Somewhere there are still peoples and herds, but not with us, my brethren: here there are states.
A state? What is that? Well! open now your ears unto me, for now will I say unto you my word concerning the death of peoples.
— Nietzsche
If you can read, and if you enjoy reading, and if you think reading can help you learn how to improve your life – there, I have at a stroke weeded out 99% of you – you might want to read some of the most challenging, and therefore potentially some of the most rewarding writing – philosophy.
Philosophy can help us understand the world and our place in it in many useful ways, and some philosophy can even help us be mentally stronger and live more productive and happier lives. Yes I realize nobody reads anymore, but it might surprise you to know that in the distant past people used to read philosophy regularly and even talk about philosophy with each other, sometimes just for fun!
Most people, and alas most of you, will never read, or listen to, any philosophy, but I’m going to give you a few links anyway where you can read and listen to a little bit of philosophy, just for fun – but don’t worry my woke comrades, this is not your typical old Greek and Roman dead white dude philosophy – well, at least not Greek and Roman anyway.
I admit, a problem that I have with much western philosophy is that almost all of these dead white dudes seem to make excuses for the monster that is the State – even when they acknowledge that the governments they live under are murderous, lying, stinking, thieving criminal gangs that periodically destroy the civilizations they live in, at times imprisoning and killing the philosophers themselves. Heck, a few of these dudes were making excuses for their government persecutors up until the moment they were murdered!
But there is one philosopher that didn’t apologize for the State. In fact he thought that the State was not only a murderous, lying, thieving, (and stinking) gang of monsters, but much worse, that humanity had replaced all the old gods that they used to worship with this new god called The State, and that this new god was worse than any of the old gods in all of previous history.
Nietzsche didn’t care much for religion, but he warned that this new god, if left unchecked, is likely to enslave all of humanity, and probably destroy us all.
Nietzsche did offer a possible path to escape the state – but he wasn’t very optimistic that humanity would take that path.
I’m not very optimistic either.
Watch:
Smells Like Death – https://youtu.be/k26hmRbDQFw
Intro To Nietzsche – https://youtu.be/vzRbCrIWURY
Der Übermensch – https://youtu.be/WnhMJl11JUo
Don’t Blame Me, I Didn’t Kill Him – https://youtu.be/1XrVnjpVdWE
Listen:
Don’t You Smell That Smell – https://youtu.be/J4j7ggZqbiU
If It’s The Last Thing We Ever Do – https://youtu.be/t6gcxNFc1I0
Zarathustra Audiobook – https://youtu.be/rjE5A_k_OWc
Read:
The Three Metamorphoses – https://nietzsche.thefreelibrary.com/Thus-Spake-Zarathustra/3-1
The New Idol – https://nietzsche.thefreelibrary.com/Thus-Spake-Zarathustra/13-1
The Camel, The Lion, The Child – https://medium.com/the-sophist/nietzsches-three-steps-to-a-meaningful-life-f063793adfc4
More On The Three – https://www.updevelopment.org/3-metamorphoses-nietzsches-map-human-growth/
Nietzsche And The State – https://mises.org/wire/nietzsche-and-state
Where The State Ends – http://www.strike-the-root.com/nietzsche-and-state