No!
The slave revolt in morality
begins when resentment itself
becomes creative and gives birth to values;
the resentment of creatures to whom the real reaction,
that of the deed,
is denied
and who can indemnify themselves
only through an imaginary revenge.
While every noble morality
develops from a triumphant affirmation of itself,
slave morality from the outset says
No to what is outside to what is ‘outside’,
what is ‘different’,
what is ‘not itself’;
and this No
is its creative act.
The opposite is the case
with the noble mode of valuation:
it acts and grows
spontaneously,
it seeks its anti-thesis
only so as to affirm itself
more gratefully and joyously –
…its positive basic concept,
saturated through and through
with life and passion,
‘we noble, we good, we beautiful, we happy!‘
The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. R. G Hollingdale, Good and Bad, aphorism 10
I did not listen to the State of the Union speech by President Biden last night. I knew in advance what he intended to say, and I knew his presentation was certain to be rudely, tastelessly interrupted by Republican Party members of congress. A growing segment of the Republican Party has a visceral and spiteful rejection of the President, and indeed all who they’d characterize as ‘woke.’ I chose against being dragged into an emotional maelstrom that would be triggered if I were to have viewed the live television broadcast of the speech delivered by the President before both houses of congress.
I also speculated that the Republican response to the speech, delivered by Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, would overflow with vitriol. I was right. It is worth noting the Alabama was one of the leading states of the old Confederacy. The first capital of the Confederacy was Montgomery Alabama.
All of this coincided with a revisit of what Friedrich Nietzsche has to say in his Genealogy of Morals. The text highlighted in blue observes those feeling deeply disenfranchised, without agency, wallowing in victim-hood, become selves by loosing their resentment. An enemy is needed to demonize, something ‘other’ to resist, to trigger a resounding No, a hatred-laced No. How many creative ways can one say ‘No’?
The description which Nietzsche offers of the opposite mode of morality is highlighted in green. I would only say that the label ‘noble’ by no means suggests any plain vanilla, risk adverse, safety-first point of view. What is suggested is the will to value — to act out of one’s fulfillment, from a consummate sense of self.
