Nietzsche: Weakness Corrupts.

[@lolbosss]

Power doesn't corrupt, it enables

[@quickfeed7592]

A very concise way of putting it! Delivers the point much better!

[@ramdom_assortment]

Cyrus the Great is the perfect example of how someone with power can better the world, including someone with absolute power.

[@bobbob-zc1nx]

No it corrupts, but not absolutely, that's why it says absolute power corrupts absolutely. You can look at it in another way, if you don't believe 99% of your rulers are already corrupt. The individual who gains power is capable of being corrupt outwardly, when before they had to be polite or kind. You literally see the difference. But its not mandatory. But If you have absolute power you will abuse it in at least 1 fashion. No matter how moral and wise you are that much power will cause you to give into a temptation or commit an error you wouldn't if you didn't have that extream amount of power. Nieche was a rebellious contrarion sometimes. Like his complaints about meekness and martyrdom. Like those are literally related to God and man's relationship. Not a virtue for citizens. He complained its backwards.....because it was deliberately written to be backwards, like the guy lost reading comprehension in scripture. He wrote great stuff but he was very hit or miss

[@ramdom_assortment]

@@bobbob-zc1nx A few things. As stated before there have been rulers that have been ideal rulers in history; Cyrus the Great, Marcus Aurelius, ect. Just because someone can make a mistake doesn't make them corrupt. You can be corrupted and have no power. One's moral character is not defined by how much power they have. There is just so many examples people point to as bad rulers/leaders. Also those who want to be a force for good may gain power and have no desire to be well known.

[@bobbob-zc1nx]

@@ramdom_assortment I literally said that. So I'll be clearer, power TENDS to corrupt and absolutely WILL ALWAYS CORRUPT IN AT LEAST 1 WAY, YOU CANT AVOID IT. most leaders are corrupt, and we put them there. Most leaders in history either fought for the position or were born into it, and were still corrupt. Power will always effect an individual. I was talking from a perspective view. Like you see a normal or moral guy get power and suddenly they act out of character. They were only moral because they were weaker or didn't have the temptations power gave. I know you can find at least 1 questionable decision by those rulers, or the way they treated others. The wisdom is, don't be shocked if truly moral people change after giving them power, and even the greatest moral king will eventually do a corrupt thing. They were moral or behaved that way but power affected them.

[@wrongthinker843]

Absolutely. Power is a means to an end. The desire to abuse power stems from weakness of character.

[@McCarthy1776]

Power is the end not the means. The male mind is programmed by evolution to pursue power, status and reproduction. I guess you could say reproduction is rhe biological end and power is the means. But psychologically men pursue power as and end of its own, among other things

[@какегоэтот]

power feeds ego, ego demands control you either control your ego and restrict your power, or give control to ego and see how everything slips into chaos

[@thomas.thomas]

@@какегоэтот then tell me what is "ego" and how is it separate from the rest of your mind in your opinion?

[@какегоэтот]

i see it as a perception of yourself, earned identity. if you identify yourself as powerfull/competent/virtous when it becomes a status that you would want to secure for the sake of a power itself. life goes on, everything errodes and qualities will perish or swap to something else. your mind and body, your social weight and authority will fade, or maybe change depending on circumstances that in large are out of your control. Trying to forcibly establish that control in pursiut of power will give it a destructive nature. people who praise power tend to become bitter, sometimes hurt by heavy self imposed expectations. what i mean is that power itself is a tool wich should always be in check, used cautiously, evaded without a need for it Best leaders are the ones who don't want to lead but know that they are supposed to @@thomas.thomas

[@MsJavaWolf]

@@thomas.thomasEverything that I disapprove of is ego.

[@deshawnwilliams338]

"moderation corrupts and absolute moderation corrupts absolutely" - third philosopher

[@mirceazaharia2094]

Therefore, moderation must be practiced in... you guessed it, moderation. 😅

[@mesa9724]

@@mirceazaharia2094No!!!

[@kingdon7795]

I will corrupt everyone Hoohoohahahaahaa 😈😈👹👹😜😜🖕🖕🖕

[@Dmn....]

Discord mods be in shambles from this phrase

[@SuperCaelum]

Based anti-centrist. 😂

[@kevinbeck8836]

"I have often laughed at the weakling who calls himself good because he has crippled paws"

[@MisterPeckingOrder]

Well, say what you will about the weakling, but that quote only reveals a deeper weakness still

[@itstimeforafuckingcrusade]

And what is it?​@@MisterPeckingOrder

[@idratherstayanonimous7020]

Nietzsche, despite his profound philosophy was dealing himself with the manifestations of his own shadow. One cannot be all power, you are equal parts weakness and power. Nietzche suffered the tragedy of his own ego inflation.

[@mindgames7411]

If you have the ability to inflict harm but choose not to. You’re peaceful. If don’t have the ability to inflict harm….you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless

[@Arguments_only]

​@@mindgames7411 so do you purschase meat produced with extreme torture even though your survival doesnt depend on it? There barely are peaceful primates. Only those who pretend to feel warm inside.

[@astralwyrm3787]

When I was listening to nietzsche what I took from 'Will to Power' was that impotence leads to depression. The power one has to change that which you desire to change. Because if you were a wild animal and you weren't able to change the enviroment around you that is often a sign that you are the dead in waiting. Even if your a rich/powerful person if you find that you cannot change the things you wish to change then you can fall into depression.

[@shimrrashai-rc8fq]

Sure, but I think the trick is that a balance is required. There's a massive difference between being empowered to not live on the street, and having the power to stifle those who live on the street. Ultimately we need enough personal power to not slip to depression and enough cooperation to empower each other and ensure none of us are without our need assured, particularly now that there is no such thing as scarcity of food and other core need that is not artificially created.

[@paulgibbons2320]

Absolutely correct.

[@torshavnnewell]

​@@shimrrashai-rc8fq Scarcity still exists. We are still limited by time and location. Moreover, it doesn't mean people no longer need to eat just because we've become super productive and efficient in producing food

[@zephyrr108]

OP writing gave me a stroke.

[@zog6416]

@astralwyrm3787 True. Weakness, therfore, has little to do with financial wealth, and in a world of mass psychosis, weakness reaches past the wallet, straight to the core of being.

[@therearenoshortcuts9868]

power shows who you already are weakness makes you angry/spiteful/self-pitying

[@Phil-du7zc]

This. This is it.

[@zuz-ve4ro]

no. power over others gives you authority to ignore others, rendering you stupid and making it harder for you to interpret information (because why understand someone if you can order them around?) power has independent impact on one's character

[@MisterPeckingOrder]

@@zuz-ve4roOnly if you were already weak of character.

[@shadowpriest2574]

@@zuz-ve4ro You are right, but its by no means a counter argument to what the first guy said, right?

[@zuz-ve4ro]

@@shadowpriest2574 hm you might be right, i assumed that "power shows who you already are" is contradicted by demonstrating systematic effect of power on a person, but im not sure on the second thought. definitely power lets people do what they want to but also changes them fundamentally (so that would launch us into questions like "if the guy changes from before they aquired power, can we meaningfully say that it shows who they are, if the power in question alters their self?" but its semantics ig)

[@AlastorTheNPDemon]

Weakness certainly corrupts. I can't even count the number of times I wanted to do unspeakable things when I felt down in the dumps, but when I feel strong? Generosity, gregariousness, and self-efficacy. It may be worth mentioning that this "corruption" is not necessarily evil or weak. It can offer a little boost towards strength and a necessary sense of importance. The problem is possession. It's only useful to be resentful and envious to the end of attaining mastery.

[@Arguments_only]

Certainly not "evil" in Nietzsches mind because "evil" doent exist, universe is ultimately indifferent.

[@Yonkipog]

​@@Arguments_only same for machiavelli

[@jacobwiren8142]

"The later acquisition of power does not necessarily undo the damage that has already been done to the psyche. Weakness has already corrupted it." Well said.

[@bgt2848]

Power, money, influence none of these things corrupt. Just like adversity, hardship and tribulation do not build. All things only reveal who you are.

