A Crisis Without Equal on Earth Over the Revaluation of All Values

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» A Treasure of World Literature

The editor and translator of my copy, Walter Kaufmann, begins his introduction to this book like so:

Ecce Homo is one of the treasures of world literature. Written in 1888 and first published in 1908, it has been largely ignored or misunderstood. Yet it is Nietzsche's own interpretation of his development, his works, and his significance; and we should gladly trade the whole vast literature on Nietzsche for this one small book. Who would not rather have Shakespeare on Shakespeare, including the poet's own reflections on his plays and poems, than the exegeses and conjectures of thousands of critics and professors?

» The Last Book Nietzsche Wrote Before He Lost His Mind

The phrase "a crisis without equal on earth" comes from Ecce Homo, the last book that Nietzsche wrote before he lost his mind (on 03 Jan 1889).

I find it curious that Hitler was in his mommy's belly at the time Nietzsche lost his mind. Baby Adolf was born a few months later in April.

I mention this here because some feel that the Nazis twisted Nietzsche's philosophy and used it as one of their inspiring principles.

Ecce Homo is a small book .. barely 100 pages.

» Why My Cock is So Big

In my book Ecce Homo begins on page 671 and consists of four sections:

1. Why I Am So Wise
2. Why I Am So Clever
3. Why I Write Such Great Books
4. Why I Am a Destiny

Notice how Nietzsche makes such outstanding claims.

I do shit like this myself sometimes.

Especially when I am trying to impress a super-hottie.

Perhaps Nietzsche was also trying himself to impress a hottie of his day.

You never know.

Nietzsche was the youngest ever (at age 24) to become a professor at the University of Basel, which was founded in 1460 .. and which boasts many gigantic names from centuries past.

In other words, Nietzsche was bad dude, so to speak .. and he knew it. (Alex Honnold knows what I am talking about here.)

Nietzsche's area of specialty was » Written Languages. (How do written languages compare with, and differ from, spoken languages?)

» Nietzsche Makes Me Want to Make the Case that Will Attract Attention

This thing that Nietzsche writes here .. that he is a destiny. That he is dynamite. This makes me want to make the case that I am the greatest writer who ever lived.

There is a case to be made. People may pooh pooh my case, but I could make one.

It would be easy for me. Too easy .. for me to make my case. And my ego would like nothing better.

I realize that such a thing would be foolish .. because evaluating writers and their writing is such a personal thing.

And things change over time.

» Super-Hottie Singers Can Sometimes Make You Do Things You Wouldnt Ordinarily Do

But if I was trying to impress a sparkly super-hottie singer .. I might do such a thing. Such a foolish thing.

Heck, I might do many such things. (You cannot possibly imagine the crazy shit I have done trying to impress super-hotties.)

The reason why I have not made this case before is because .. this is the kind of shit that gets attention. I know that.

And I will be writing things that speak to the deepest parts of your soul .. things that you will have to admit are true.

If I want to get attention .. I know how to this. (I can provide you with references.)

But I dont want the attention. So I'm not going to make the case. At least, not right now.

» Letting Your Art Speak for You

A part of me does not like it when I do this .. this braggy stuff. My experience has taught me that it is best to just do your job well and keep your head down, so to speak .. and the right people will notice.

The people who you want to notice .. but no one else.

Keep improving. Keep building your skill-set. Keep adding new skills. Let your skills speak for you. Let your craft speak for you. 

I was telling this to Taylor and Kanye.

Who wants an award that they dont really deserve? Who wants an award because they were promoted the best? (Nobody that I know.)

» The Writer's Gold Standard

It may be worth noting that I consider » prophetic writing to be the gold standard. I could certainly elaborate here as to why I feel this way ..

.. but my point is to say that I would have to wax prophetic .. if I were to make my case. Just sayin'. (I know that it seems obvious.)

I could so fall off here into the mother-of-all rabbit holes.

It might be worth noting here that, back in October of 2016, I told Blow » "You can ignore your blind spot and choose not to acknowledge it. But you won't be able to say that I didnt tell you so."

That is ballsy writing .. even by my standards.

Speaking of knowing how to get attention when I want to ...

» Words Originally Spoken in Reference to the Christ

I am not even going to mention here that the title of this book, Ecce Homo, comes from words spoken by Pilate (in Latin) of a scourged Christ .. when Pilate presented Jesus before a hostile crowd and told them, "I find no guilt in him."

"Behold the man."

» Birth Pangs of the Modern World

The final section of Ecce Homo (Why I Am a Destiny) begins like so:

I know my fate. One day my name will be associated with the memory of something tremendous -- of a crisis without equal on earth, the most profound collision of conscience, a decision that was conjured up against everything that had been believed, demanded, hallowed so far. I am no man, I am dynamite.

Right after this statement, the narrator says (at t=1:50):

The crisis he is predicting was the crisis of religious faith that would sweep through Europe in the late nineteenth century. What he was describing was nothing less than the birth pangs of the modern world.

» Nietzsche's Sister Married an Anti-Semite and Distorted Friedrich's Unfinished Writings

Nietzsche's ideas and writings (archives) were taken over by his sister Elisabeth (1846-1935) after he lost his mind.

She rewrote and distorted some of his unfinished writings, and published them in a book called » Will to Power (first published 1901, expanded and supereded version 1906, English translation 1910).

Here is a photo of Hitler and some Nazis paying a visit to Nietzsche's sister (1934) after he came to power in 1933.

Elisabeth died a year later in 1935. Hitler attended her funeral along with other high-ranking Nazis.

