'compassion' during this conversation.