[@bgt2848]

@@be.prepared.to.do.that. my friend with all respect. No. Let me explain. All money and power, or hardship and adversity do is give us the opportunity to make a choice. When met with adversity, you can either choose to be the victim and wallow. Or you can choose to be the hero and rise. Given money and power, a morally, strong man, who knows his potential for darkness will make better choices with it then a morally weak man who believes himself in capable of darkness, or who believes himself a victim of the world. In both of these cases, the fortune Or folly does not change. The person it nearly reveals the choices they would make. it’s no different than if I were to hand a firearm to a serial killer or a Saint. It doesn’t change the person it only reveals same with money and power hardship. same with adversity hope this clarified

[@bgt2848]

@@be.prepared.to.do.that. I respect your opinion though i would say a “cookie cutter framing” would be the traditional “adversity builds character” stance. Im curious as to how the stance states is seen as cookie cutter though

[@Halophage]

​@@be.prepared.to.do.that.This certainly comes off as extremely nuanced to me

[@Halophage]

@@be.prepared.to.do.that. Because it doesn't just reduce the moral character of a person to whether they have power or not. There are a thousand other factors involved in determining a person's goals and ideals and worldview, and it would be absurd to pin it on something so vague and simplistic as "corruption". The nature of power is the ability to act, and the ability to act reveals more than it influences - or else all strong would be homogeneous in their desires and actions.

[@mairuzo]

My problem with this line of thinking is that it’s static mindset: you’re born a certain way and that’s it, you will never grow or change out of your weakness.

[@hap1678]

I agree, as a Theist with this notion. A weak man is a man who is dangerous precisely because he’s weak. The weak man cannot control his emotions thus his mind.

[@theMPrints]

As a pineapple i strongly disagree , as the wast majority of the people you have no clue how human mind works and that makes you particularly susceptible to corruption. It is more complicated than hirr dur hulk stung , hulk morally superior ......

[@gustaviokkk5422]

That's why I don't understand why Nieztche says that christianity, the true one, makes men weak. Fasting is a very important aspect of christianity and it teaches us to control our emotions and desires

[@Johanisnotreal]

​​​​@@gustaviokkk5422he didnt say that about true Christianity because he viewed Jesus as the most true form of it and held Jesus to a very high regard. It's his view on free will; and if I'm remembering it correctly, dogmatic aspects of the Christianity he saw in the world around him. How he valued free will caused a lot of inconsistencies within his philosophy,really made him seemed confused when it came to how he viewed free will . One of his quotes being "In truth, there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross. . . . What has been called 'evangel' from that moment was actually the opposite of that which he had lived" he didn't believe the Christians he saw around him were truly emulating Jesus.

[@gustaviokkk5422]

@@Johanisnotreal I understand now, thanks for your clarification johan, yeah I agree with nieztche a lot of christians worship Jesus instead of trying to emulate him and his teachings, if so they are picky on the Bible and follow some teachings and ignore others, these are the worst type of christians and I usually try to stay away from them, the ones who are willing to really change his life and habits to emulate Jesus are rare and usually seclude themselves from the mob.

[@Lyu-Phy]

It's also a man with nothing left to lose.

[@Leo122188]

5:06 "Nietzsche, I need your strongest potion." "My potions are too strong for you."

[@Tarik360]

The "apotheke" being "victory" part Is brilliant. This part made me realize that Nietzsche was not in fact suffering from what I thought was "nerd's remorse"

[@SchemingGoldberg]

@@thedude-kl5zh People also claimed that Bobby Fischer "went insane", but he didn't. He just spoke uncomfortable truths that people didn't want to accept.

[@malcolm_in_the_middle]

Shut it down!@@SchemingGoldberg

[@jacobwiren8142]

@@thedude-kl5zh They SAY that Nietzsche went insane. Don't forget that Nietzsche's sister was one of the founders of the National German Socialists, and Nietzsche HATED socialism. He called it the "religion of the weak". It is entirely possible that Nietzsche was simply betrayed by his family. His condition could have been entirely treatable. We will never know, because his sister was a vile woman who helped teach H**ler.

[@ummon995]

These short article entries are excellent. I've been doing a deep dive of BGE with two others and we're reading sections that mirror these podcast episodes. It's very rewarding.

[@lolstormzify]

😵WE MAKING IT OUTTA THE DECAYING SOCIETY WITH THIS ONE 🥶🥶

[@JcoleMc]

​@Crowned_Conquering_Man-Child Becuase post ironic humor is funny

[@okplay9446]

​@Crowned_Conquering_Man-ChildYou should be happy that young people take interest in philosophy

[@Landekar]

​@@okplay9446not as far as pretending to understand and mocking it, so that a lie

[@kolepate7057]

Real

[@Emptyca1m]

​@Crowned_Conquering_Man-Child nah bro yr just weak

[@luxsuperbia1531]

Power doesn't corrupt, it simply reveals who you really are. and so does weakness (the lack of power), it doesn't inherently make you worse or better but it does reveal a lot about who you really are (in a different way that power does).

[@jphottroddlincoln4424]

I have read the works of several philosophers, and I keep finding myself coming back to Nietzsche every time.

[@Solscapes.]

Narcissism corrupts, and absolute narcissism is called "the establishment."

[@Sextus70]

Pathological narcissists can't fathom a live without the constant attention and adulation of others, which is in fact a big sign of weakness of mind and character (in fact, the silent treatment is particularly harmful to them). Some might have money and status they try to assert with a tough facade, but deep inside they still feel empty and need others to fill that void because it is really all they have to offer. No wonder why some people speak in these times of social media about a "Pandemic of Narcissism".

[@Solscapes.]

@@Sextus70 While there absolutely is a pandemic of narcissism, it seems like projection by old narcissists to say that it's a new thing. Lead poisoning alone created untold numbers (NPS, not necessarily NPD) during the time of leaded gasoline. That affected every living generation from Gen Y and older. Germany was filled with it in industrial waste pre 3rd Reich. There's a long history of the privileged getting it in dishware throughout medieval Europe. If you read the biography of Vlad Dracula, "The Prince of Many Faces," it's clear that the nobility were all crazy and evil and cruel. The whole city of Rome drank lead water. There is no safe amount, btw, despite scientists who work for the lead industry saying otherwise. Romans used to strap people to giant seesaws in the arena and let lions have at them. Also, Julius Caesar obviously had lead poisoning, if you compare the symptoms. Mongolian coins also had lead, as well as that Spartan armor they wore all day every day. Each of these examples was the cruelest group of people of their time. Lead is far from the only thing that can cause someone to lose their conscience, but it's a very effective means, if exposure happens at the right age, and it's made quite a few of them over the centuries. While social media plays into narcissism, promotes it, and rewards it, it also distorts the reality behind it, by making it look like the young are proportionally more narcissistic, when in fact, the less narcissistic tend to die off, not grow out of a narcissistic population. The narcissists kill off the good, the truth tellers, and many of their own enablers, leaving the oldest generations at the highest concentration.

[@mannppatel3382]

Genuis the eternal truth

[@Solscapes.]

I worked so hard on the response in the hidden conversation. Anyone who is interested, you'll have to go back to the base comment thread, switch it from top to newest, and scroll ALL the way down to find this thread again. FUYT.

[@outdoororiented4869]

Absolutely fantastic, thank you. I have believed power absolutely corrupts for a long time, but this video made me realize that’s not actually the case, simply that those who most often seek power are those most hurt and thus inflict their pain upon others, as a need to prove their own perceived power to themselves. Thanks for the great video!

[@gustaviokkk5422]

That's why the government is so corrupt and evil, the vast majority of them wants to prove their Power by inflicting pain on us

[@TrevorTrove]

external power corrupts, internal weakness corrupts. combine the two and you end up with one dangerous, unstable individual.

[@dieltolo6112]

Putin for example, one of the most powerful men, while extremely paranoid and delusional

[@zsqduke]

Xi

[@thomas.thomas]

@@dieltolo6112 how is he paranoid or delusion? A lot of people want him dead - of course he fears assassinations. And delusional? While I disagree with his ideas, methods and what he stands for - he sure already managed to conquer much land in the war

[@thomas.thomas]

How can one be internally powerful without having external power?

[@dieltolo6112]

​@@thomas.thomas he is paranoid not for fear of assassinations; every world leader has protocols for that; the thing is when you use body armor in a room where you are making a video where there is only you and the crew, like with the announcement of the war in Ukraine, that is paranoid, he has no allies, only convenient people that pose lesser threats. He is delusional because he really believes in what he says (this is a new realization for me, cemented after the Tucker Calsen interview), and to think that you are the hope for a culture is delusional.

[@Chrisspru]

meek changed definition over the centuries. originaly it ment "those who have a sword and know to wield it, but keep it sheathed" in essence "those who speak softly and carry a big stick shall inherit the earth". and thats the gentleness of true power

[@kevinbeck8836]

Do you have a source for this? Did some googling about etymology of meek and did not get this

[@OnDeckwithScottSarpolus]

I've seen countless professors on KZbin (Rick Roderick, Jordan Peterson, Micheal Segrue) say the same thing about the original meaning of 'meek'. It didn't mean 'weak'.

[@OnDeckwithScottSarpolus]

I googled it and got the original meaning 'strength under control'

[@Nykandros]

No one will inherit anything lmao, those who have the big stick and dare to use it will TAKE the earth.

