How America has fulfilled Nietzsche’s prophecy

In the thread on the new liberal religion based on identification with Trayvon Martin, Robert P. writes:

I read with interest all the excellent comments, but no one has brought up the three-word summation of this phenomenon that was promulgated by Nietzsche about 120 years ago—Umwertung aller Werte, transvaluation of all values.

I see the photograph of the pro-Trayvon rally at the beginning of this entry as a kind of fulfillment of Nietzsche’s concept:

Savagery, murder, wilding, thuggery, theft, brutality—none of these is worthy of moral condemnation. For these people, the only thing worthy of moral condemnation is an objective moral code.

- end of initial entry -

Robert P. writes:

Thank you for posting, It was interesting how Nietzsche’s phrase popped into my head as I read the comments. Benefits of a liberal arts degree. :-)

In the bigger picture, it seems to me that this incident is proving to be a net minus for liberalism among the majority of Americans. Perhaps at least a few have had their perceptions of reality altered by the images of the proto-lynch mobs and the Miami Heat in hoodies. Liberals have never comprehended something that Ayn Rand knew well: “Guilt is a rope that wears thin.”

LA replies:

You write:

“In the bigger picture, it seems to me that this incident is proving to be a net minus for liberalism among the majority of Americans.”

I am not confident of that at all. Many, including myself, have said the same about each new liberal act of aggression, that THIS liberal atrocity, and THAT liberal horror, would finally wake people up and turn them against liberalism. But the expected anti-liberal awakening and turnabout never happens. All that happens is that the latest liberal horror wins, and the country keeps being further radicalized.

Yes, as I have said, individuals may awaken and turn against liberalism, and this is good. But the society as a whole is not turning against liberalism, nor is there any sign that it’s going to.

Robert P. replies:

Well, the net may be very small, but that’s useful, if only to make the Remnant a bit larger. I substantially agree with you that “the society as a whole is not turning around, nor is there any sign that it’s going to.” My view is that “the society” is going to splinter as people vote with their feet. “Vox Day” put it pretty well only yesterday:

Thank you very much for your work,

Daniel S. writes:

You wrote:

I am not confident of that at all. Many, including myself, have said the same about each new liberal act of aggression, that THIS liberal atrocity, and THAT liberal horror, would finally wake people up and turn them against liberalism. But the expected anti-liberal awakening and turnabout never happens. All that happens is that the latest liberal horror wins, and the country keeps being further radicalized.

I agree entirely. If the Muslim terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center which killed almost 3,000 people and the despicable response of the American government did little to wake up the majority of Americans, I do not see how some lesser event, be it the Fort Hood jihad attacks or rampant black violence which is excused by white liberals, would do so. At some point we have to accept that the vast majority of people willfully embrace liberalism and have no intention of forsaking it.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 02, 2012 03:40 PM | Send