Notice how Hitler came to power in the wake of a global financial crisis known as the Great Depression. (It's not a coincidence.)

Nietzsche's Planned Magnum Opus » The Revaluation of All Values

Nietzsche is very much about » values.

If you read up on the history behind » The Will to Power (German 1901, by Nietzsche's sister, English 1910), and particularly the part about the discoveries of the Italian translators ..

.. you will find that Nietzsche was preparing to work on a 4-part magnum opus, which was to be subtitled » Revaluation of All Values.

So strongly am I making the point here that Nietzsche is very much about » values .. that I am resorting to redundancy.

» A Working Grasp of the Concept of Values is Crucial to Living a Moral Life

In this 7-min video titled » Why you should read Nietzsche, Jordan Peterson speaks to the notion of values as presented by Nietzsche.

He comes at it from a different angle, and with a different tack. But notice how he says that this is a difficult thing.

I can tell you exactly about this difficulty that he refers to. But it is not 'difficult' in the traditional sense of the word.

I come at this thing (values) from an existential sort of angle.

This is where I share my experiences of how it feels to actually try to implement these ideas into your life .. in a practical sort of way. Along with whatever difficulties or challenges I might encounter.

I cannot elaborate here without going much further. But I wanted to mention his video, because a working grasp of the concept of values is crucial to living a moral life.

What are your values? What do your actions say about your values? What are the moral implications of your actions?

Such things go deep in a hurry. Such things operate at a level below the rational / logical faculties.

» Nietzsche's Prophetic Chops

It may be worth mentioning here what Walter Kaufmann said (at t=2:40) about Nietzsche's prophetic insights.

Nietzsche lived 1844-to-1900. He has been dead for more than a century. We can now look back and see exactly how accurate his insights were.

We can see both where he was accurate .. and where he was not.

I wonder what Margaret Atwood thinks about Nietzsche's prophetic chops.

Whereas Margaret Atwood said, "I wasnt trying to be prophetic," [ prescient ] .. Nietzsche said, "I am prophetic." [ destiny ]

» They Killed the Prophets that God Sent to Them

I hesitate to mention it .. but scripture tells of how the people killed the prophets that God sent to them .. to tell them things. To warn them.

Scripture teaches that the people, the children of Israel .. they did not want to hear the things that these prophets were sent to tell them.

So badly did they not want to hear the prophetic truth being delivered to their doorstep from the mouth of the Living God Himself .. that they killed these prophets.

Food for thought. (This is exactly why you want to be a non-conformist.)

I can almost hear Bob Marley singing Redemption Songs in the background. One love.

» Experience in Advance the Fate of a Coming Generation

Notice particularly the last part of that passage .. where Walter Kaufmann says that the thing that gave Nietzsche his prophetic chops, so to speak ..

.. was that he » felt the agony, the suffering, and the misery so intensely .. and that he was able to EXPERIENCE IN ADVANCE the fate of a coming generation.

Now there's a statement you dont hear every day. Have you ever read another sentence like that?

I would be lyin' if I said here that Kaufmann's statement didnt make me think of what David wrote in the Psalms here.

Particularly the phrase » experience in advance.

» The Watershed Generation Makes a Positive Difference for the Future

On the subject of the Revaluation of All Values, I want to mention something that Eugene Robinson said at t=7:20 here.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this .. but I do think we are in a different place now. ... But in terms of the way it feels, and the way people think, and public opinion, and increasingly, I think, the opinion of officials, Parkland was a watershed, and the activism of those students there is making a difference in this debate that will reverberate, I think, for years to come."

Fucking eh right, Eugene Robinson. It's definitely a different place.

It's called the New Age. (Where is Casey when you need him?)

Scripture instructs the youth to (paraphrasing) "call out their sorry asses and publicly call bullshit .. when the elders are fucking up." (See for yourself.)

You might want to take notes and see how it's done, Eugene. Watch-n-learn .. watch-n-learn.

The reason why Eugene says, "I can't believe I'm going to say this..." is because his generation has tried-n-tried but was not able to accomplish jack-shit .. despite 90% of Americans favoring sensible gun laws.

It is not like these kids are asking for very much. I bet that Margaret Renkl would agree with me here.

They simply want to be able to go to school and not have to worry about being shot in the face with a military-grade weapon that was legally purchased by a psycho teenager who countless people reported to the authorities because he said repeatedly that his life's great ambition was to shoot-up a school someday.

That doesnt seem like an unrealistic aspiration to me. I bet that John Oliver would agree.

And Chris Murphy.

Does it not seem like this generation is saying, "The values of the older generation suck. We reject your shitty values. And stop stealing money from our future and giving it to people who already have more than they know what to do with."

I so badly want to tell Ben Sasse here to go fuck himself .. but I am going to resist the urge .. because Coffee Joe says that he is a good dude.

Here is a piece that says we should lower the voting age to 16. I could not agree more.

I have already argued that the votes of the youth should be weighted more heavily than the votes of the elderly .. because the youth will have to live much longer with the consequences of political decisions made during their lifetime.

» The Danger of Dangers

The elderly do not seem very concerned about leaving a healthy environment .. if it means that they can profit from exploiting it.

I wonder what Nietzsche would think of such a thing.

Notice how he calls the Present living at the expense of the Future .. the » danger of dangers.

He is another interesting quote from Nietzsche:

Here he says that modern man focuses too narrowly on his own short lifespan, and that he wants to harvest everything he can for himself .. with no consideration of how his actions will affect future generations.

Sound familiar today? I wonder what Alison McQueen thinks of this.

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