[@Chrisspru]

@@Nykandros depends. blind agression gives you a short win, but leads to infighting and self devouring empires. a system that destroys more than it builds is canabalizing itself. thats a very limited run. carrying a big stick, as implied by the original meaning, also imies you can use it and know when to. but if possible you chose to speak softly and build or mend rather then destroy. even egoism is better fed by building a long legacy then paratizing a system into the ground and leaving no upkept legacy in which people strife to embody you.

[@maxavail]

It's amazing that Nietzsche is seen as an antichrist. It takes true power to be authentically humble, caring, loving and forgiving. Any Christian virtue needs to start in a place of freedom. There can be no freedom without power. And the ultimate power is power over oneself. Self-denial is just that, denial of self by the self, not by others. When it's by others, it's just bondage and signals weakness.

[@dontbothertoreply9755]

He is the writer of the antichrist lol.

[@danielcox7629]

It's a misunderstanding of the quote "god is dead" as gloating rather than mourning.

[@eccoeco3454]

No Sorry... A lot of his Philosophy is at times just morally reprehensible such as his disgust for weakness... (And related necessity of "rule of the strong") Which is pathetic and only leads to pain because it's just trying to hide from one of the most defining characteristics of man, that all of us are very much weak

[@danielcox7629]

@@eccoeco3454 you misunderstand strength if you think it's reprehensible. A weak man is morally, physically, and mentally weak. Incapable of wisdom or calculated decisions. Not even capable of risky decisions when things go wrong. You need morally and mentally strong leaders so that they can make good decisions for your community. It is idiotic not to want the best man for the job, arguing about who that is and what that looks like is understandable. But everyone discuses strengths and weaknesses of that hypothetical person. Without strength you can't do good at all, with strength comes the choice to do good or evil.

[@newsciencestuff5540]

Those are not Christian virtues. Nietzsche attacked Christianity because he knew the foul program that it was. Masquerading as good, but eventually harming innocent people. Did you guys forget how Christianity basically slaughtered the pagans who were minding their own business, killed innocent black cats, burnt innocent women alive?

[@grbbsc]

Western society is completely decaying. Many people are going into escapism, doing things like excessively doing drugs, playing video games, watching porn. It is important that we remain strong during this time, because no matter how much you try to escape from reality, it will eventually catch up to you with new problems arriving with it.

[@Damesanglante]

This happen because we live in capitalist dystopia. Slaves are not happy. Corporations control the world and we are a shooter away from Cyberpunk 2077.

[@YOTSUBA_desu]

All of that stuff is reality. Also if Nietzsche's idea world was real then I would deliberately contribute to tearing down society.

[@metamaggot]

maybe it's doing whatever they want to do instead of hating themselves for it..an escape from slave morailty

[@MisterFanwank]

Strength and power are different things. A bear is strong, but it does not have the power to run a space program. Power, when used for ignoble purposes, is how the weak approximate strength by exploiting the strong.

[@nunchukGun]

The idea of Will to Power makes so much sense when you look the world. I think it's a shame Nietzsche never got to finish the book dedicated solely to that concept.

[@wertyuiopasd6281]

Yes. Will to power is everything.

[@mr.suki2425]

""Submitting to power degrades, exercising power corrupts."

[@kotharianlightning]

One thing to remember about the Lord Acton quote is the context where he said it. Lord Acton was a British Roman Catholic who was devout enough in his beliefs that he stuck with Catholicism, despite this limiting his social mobility due to the anti-Catholic laws at the time. The quote specifically comes from his participation in the contemporary dispute over whether or not the Pope was infallible and was contained in a letter written to a Bishop. Lord Acton was strongly on the side which argued that the Pope was not infallible and he was one of the people who funded this side of the dispute. However, that side ultimately lost the dispute, hence giving us the doctrine today of papal infallibility (with a hilarious number of caged caveats that make the whole thing pointless, but anyways...). Hence his critique of absolute power is understood as pointing out the flaws of a man elevating himself to unchallengeable divine authority, something we've seen go wrong time and time again, whether prophets or dictators claim such authority. The quote is also regarded as having originated from the British Prime Minister William Pitt, who had the softer take that absolute power tends to corrupt.

[@andrewbowen2837]

Too much victory can be a bad thing, and it should not be over-prescribed. Yet, pursuing challenges and overcoming suffering are supposed to be the best ways to exert power or will, and lead to strength. So maybe measured tribulations overcome through great effort, as rare as such things are, would be the only type of victories we should value. Is it something that can be instilled into others, or are they already too poisoned to recover?

[@andrewbowen2837]

@@enjoy.your.socks_AF having had more time to reflect on this stuff, I do not understand how this isn't exemplified through Christianity. The protestant work ethic, the values established in the book of Job, that God only helps those who help themselves, etc., all these ideas that essentially posit that pulling yourself up by the boot straps and constantly working to achieve success are espoused within Christianity, but also apparently in what Nietzsche preached. The only difference is where the ultimate payoff is: one in this life, the other in the afterlife. Yet, Christians believe and practice that following these tenets also make them happy in this life. Maybe it could be said that this low form of contentment, though achieved through strife, isn't the same as the greatness a tightrope walker strives for in Nietzsche's view. The goals are different in their more grand formulation, but similar at a smaller scale, and the processes are roughly the same, except perhaps the life denying practices of abstinence for Christians. It seems to show that perhaps Nietzsche isn't quite exempt from the Christian value system himself. There's a book called "Redeeming Nietzsche" that argues this point

[@Lmaoh5150]

@@andrewbowen2837Those values your attributing to Christianity were adopted from the Greeks and Jewish scriptures

[@andrewbowen2837]

@@Lmaoh5150 for sure. The entire western tradition is rooted in Athens and Jerusalem. Christianity also combines them, and spread it across the globe

[@idratherstayanonimous7020]

@@andrewbowen2837 Christianity has paganism written all over its face, and it's been the denial of that reality that has driven its own decay.

[@andrewbowen2837]

@@idratherstayanonimous7020 it incorporated pagan symbols and holidays, and twisted original pagan myths into its own corpus in acts of syncretism. But I don't think that has anything to do with its downfall, and syncretism is common for many social institutions

[@quitecapable]

Thanks. Too hard to donate on spotify where i listen, or patreon, so a couple of bucks for your excellent work here, you have taken me a long way.

[@-Llama_95]

Thank you for your content, as it is consistently well written and concise. May you and your family increase in power.

[@Aberinkula9]

"Power corrupts. Lack of power corrupts as well" (Mikhail Bakunin)

[@Anabsurdsuggestion]

Brilliantly done. This also in part seems to be a very good summation of our politicians in the west, who relish demonstrating their power in the cruellest ways.

[@HeadCrabbyPatty]

How exactly?

[@Anabsurdsuggestion]

@@HeadCrabbyPatty I might point to the performative cruelty in handling refugees. In the UK for example the government is refusing to process refugees in France, which would prevent refugees drowning in the English Channel; and also hit the criminal gangs who ferry them over in small boats for a lot of money. Instead, the gvt prefers to keep the problem in order to make political capital. This cruelty dovetails with UK poverty: rickets, scurvy and TB are in the rise in the UK; millions live are officially destitute. Instead of helping people, the government likes to redirect their pain and anger towards the refugees, whom the government has blamed for overwhelming Britain’s resources. Etc. just two examples of utter weakness in the face of an entirely surmountable problem.

[@zuz-ve4ro]

​@supralex1you want babies to be born? so maybe open your home to some huh? OWNED LET'S BAN CHILDBIRTH

[@Anabsurdsuggestion]

@supralex1 Your unjustified contempt for me is telling. How perverse of you to think people don’t! Yes, in our community this is quite common, and I have this afternoon attended a newcomers orientation meeting. We personally have a refugee mother and her teenage son staying. I must say your self righteousness is deeply offensive.

[@idratherstayanonimous7020]

@supralex1 If the colonists didn't excerpt cruel power over the colonies this stuff wouldn't be happening. Don't you agree that every action has a reaction? You wanna avoid consequences just for your own comfort?

[@KuraSourTakanHour]

Moral power needs also the fortitude to acknowledge your weakness in stride and not overcome your self image, otherwise that tempts feelings of impotence and insecurity. No one now or forever is without flaw. Now the poor are to be distinguished from the weak, although they often go hand in hand. Some are very strong inner moral character and dont have a vindictive morality... but perhaps you could argue they're not the absolute poorest of the poor. But weakness in itself embodies all negative traits, so I can see Nietzches reasoning.

