Ressentiment Redux

Nietzsche, painted a vivid image of ressentiment that is applicable in modern times:

They monopolize virtue, these weak, hopelessly sick people, there is no doubt of it: "We alone are the good and just," they say, "we alone are homines bonae voluntatis.*" They walk among us as embodied reproaches, as warnings to us--as if health, well-constitutedness, strength, pride, and the sense of power were in themselves necessarily vicious things for which one must pay some day, and pay bitterly: how ready they themselves are at bottom to make one pay; how they crave to be hangmen. There is among them an abundance of the vengeful disguised as judges, who constantly bear the word "justice" in their mouths like poisonous spittle, always with pursed lips, always ready to spit upon all who are not discontented but go their way in good spirits. Nor is there lacking among them that most disgusting species of the vain, the mendacious failures whose aim is to appear as " beautiful souls" and who bring to market their deformed sensuality, wrapped up in verses and other swaddling clothes, as "purity of heart": the species of moral masturbators and "self-gratifiers." The will of the weak to represent some form of superiority, their instinct for devious paths to tyranny over the healthy--where can it not be discovered, this will to power of the weakest!

--Genealogy of Morals, Third Essay, Section 15 (1887)

Translation by Walter Kaufmann (1967)

*Men of good will

Continue ReadingRessentiment Redux

How to be a Human Animal: Chapter 29: How to Slow Down the Treadmill

[Note: I wrote this with an audience of college-aged young adults in mind, though I think the principles here are applicable to all human animals.]

Imagine putting 1,000 marbles into a big jar. Imagine removing one marble each month.

Those 1,000 marbles are the months you have. Those are all of the months you have, from the moment you are born until the day you die, on average, at age 80. That’s all you get. Time is non-replenishable, so you need to use it wisely or it will disappear in a flash without leaving you any notable memories.

And it’s worse than you might think because you need to pour 240 of those marbles out right now! You have already used them up because you are about 20 (x 12 month per year). Here’s more bad news: You might not make it to 80 in good shape. You might start showing signs of dementia at 65. You might be wheelchair bound at age 56 after getting into a car accident.

Did you remember to remove a marble from the jar on July 31? That was two weeks ago. That was the end point of another month. How quickly did July go by for you? Probably like a snap of your fingers, right? What did you accomplish in July? If you wrote down all the important and meaningful things you did in July, how many of those things could you write? When you get to be in your 40s or 50s, time will speed up dramatically. When you are middle-aged, which will happen soon, the marbles will be virtually pouring out of your jar.

The best way to slow down the treadmill is to create memories and meaning. This is not done by letting life merely happen to you. [More . . . ]

Continue ReadingHow to be a Human Animal: Chapter 29: How to Slow Down the Treadmill

Pfizer Execs doing what they do . . .

Jimmy Dore and Bret Weinstein give these two lying Pfizer executives what they deserve for these big lies. Then, when you think it's winding down, Bret brings up Nuremberg Code See below).

One can make an extremely strong argument that American's didn't have informed consent when they were coerced to line up for the COVID vaccination. How important is informed consent? Here's what the Nuremberg Code specifies about informed consent in medical settings:

"The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential."

What does this mean? Here's the explanation offered by Evelyne Shutter in her article at the New England Journal of Medicine: "Fifty Years Later: The Significance of the Nuremberg Code."

This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment.

The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.

Continue ReadingPfizer Execs doing what they do . . .