[@TonicTonesbyRyanRohn]

I appreciate how your unbiased ( as far as I can tell) critiques really explore Nietzsche's views and what he meant in his writings; especially when you call out the away popular personalities appropriate Nietzsche's words with their own agendas.... from him all the way to George Carlin, I see a lot of that lately. Thank you for your care and effort which you convey in this transmission. ( And the fact that, from one musician to another, you take the time for this when you are likely busy with your own creative projects as well) Keep up the excellent work 👍🎸

[@quazarKiragon]

Power doesn't corrupt, it exposes the corruption that hides within us

[@henrypaleveda7760]

9:30 This may be taking the point too literally, but a person who is meek may well also hold strength, but humility as well. for this example, the shepherd may well find love for his enemy (a virtuous trait) and be secure in himself but still think "I am a shepherd."

[@pravail7214]

This actual came into my life after id decided to give into my weakness because someone broke my heart and it made me feel less than. So glad I watched this video it was like looking in the mirror I feel as though I have the wisdom to be stronger now.

[@kennethanderson8827]

Well done on your first video with edited visuals-(I think?). Regardless, it’s efficient, informative, and right in line with the podcast. Keep this thing going. Gracias

[@wilhelmvonn9619]

Lord Acton was mistaken. Power reveals, absolute power reveals completely. Does anyone believe that Josef Stalin was a nice person before he became the ruler of the Soviet Union?

[@zuz-ve4ro]

yeah he was hot too. stalin was gradually destroyed by the party apparatus, humans arent made to order thousands of people to die for political reasons, yet its what every statesman does.

[@buffoonustroglodytus4688]

Maybe most people are just terrible deep down and this reveals itself if they get power. This must be the case if power doesn’t corrupt

[@zuz-ve4ro]

@@buffoonustroglodytus4688 and that is a sentiment that people are eager to express except only for the people they know usually. its more plausible that power corrupts.

[@hectormata449]

Stalin came from a poor peasant class but was a bright student who was allowed to attend a seminary to become a member of the clergy, only to be sent to Siberia for speaking against the the tsar, so it’s possible he was an idealist and well meaning person whose unjust punishments resulted in his resentiment against those with indiscriminate power. Could you have kept steadfast to your ethical or moral views if you had experienced those tumultuous times and tribulations that Stalin underwent in his rise to power?

[@mindgames7411]

@@buffoonustroglodytus4688 Exactly. Adolf is a prime example

[@NjamNjam0]

Wait I recognise your voice. I've been following your podcast on spotify for a while. Thank you for all the content you've posted there, it has helped me tremendeously to understand more on Nietzsche's philosophy and his life.

[@Dunk1It1Hard]

Any info on picture at 7:00 minutes?

[@NjamNjam0]

@@Dunk1It1Hard The fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel

[@Dunk1It1Hard]

@@NjamNjam0 thank you, I found it quite intriguing

[@NjamNjam0]

@@Dunk1It1Hard I do find it so as well. Glad I could help.

[@125discipline2]

"anything can corrupt, everything can be corrupted" -my 75yo grade school graduate neighbor

[@techpriest6962]

That simply is not true unless your definition of corruption is so loose it can encompass anything. There are people in this world who live by their principles, and nothing in this world can make them abandon those principles.

[@rayaqin]

@@techpriest6962 or the thing that could have corrupted them did not happen

[@jonasl9068]

@@techpriest6962source: trust me bro

[@MyVanir]

@@techpriest6962 "can" does not mean "is guaranteed to".

[@domovoi_0]

Absolute banger. Thank you. Love and blessings!

[@tylerjordan7564]

I would love to hear your opinion on the video "Allure & dangers of reading Nietzsche" by Daniel Tutt. There were some things he said that seemed off. However, I don’t have the background knowledge to push on some of his points. I love your videos, man!

[@Tada_no_Senshi]

3:43 the paradox of power trough discipline by definition discipline : "the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using punishment to correct disobedience." So if you remove the punishment is it discipline anymore... and that's the loophole people use to bypass the discipline, they try to gain power in order to be able to do what they want without being punished because if you hold the power who is going to punish you when do not follow the discipline, also you become conscious of the fact that if you are able to use the power given to avoid detection you are able to avoid punishment. Is it paradox or is it the flaw of discipline... Also in my view you don't really need punishment to discipline your self, discipline without punishment works completely fine, when you remove from the equation instant gratification, and I don't think by getting punished when you slack will get rid of the notion that instant gratification is bad for you, because soon or later you will figure out that if the act of slacking off is not recorded and cannot be proven you can avoid the punishment and still slack off, so for me discipline is nothing short of being brainwashed because you are weak to begin with and are unable to impose self control, What I am getting at is that discipline does not teach self control, rather it imposes it on you, but is not self control it is the control of someone else, and if you are intelligent enough not to lose your self from the imposed self control, you will sooner or later figure out ways to avoid punishment, and this is why we can have corrupt people that hold powerful position in society... well maybe there is more but I feel I lack a great deal of detail regarding how position of power are acquired, so there might be even more to add to this... So when one states 'power corrupts' and the other states 'weakness corrupts' they are both right considering the realistic situation that after all said and done we have corrupt people at powerful positions, so there is either something not right with the definition of power or something wrong with the process of acquiring said power... and after all let's not forget that encounter of Alexander the Great and Diogenes... so what really is power... 3:50 hmm... 'self' hatred you say is there a possibility that this self hatred stems from the fact that one was disciplined in 'self' control but since that 'self' control was imposed upon their 'self' they start to harbor hatred towards their 'self'... 4:03 yes he is trying to make a point and is using something familiar to get it across... and in the process is actually straying away from the topic because he fails to realize that each person will view those morals differently... 4:12 In term failing to realize why religion is the way it is, well in this regard we all know that going against religion will get you cancelled so you cannot realistically make direct remarks at it... less you are deemed a witch 5:00 adrenaline rush is the right choice of word, well I suppose there was not the notion of adrenaline back then... 5:44 failing to understand that arrogance and intelligence are quite good friends... 6:00 so discipline can not dominate and oppress... 6:36 you know having wishful thinking from time to time is not a bad thing but if you get obsessed it certainly becomes bad for you, and let's not forget that poison can be used to make antidote... 6:59 yep getting even is the excuse... the real reason is to get peace of mind, funny thing about revenge is sometimes even when you exact revenge you still do not get peace of mind, and to worst thing is that you no longer have a target for revenge, so the only option you are left with is finding another target to exact your revenge... 10:49 I think the definition of harm is lacking in this definition, and to be fair you have to prosper faster compared to the parasites in order to maintain the status quo or sooner or later this negligible harm will bring you down was it because you were weak or was it because the parasites became stronger... 11:34 you simply put effort into getting rid of said parasites also parasites that turn out to be useful became gut bacteria... 11:59 yep concepts can vary form person to person, this is why context is important... 12:07 authentic... 'I have a lot and I am not afraid and choose to share it' compared to 'I know what it means to be lacking so I share the little I have to a person who is in such state right now' You tell which one seems more authentic, or give better examples on the matter... 12:32 circumstance =/= nature, nature culls the weak, if you are beaten and still survive it means nature still selected you but fate did not... So what I understood that Nietzsche defines the powerful as those that have managed to escape from the laws of nature and are no longer surviving, yes this makes them powerful but this does not necessarily make them morally correct, and defines weak as those who are still surviving and are struggling against the law of nature, what he fails to understand that those two different groups operate on a different scale and each of them are strong in their respective environment, because like I said you are deemed weak by nature if you fail to survive or leave offspring, those that have escaped the laws of nature do not need to abide by them so of course when you judge such people by those laws of nature they will seem powerful...

[@tellisdunn712]

makes all the sense in the world to me. i found this quite enlightening. thank you.

[@ΓιάννηςΝάνης-ξ5π]

Truly excellent video. Simple and calm explanations like that, truly encapsulates the essence of Nietzsche's work.

[@skeptiwq]

In this vein, we can talk of Hitler as a person who acted out of resentment. As a beated dog that becomes mean, he, unsuccessful and lost, beated by society, started to blame jews in all misfortunes.

[@theprodigyfmwm7509]

I disagree with both stances. Power reveals the underlying character of an individual. While Nietzsche makes good points about the corruption of the weak, these look points do not imply that power is good in and of itself. The excesses of our ruling classes in pursuit of more power or in the attempts to conserve it are more than enough evidence that power isn't automatically magnanimous in its manifestation. Geopolitical episodes such as the Vietnam War or even the war in Ukraine further illustrate this point. Having power does not remove anxiety. Additionally, the impunity that power can enable allows for abuses (normatively speaking). Think about Me Too (the genuine cases) or the whole Epstein saga. Lastly, to retort that these cases of insecurity and excess are signs that these people and entities are not powerful, I ask you a simple question; what is power then? The amoralism of Nietzsche and the revelation that nothing is true and everything is permitted poses the question to the amoral ones; what do value? Who do you want to be? It is an error to assume that the opposite of weaknesses is good. Didn't we pay attention when Nietzsche pointed out the errors on opposites?

[@isaackellogg3493]

The people you cite have power but not legitimacy. The hereditary monarch is born into legitimacy. He rules because God has said that he should. The elected official has persuaded his way into power-often by cheating. He knows full well how precarious his position is-he may be unseated at the very next election, or even earlier. So he must wield power in a flashy, obvious manner, perhaps even using violence to counteract the power of his political enemies. Such concerns do not ping the radar of him who rules by “Dieu et Mon Droit.” Nietzsche lived In a world where ninety-nine percent of the countries were ruled by hereditary monarchies and aristocracies. You live in a world where ninety percent of the countries are ruled by elected officials. It stands to reason that you will be unable to see power and its wielders from Nietzsche’s perspective, even though your exemplars “disproving” him serve actually to corroborate his thesis.

[@Fran-rd1nl]

The weakness statement in my opinion should be undertanded in contraposition to power,as not being able to handle things. The one who is in perfect control does not practice evil. The hunger to pursue power by all means is not an example of power but of weakness. You do not need to be the King of the World.

[@jimmcneal5292]

1)A lot of modern leaders don't really have power, they are trusted to rule the government either by citizens or police/oligarchs. Notice how in many cases military junta often makes country a much better place if it overthrows a dictator, while if some democratic/communist revolution happens, it makes country worse. One could argue that true power(and military actually has true power, no one inside a country can take it away from military by force) stops anxiety, at least somewhat. 2)The idea that war is outright bad is debatable. One can argue that it is just a natural selection that lets strongest societies to survive and strive further. 3)Epstein's stuff is villified unnecessarily(also notice how even the rulers don't actually have a lot of true power in the western societies, they can't even change laws to have the fun they want)

[@Damesanglante]

The amount of koolaid one must drink to believe what you wrote... You should try to get away from propaganda.

[@Abettergrappler]

Olympic athletes prove this. They go out there, win a medal and are back to training the next day. Only the undisciplined let the success go to their head

[@iamthethis]

Seeking Power Corrupts. And if you are immature, being given Power can Corrupt.

[@WeebMaximus]

I really need to read the "Thus spoke Zarathustra".

[@and9091]

The biggest problem for a moralist is which moral system to choose

[@zuz-ve4ro]

mine easy

[@bubblegumgun3292]

any morality as long as its My Morality

[@uhUm31st-gs1gs]

No, mines better

[@shadowpriest2574]

The one with the best results ofc, Christianity.

[@grbbsc]

@@shadowpriest2574 Based 🗿🍷💪

[@ArthursAtman]

This was most excellent. I had this intuition after reading him, but it wasn't until Rollo May's "Power and Innocence" that I found confirmation that violence springs from impotence, from weakness.

[@AceKite00]

Power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals. If one truly wishes to test a man’s character, give him power. Everyone loves to preach goodness and fairness and the typical crap. But what would they do if they ACTUALLY got ahold of the power to do something about it? A poor man is given 10 million dollars, what would he do with it? Live a lavish life until he’s broke, destroys himself, and preaches how much he “worked” for it? Or will he invest in his future and donate large sums to charity? THAT is how power works.

[@Jimraynor45]

There are 4 main types of power, physical, social, financial, and political. You spoke of financial power, and if I had to guess, the power Acton spoke of is likely of a political one, the most dangerous type of power. Come back once you've been put in charge of a million lives. Controlling so many will inevitably lead you to treat people as pawns. If by some miracle, you did up in charge of so many, you would not come back to confront me, because by then I would just be an ant, an insignificant spect of dust, not worthy of your attention. It's because power changes how one thinks of others.

[@mangowizard]

Reveals all too late in some cases

[@AceKite00]

@@Jimraynor45 I have the perfect living example: my father. He grew up in a poor-class family. He was presented an opportunity in life and ended up making hundreds of thousands of dollars for decades by having his own boys foster home. He was in charge of their lives and treated each and every one with respect. He also gave his family much more than they deserved, given how they treated him. The money never went to his head. It revealed who he is: a compassionate man.

[@zerotwo7319]

I feel so bad for not understanding until I saw your comment, salts. Maybe every dictator is weak for blaming 'the other' and that's why it resonates with people weak as him... This lesson feels like a punch.

[@untimelyreflections]

I feel like I need to make an addendum to address common objections because some of the conclusions here aren’t as obvious as I thought they were. If you really want to explain this stuff correctly… well, it takes a 1 hour+ video. Maybe this is why shorter content is a bad idea!

[@zerotwo7319]

@@untimelyreflections " It’s hard to please Greeks and Trojans at the same time. " - the saying goes.

[@nox5555]

@@zerotwo7319 most dictators build systems of weakness around themself to keep competent others from overthrowing them. sure cousin cletus isnt a good airforce leader, but he atleast doesnt have the skills and ambitions to overthrow me...

[@zuz-ve4ro]

im sure you know more about it than me but i feel youre using different meaning of power than the quote in question. its conceivable that powerful people in conventional sense are usually weak in nietzschean sense. so for example we can see that guys like Stalin did unspeakable horrors because power made them apathetic to human life and commited to power for power's sake are powerful in political sense but weak in nietzschean sense. i think the quote around 10:00 illustrates that well too, where powerful society which decides to let go of retributive justice system loses power over people doing crime in conventional sense, but gain power in nietzschean lastly i wont forgive that slander of parasites, systematically exploiting other species without them knowing is rad as hell

[@untimelyreflections]

> we can see that guys like Stalin did unspeakable horrors because power made them apathetic to human life and commited to power for power's sake are powerful in political sense but weak in nietzschean sense. How can you be against Stalin? He defeated Hitler, brought Russia into the 20th century. I didn't realize there were Stalin detractors out there.

[@fwa8590]

​​​​@@untimelyreflections??? Real life isn't like movie where you have Hero vs Villain. Just because Stalin fought Hitler or industrialised Russia, doesn't mean he's a good person. Just like when the weak uses cruelty to feel power, doesn't mean he's powerful. What matters is in their action. In the end stalin was still a man who commited a lot of cruelty and genocide. Isn't that exactly the thing Nietzsche pointed out?

[@untimelyreflections]

Chill out, it was a joke

[@Sextus70]

@@untimelyreflections I assumed it was joke, but I can see how fwa didn't because you can find actually a lot of people in the Internet who unironically defend and praise Stalin in a "he did nothing wrong" way lol.

[@stefthorman8548]

stalin was an poor, who got thrown to Siberia, he can be counted as been corrupted by weakness

[@somuchtocook9159]

Honestly this is something that I have noticed already and we can see elements of it in communities, just as the less skilled insult others more than the professional, the weak would naturally have more to be insecure about and hence feel the desperate need to achieve victory, it doesn’t mean that the strong should deny the weak a bit of help , but it seems like the counterintuitive nature is that the strong would help the weak to become better

[@m1ar1vin]

Thank you for this, you're doing incredible work!

[@XanDionysus]

I'm actually quite sympathetic to this because it reminds me of Hannah Arendt's concept on the Banality of Evil. She wanted to know what motivated the Nazi regime to exterminate what they saw as "undesirables" and managed to get interview with Adolf Eichmann. She was shocked to find out that he wasn't some mastermind or sadist who indulged in human suffering, but was merely a party man and political apparatchik for the regime. He adamantly denied any moral agency by claiming that he was "just following orders" in order to weazel his way out of a death sentence, but the court didn't buy it and had him executed. Eichmann remained unrepentant til the end. I recently came across the Turpin case, where a Pentecostal family isolated, abused, psychologically tortured their children and lived in squalor and filth in order to "protect" them from the outside world by making them dependant and sub-literate. I can't say that I believe in a god, but most evil is born out of human pettiness, spite, sickness, passive obedience, and stupidity. True malevolence is always rare. But then, you have ideologies and religions always spinning some tale of "decadence" to justify whatever they need to do to gain power because they are disgusted by the reality of the human condition. But it is always justified by some ad-hoc rationalization that makes things worse for "our own good". But no. There is no justification for such subhuman behavior.

[@lemoncholly]

So true. The most powerful people on the planet would never retreat to a secret island to abuse the weak.

[@untimelyreflections]

The modern oligarchy that runs the world are not laudable just because they happen to have attained wealth. You can reach a position of societal status and still be a Last Man. The "elites" who engage in that kind of behavior are weak human beings.

[@lemoncholly]

@@untimelyreflections Then we are playing around with definitions of power. One being some description of internal strength and the other describing the capacity of one to execute their will.

[@mindgames7411]

@@untimelyreflections Exactly. Not hard to understand

[@untimelyreflections]

If you watch the video, you’ll see that Nietzsche’s point is that you can attain power and still be a slave. The point is not “power makes you good”. The point is that the English moralist claim “power makes you bad” is incorrect, because what makes you “bad” is your own psychological makeup. Your psychological makeup is not damaged by attaining power, but by being in a state of weakness. Suppose you ever want to take on those elites, you’re going to need power. The entire mythology of “power corrupts” is designed to make you afraid to take power, and is propagated by weak people who have found their way into power (often by accident of birth).

[@kkounal974]

​@@untimelyreflections Doesn't matter, you are using one term to mean two different things, why, we have a lot of words for a reason, this might be great for clickbait, but not much more than that.

[@agentkhaine2204]

Being in a position of weakness and oppression can show who someone is by how they behave in that status. Some people stop, assess themselves, and try to become better to get out of it. Others will point blame, hold petty and vindictive grudges, etc.

[@susanwjoh0re735]

if somebody crosses you, it's not weakness to fight back. all that bs about forgive your enemies blablabla is a bunch of horsesh1t that makes you a pushover.

[@wan2shuffle]

⁠@@susanwjoh0re735 if everyone thought like this we would be in a constant state of war. Take a look around the world and history.

[@susanwjoh0re735]

ok then be the little b1tch who gets pushed around by other people. im telling you men philosophy is just an excuse for people to be harmless, and the reality is that you have to look harmless because you are incapable of doing something about it.@@wan2shuffle

[@geraci9]

Was the quote of “The person who is secure in himself and his own character would not need to create suffering, because the truly powerful have no need to demonstrate their power.” A direct Nietzsche quote or a fire line of your own?

[@fastemil123]

I think it’s paraphrasing

[@ZakariaMazouz-r8y]

I recently went through an experience that really confirms these claims. I talked to a girl that I am visibly way better than. As she comes from the same country as me, I wanted to take care of her and befriend her. Then she understood that my aim was not to make her my girlfriend. And as she knows that she can not do anything to make me really settle for her, she decided to break me and bring me to her level and I had the opportunity to destroy her life as all people knew what she did. I decided to take the pain and cover her because as I said I had only care for her.

[@eccoeco3454]

The supreme contraddiction of Nietzsche is that in the end his is still a victimistic theory, *the* victimistic theory of the modern times I'd say, although not out of his fault. The revolt of the slaves is necessary to justify the cognitive dissonance that his ideal view of things (ironically) isn't how things are, that the "powerful" are ultimately not necessarily in positions of power and those in positions of power don't necessarily show the quality of these theoretical "powerful". It's no different to any other original sin or similar justification origin story, expecially in the sense that it is convenient, shallow, and ultimately self contaddicting. The slaves successfully revolted against the powerful, the powerful one defining characteristic, that of being naturally higher in power, in power projection, and in power administration, fails, the powerful are thus paradoxically proven to be weak. The one characteristic that should define them and divide them from the slaves in both Nietzschean and Aristotelian terms (which Nietzsche seems to be implying)... The capacity to power and not to be owned someone else. For the slaves have proven the ability to gain power and self ownership (although the latter is such a nebulous concept that it would be simple for an Aristotle or Nietzsche to say out of convenience that not they don't own themselves because of ad hoc decided criteria that fit the views they already believe in) while the powerful have failed to mentain theirs. Perhaps the powerful were not so powerful in the first place... This at least is one of the reasons why I have always found Nietzsche theory of power questionable

[@funbarsolaris2822]

"Will to power" is famously nietzsche's most nebulous and least well-defined concept. As a result, a lot of people project whatever they want on to it. Take of that what you will

[@aleskaresquivel4700]

Well said. Feels like a lot of truth was found in this video.

[@Niko_from_Kepler]

No. Don’t use „truth“ as a concept. Especially Nietzsche opposed truth for the right reasons, predominantly because truth is dependent on the perspective of the individual.

[@ohyeah4308]

Power, mediocrity, weakness all corrupt. Everything corrupts.

[@mjolninja9358]

Banana Muffin

[@acoverdc9272]

@@mjolninja9358 banana muffins corrupt absolutely

[@Eumanel12]

One must imagine Sisyphus corrupt

[@ra7271]

It's character. What you do when no one is looking carries it's weight and you inherit the winds, and we all inherit each others karmic footprints if we are not strong enough but miss out on vulnerability to be affected by the convergences of we are too strength oriented.

[@user-gf6or8pw8x]

Power does not corrupts you it show you you true self (you were corrupted from the beggning) -Thomas Jefkgleb sparrow (me)

[@raxusveritas]

You have a cool name bro

[@wan2shuffle]

There is no such thing as a true self.

[@GloryBlazer]

@@wan2shuffle I think he means self that is not limited by restrictions imposed on to the person by societal hierarchy. But I am also having a hard time beliving people are "corrupted from the beginning".

[@user-gf6or8pw8x]

@@raxusveritas thanks

[@user-gf6or8pw8x]

@@GloryBlazer in order to understand it practically we need to firstly understand the defination of self : Self is not what you think I am It is not what I think I am It is what I think that what you think I am It is a little complicated definition

[@kevinchang1371]

What a treasure each upload is!

[@kumsaati6792]

Incredible work as always.

[@radoslavangelov6748]

That was really well made, my friend

[@Apollotheguidingstar]

Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other. Carl Jung

[@MisterPeckingOrder]

Beautiful

[@idratherstayanonimous7020]

Wow, i just was thinking about this quote this morning. Feels like synchronicity to see your comment.

[@jurassicthunder]

i better have power. survival of the fittest. selfish gene.

[@Apollotheguidingstar]

​@@jurassicthunder Yeah, the will to power is related to the instinct of self-preservation, love/eros to the preservation of the species; essentially more on the darwinian side. In psychological types he differentiates between two types, which we now know as introverts and extraverts: the introvert has a more powerful self-preservation instinct, the extravert a stronger eros drive.

[@BrettHugh-c6d]

​@@Apollotheguidingstar I agree with the Jung comment but these further conflations are so weird to me. Like, compassion and love in Buddhism and Taoism is precisely not aimed specifically at a romantic, sexual or familial target. Also eros is defined as sexual love. Also conflating love and compassion with instinctual desire for the propagation of the species seems a weird choice, does that mean the most loving people all have a powerful libido and heterosexual attraction? Because it's supposed to be the same impulse of eros, right?

[@dimitrishow_D]

I agree weakness leads to corruption quicker....but give a man power and he might abuse it just because he can.

[@mickmaphari6606]

Vodka corrupts. Absolut Vodka corrupts absolutely.

[@untimelyreflections]

Fuck this made me laugh

[@emmathearcticurbanist]

"Power corrupting" and "Weakness corrupting" are just special cases of the more general phenomenon that you begin to identify with what you do. You are what you do. I don't understnad how anyone could think its more complicated than that. Just reads to me like language games.

[@raydavison4288]

Maybe both power AND weakness have the potential for corruption? 🤔

[@zuz-ve4ro]

nietzchean power and weakness diverges from standard understanding of power. people who are powerful (think of hitler, stalin, the president, the boss ect) in conventional understanding are weak in nietzschean sense usually, exactly because their power has independent negative effect on them, because it makes them dependent on the ruled, and makes them create delusions which excuse their high position in the hierarchy.

[@zerotwo7319]

perhaps the lesson is adaptation? but I am not so sure.

[@letmebereal]

Dont be silly.

[@anarchistponcho8689]

I would argue that Acton's quote is appropriate only towards power as a tool of state authority, but the Nietzschean inversion of that quote is more about the individual will, and is a reminder that when we look at Acton's quote we shouldn't apply this to every form of power, because some forms help us to develop, and some forms don't help us, and the more we distinguish this, the easier it becomes for us to recognize our own power and master ourselves.

[@DemonetisedZone]

But it's the same thing from the other side of the seesaw Nietzsche isn't disagree with Acton, he agrees Power corrupts if true means that weakness corrupts because they are different ends of same dynamic You cannot have a one sided banknote with twisting one end. It's the same thing manifest from different ends of the gradient of power If it's corrupted in people welding the power it's still corrupted when worked against another It needs to be balanced

[@ERBanmech]

Ah a very interesting perspective. In my understanding, power should be held by the people strong enough to wield it with sovereignty, power will only enable those with weakness to act upon their weaknesses.

[@GuardDog42]

You're using the colloquial definition of power and not the Nietzschean definition of power as described in his concept of "The Will to Power" Basically you're taking the argument of the sophist from book 1 of Plato's republic or Machiavelli's The Prince and selling it as Nietzsche when instead his concept of power is less power as you're describing it and more "growth" or "progress" of a person in general, like getting better at a skill, learning, mastering your craft, profession, basically anything that is tied into the energy associated with progress and bettering ones self. His concept of power is about the journey to power and not power strictly as the means to exert will over other people.

[@untimelyreflections]

Yeah sure I definitely don’t understand that which is why I made a short video making that exact same point: What I wish more people understood about will to power #nietzsche #philosophy #philosophypodcast kzbin.infoEnVZHCBX30s?feature=share And it should be said that in Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche is absolutely talking about power over others. He grounds it in historical examples of political power.

[@venturasilva1103]

But it certainly does not exclude the kind of power that is exerted upon others. Defanging N.'s philosophy is not the way to go. I get that its a hard pill to swallow, but it is one of the logical conclusions. If you watch his other videos, you'll find that what you're saying is addressed and explained in detail.

[@GuardDog42]

@@venturasilva1103 It doesn't exclude that kind of power but there's a dissonance between the quote of the beginning and the later presentation of the philosophy outside the Nichean context, which is to say one still founded WITHIN morals. Note as you reference the difference between slave morality you're coming at it from the perspective of colloquial power and not the moral will to power; huge difference. It's somewhat made up for by the fact you quote that power tends to give people the grace to become moral, but the dissonance isn't openly resolved, leaving some ambiguity. It would be like saying to someone you need to get stronger, and they think that means phsycally stronger, then instead of working out they take pills for it. It's that big a difference. I think that's the pill you're talking about. Even in the Machiavellian sense of power the context was in the aristocracy of the principality in renaissance Italy, so even the guy who advocates power for the sake of power was giving princes who aren't naturally ruthless the edge to fight princes who ARE pieces of shit by nature. I see what you're trying to do here and the conclusion you're coming to, but I'm not defanging Nietschean philosophy; I'm just correctly pointing you that you're going the wrong direction with it. According to the actual philosophy you could be a literal peasant and as long as you get better every week, learn something new, work a little bit harder, make a little bit more money, get better at speaking to others or even understanding them, you would then be expressing your will to power and you're less likely to feel a latent resentment towards others because you're taking an active part in your journey and tilting at the windmill that suits you best. Without using the correct version of power it isn't Nietzscheian philosophy it's sophistry. It's been used famously wrong in the past by those who mulled over the moralism he painstakingly imbued into the word power. By the national socialist party no less. It's your fangs and your pill, I'm just letting you know there's a bit of sophistry there.

[@venturasilva1103]

​@@GuardDog42 There's enough space for ambiguity, for possibilities and countless regressions, my friend.. I believe Nietzsche is rather clear when it comes to this matter, even in his attempts of dissimulation and trickery, and not at all dismissive of each and everyone's "good and bad" Will To Power. Because this not something he can call for, since it's everywhere already. There is simply an affirmation of the world as such, with all its implications. Power as revenge, power for the outwardly directed Minds, for the ones that seek to merely hurt for the pleasure it gives to hurt those below- Yes, pitiful. Nothing of what was said contradicts this. However, it's worth pointing out the fact that N. Himself believed that people tend to look for malice in those who exert power, something which those people know all too well and would practice even better, given the chance.. There is, nonetheless, the very correct notion that there are resentful people in power; Here we should recognize that there is a description and a sort of "prescription" (if you'll allow me the abuse of simplicity and error). Even still, as N. so well put it, what is the Cipó-Matador and what does it do? You get the picture. Your view on what WTP is not incorrect, but it's incomplete, it seems, out of fear for what it could stand for. You seem to want to protect the work from its missuse for bad things, and that's why I accused you of "defanging". If it brings you any peace, my interpretation of N. is in total opposition to the Nazi party's mode of thought. However, what I think when you automatically jump into that conclusion from a 13-minute video, among loads of content with transparent and detailed analysis, is that you might be almost disgusted with the possible (or, should I say, certain) violent nature of the philosophy. Yes, there is enough ambiguity to lead to error. That's because, again, I choose not to defang the philosophy. This how I see it presented before me: masked and playful. "I, however, rejoice in great sin as my great consolation.- Such things, however, are not said for long ears. Every word, also, is not suited for every mouth. These are fine far-away things: at them sheep's claws shall not grasp".

[@venturasilva1103]

​@@GuardDog42There's enough space for ambiguity, for possibilities and countless regressions, my friend.. I believe Nietzsche is quite clear when it comes to this matter, even in his attempts of dissimulation and trickery, and not at all dismissive of each and everyone's Will To Power. Because this not something he can call for, since it's everywhere already. Power as revenge, power for the outwardly directed minds, for those that seek to merely hurt for the pleasure it gives to hurt those below - Yes, pitiful. Nothing of what was said contradicts this. However, it's worth pointing out the fact that N. Himself believed that people tend to look for malice in those who exert power, something which those people know all too well and would practice even better, given the chance. Still, there is the very correct notion that there are malicious and resentful people with power; Here we should recognize that there is a description and a sort of "prescription" (if you'll allow me the abuse of simplicity and error). Your take on WTP is not incorrect, it is incomplete, it seems, out of fear for the dangers it encompasses. You seem to want to protect the work and give it a lighter touch, and that's why I accused you of "defanging". It's all that, but what do you think of when you see the cipó-matador metaphor? Do you think it just translates to perfecting a craft, a bettering of yourself, or do you think there's something more? Something violent? If it brings you any peace, my interpretation of N. is in total opposition to the Nazi party's mode of thought. However, what I think when you automatically jump into that conclusion from a 13-minute video, among loads of content with transparent and detailed analysis, is that you might be almost disgusted with the possible (or, should I say, certain) violent nature of the philosophy. Yes, there is enough ambiguity to lead to error. That's because, again, I choose not to defang the philosophy. This how I see it presented before me: Playful and masked. "I, however, rejoice in great sin as my great consolation.- Such things, however, are not said for long ears. Every word, also, is not suited for every mouth. These are fine far-away things: at them sheep's claws shall not grasp"​

[@thesoundpurist]

This was amazing though I had to watch it twice. One of my favorite Nietzsche video.

[@and9091]

The moral system of modern China has always been fickle and difficult to understand. It is mixed with so much authoritarianism and male patriarchy left over from the feudal era, and the concept of communism is forcibly added to it, just like the thoughts of most Chinese people and China itself, there are paradoxes everywhere

[@tree6835]

I'd argue that it is undergoing a severe amount of flux due to drastic sociological changes and occurrences in the past hundred or so years

[@zuz-ve4ro]

chinese "communism" is authoritarian and patriarchal tho. cult of male authority, and subjugation to the party "embodying the will of the people" isnt exactly egalitarian.

[@Damesanglante]

China isn't communist. Just like North Korea is not democratic. Calling your party something doesn't mean it is.

[@and9091]

@@Damesanglante I do agree with this, admitting that China is communist is admitting that communism is backward and endlessly cheap propaganda for underdeveloped areas, which pains me as someone who once had hope in communism. If the communism you hope to achieve is the utopian society described by communists, then China is indeed unrelated to this. But maybe that's the reality, all attempts to achieve communism have failed so far.

[@acton-dalberg]

*Racks Glock* “Whatever, philosophize this.”

[@kingdm8315]

BEEN WAITING FOR MY ESSENTIAL SALTS

[@leesnyder9144]

"The essential Saltes of Animals may be so prepared and preserved, that an ingenious Man may have the whole Ark of Noah in his own Studie, and raise the fine Shape of an Animal out of its Ashes at his Pleasure; and by the lyke Method from the essential Saltes of humane Dust, a Philosopher may, without any criminal Necromancy, call up the Shape of any dead Ancestour from the Dust whereinto his Bodie has been incinerated." HP Lovecraft

[@Jimraynor45]

To understand why power corrupts, just imagine yourself trying to control one man versus one million men. It is inevitable that those who would have power over the millions lose sight of what the individual is or even that they exist. It is not precisely that more power is corrupting, but that those that have much of it, become skewed in their thinking, only being able to see people as numbers on a page or as faceless groups. Losing sight of individual rights is the true danger. We are, after all, individuals, not merely pawns or faceless figures on a page.

[@madra000]

This channel is really really fantastic

[@Cristy0505]

We are corrupt by nature. But we are also conscious and supposedly intelligent. We are all good and bad. We must constantly watch our thoughts and desires and choose what to do.

[@cataclysmunknown7110]

Power doesn't corrupt, it enables. I hate that stupid idiom, as much as I hate "with great power comes great responsibility" Power doesn't Obligate, it enables. Morals Obligate, and morals are subjective.

[@Jimraynor45]

Power enables precisely the type of behavior virtually every human doesn't want to see, the abandonment of life and individual rights. If you're perfectly fine with being treated as a serf or a slave by those with power, then I would strongly suggest you adopt better morals.

[@cataclysmunknown7110]

@@Jimraynor45 My point is simple, power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power, so don't blame power. And power also enables your freedom as a member of a 1st world country, so it enables the type of behaviors that protect you as well, it all depends on the person and their morals. Ideals without power are a joke, and power without ideals is just empty. Don't try to make judgements about my morals when you don't know me, because you will fail as you already have. You know nothing about me. You merely proved your thought process is "anyone different in opinion or understanding then me is morally corrupt". All that proves is that you are memetically inducted with victim mentality and slave morality, aka resentment of power.

[@rorsie]

I agree with you, but don't see how the quote "with great power comes great responsibility" goes against anything you said. Maybe I am misunderstanding, but wouldn't a strong person with power be exercising responsibility with his power? As in not simply using it to harm as needed or for selfish reasons. Like you said, power enables, so you should be virtuous in your usage of it.

[@cataclysmunknown7110]

@@rorsie Because power and morals are separate. Power plus morals comes with great responsibility, but power by itself doesn't corrupt or cause responsibility. It's all about the one wielding the power, and what it enables them to do. Power by itself is neutral. What I hate is how people try to blame the power itself, instead of the morals of people wielding it, by conflating it with either morals or malevolence. It's the morals that bring the responsibility, or the malevolence that brings the evil. To Quote Abe Lincoln, Any man can survive adversity, if you want to test his true character, give him power.

[@rorsie]

@@cataclysmunknown7110 Right, I see. That makes sense. Thanks for clarifying for me. I like that quote too.

[@OrdnanceLab]

Great video and analysis.

[@ARandomTroll]

I did not expect to see you here.

[@alexanderleuchte5132]

Also: Victimhood corrupts. Without a lot work trauma bares a high risk to develop toxic personality traits yourself, people with trauma in general have less empatrhy. Putting victimhood on pedestil, not at last remnants of the Christian fetishization of victimhood and innocence i guess, is not helping anybody either but can turn very quickly into judgement when damaged people can't live up to the sainltly clichè

[@keylanoslokj1806]

Aka feminism

[@alexanderleuchte5132]

@@keylanoslokj1806 There are plenty of other examples like people who come from warzones or if you look at the prison system, Dr. Kelli Palfy f.e started her career working with convicts. Or think of the whole complex of substance abuse and addiction which is often a symptom of trauma

[@alexanderleuchte5132]

@@keylanoslokj1806 Another very impactful field wher this plays a role is self-help and psychological advice by (former) victims who pose as experts. And while after working through stuff and educating themselfes such people may often be especially well equipped to help others there is obviously a large number of unhelpful or even toxic actors out there.

[@cjcanton9121]

Excellent work brother

[@jiadizhang4107]

I wish Nietzche gives some examples of who are powerful and who ain’t. Are the butchers such as Genghis khan powerful? They spread suffering like hell.

[@mjolninja9358]

He mentioned napoleon

[@mindgames7411]

Your comment is meaningless since literally any general/ruler can be labeled as a “butcher”

[@funtecstudiovideos4102]

Being powerfull ≠ good for others

[@mjolninja9358]

@@mindgames7411 true, I don’t understand why Chinggis Khan was even mentioned when the king leopold guy existed

[@Overlord367]

he’s right and boy do i feel better knowing that I’m not crazy now that I’m 9:06 not alone in how i see this fucked up world i must endure with others.as it is fucked up in my opinion but it may be wonderful for another however i can still control myself and find joy in that witch i have and in myself and for that i am indeed grateful.

[@whoaitstiger]

I don't envy modern philosophers. Mr. Friedrich Nietzsche is a hell of an act to follow.

[@mindgames7411]

Him and Schopenhauer

[@tigerballking3954]

When power cedes itself to weakness, everything falls apart as the world is turned upside down.

[@unsilencedderp9411]

Really shows how Nietzsche wasnt correct about everything. Rich and powerful people are usually the least intelligent and least empathetic people in the world. The idea that weak people become permanently cruel or more cruel at all from being weak is also crap.

[@caim3465]

He just had his own definition of "weak" and "powerful"

[@unsilencedderp9411]

@@caim3465 ignorance, dissonance, paranoia, and suffering is the recipe create the kind of corrupting hatred he talks about. Knowledge and the ability to help are all it takes on the other hand to be sympathetic. I don't think he has very complicated definitions for weakness and power, just a more cynical view on human morality and intelligence.

[@justaguy7732]

Nietzsche dedicated an entire section of Human all too Human, if I remember that as the right book, critiquing the wealthy and propertied class of today. To ascribe the current wealthy and elite as the strong Nietzsche defined is a mischaracterization of his worldview

[@unsilencedderp9411]

​@@justaguy7732 I do not know what else the "great people" and the "masses/underclass" can refer to but the rich and the poor. Here 3:23 he says power as he defines it is a collection of virtues and not literal power, but literal power is needed to have his "power" because people who have no any actual power cannot have moral power. If this is what Nietzsche meant, then I don't entirely agree with it, but it makes a lot more sense than what I thought he said before.

[@justaguy7732]

@@unsilencedderp9411 essentialsalts has a video of Nietzsche contra capitalism that might help clear up his conception, it’s quite complex

[@Kahneq]

Crazy how no one has mentioned balance.

[@johnhein2539]

"Weakness corrupts. And absolute weakness corruptd absolutely." LGBTQXYFHSKA people approaching WW3 shifts uncomfortably

[@idratherstayanonimous7020]

So the weak are actually powerful enough to bring about doomsday? In Weakness, Power is hidden; in Power, Weakness is hidden.

[@kitsunka2]

Weak are actually parasites that use minorities as own force to gain control or emotion data with own ice structures. Dont forget that this puppets learn to be alive even thought all parasites are feeding on them so you can guess who has bigger power.

[@dominicsey3032]

​@@idratherstayanonimous7020using a Ying Yang schema, huh? Language lends itself to a multiplicity of meanings and descriptions which shape up situations intelligibly. So depending on what is meant by power and weakness, in regards to the relativity of values and goals, perceptually speaking, then this schema does show up. I can put power and weakness as nouns, with weakness being more of a place, usually a lower place in a rank of order, as well as a space since it's typically characterized as a lack, and other times as a malformation, which can even be due to some unworkable excess. Power can be characterized as a presence, a position(ing) of expression given a field of affordances.

[@idratherstayanonimous7020]

@@dominicsey3032 I do adhere to a dualistic cosmology. Power above, weakness below, whether it refers to a position in a rank, hierarchy, or just a state of consciousness. The thing is that they are opposites, isn´t it? I do respect and find accordance in Jung's model of the psyche, and i agree that the more we reveal about the universe, we are actually revealing the nature of the psyche and of human understanding and not only of the universe per se. That being said, if you have power in your conscious waking life, weakness is inhabiting your unconscious life, that accompanies you at every moment, and vice-versa with weakness. So it´s wise to acknowledge that both weakness and power live within you and are interacting in every action you take, and both deserve attention and acknowledgement. That´s what i think.

[@dominicsey3032]

@idratherstayanonimous7020 I can work with this assuming I know what you mean by weaknesss and power. What do you mean by power and weakness?

[@mahaphoublue7644]

Okay that front title pic, look something “lolwut” I have been waiting to see that but didn’t expect to see a whole a paragraph

[@Arguments_only]

But what nietszche considered corruption is totally different from what layman might think.. for example Satan, Lucifer could be construed as Nietzsches übermench and not remotely "corrupt", whereas any person who refrains from acting out his true will merely because of laws or social repercusions is corrupt, which entails most humans. Edit: small correction.

[@untimelyreflections]

I'm using "corruption" here to mean what N. calls "malevolence": wanting to hurt for the sake of hurting, or with the aim of hurting. This is, in his view, a dependent relationship (outer-directed), and a paragon of master morality would be totally self-legislating. Again, they might hurt others, but it isn't because that's their goal. These people are only laudable because they bring something greater into existence, people who just exercise power by destroying and tearing things down are not "great people". Although, as he argues in TGS, even such "wicked people" have probably advanced mankind just as much as all the moral people throughout history.

[@Arguments_only]

@@untimelyreflections yes I agree. I just thought that pointing this out was appropriate since what most people indoctrinated by society think, at least publicly, is virtuous, desirable or "good" is in stark contrast with "nihilistic" (or those who want to overcome it) philosophers.. You made good points thank you.