If you view politics as a spectrum of egalitarianism, Nietzsche's critique of fascism would have been that it isnt right-wing enough. Demagogues by definition appeal to the demos, antisemitism was a peasant belief etc.

Intolerable cruelty of mankind. Thankfully we were given intelligent minds to enhance us to understand to mature and grow throughout histories. Nietzsche was one of many. I have much to still learn, may we all. Thank you for this lecture today. I have many lectures to go back through, that I have not done. With the deepest appreciation and respect for these lectures.

Seriously, this is next level. All of your episodes are crazy detailed and nuanced. The amount of work behind every episode. Besides all of the references, I really love your engagement, you put things into your own words and give clear examples. All these episodes makes history feel a lot closer to Now. Thank you for doing this.

00:00 🌍 Three major strands of political thought in the 20th century were liberalism, communism, and fascism, with World War II determining the outcome. 01:10 📜 Fascism is now largely irrelevant and no longer a part of mainstream political discourse in the post-Cold War world. 03:39 🕊 Nietzsche's philosophy is often associated with fascism, but it's crucial to address this misconception and critique fascism from a Nietzschean perspective. 05:02 🏛 Fascism, despite its extreme elements, shares common characteristics with modern forms of government, such as an expansive authoritarian state. 08:01 🤝 Nietzsche's personal relationships, including those with his sister Elizabeth and Richard Wagner, were influenced by their political leanings, leading to estrangements. 15:11 🎯 Anti-Semitism is a central element of fascism, embodying the psychological need to create an external enemy responsible for society's problems. 20:25 📚 Nietzsche's philosophical influences included Jewish thinkers like Baruch Spinoza, highlighting his appreciation for outstanding individuals and diverse philosophical heritage. 21:22 🌍 Nietzsche's philosophy of perspectivism drew on influences from various civilizations, including Jewish thinkers, without regard to national, religious, or ethnic differences. 23:01 🧐 Nietzsche criticized anti-Semitism and explained that it arises within national states when jealousy and hatred are directed towards the Jews due to their energy, intelligence, and capital of spirit. 25:46 🧬 Nietzsche's beliefs in eugenics were influenced by Lamarckian ideas, which suggested that certain traits or skills could be inherited through genetics. However, his concept of eugenics aimed to create a stronger mixed European race through the intermingling of diverse ethnic backgrounds. 28:33 ⚖ Nietzsche's opposition to the idea of racial purity and his emphasis on the merging of different cultures and ethnicities set him apart from movements like the Nazis, who sought racial purity. 34:17 🔄 Nietzsche's philosophy embraced the concept of eternal struggle, change, and transformation, rejecting the idea of a final victory or permanent state, which was contrary to the Nazi ideology. 37:19 🌟 Nietzsche's notion of the Übermensch (Overman) was about continuous improvement and elevation of the species, unlike the Nazis' interpretation that reduced it to a static, achievable state. 40:03 🔮 The Nazis were influenced by occult and metaphysical ideas about racial purity, which contrasted with Nietzsche's focus on evolution, struggle, and transformation. These occult beliefs played a significant role in shaping the Nazi concept of race. 42:34 📜 Hitler recognized the importance of Christianity to German identity and used it for motivation, despite his rejection of Catholicism. 43:43 🤔 Nietzsche's view of Christianity differs substantially from Nazi ideology; he considered Jesus and Paul to be "the two most Jewish Jews who ever lived." 45:32 😠 Nietzsche believed Christianity appealed to the Teutonic Germans who were cruel, self-hating, and had failed to succeed in life. 46:15 📜 Nietzsche viewed the Old Testament as healthier than the New Testament, as it contained elements of wrath and grace, in contrast to the world-denying nature of Christianity. 47:10 🙅 Nietzsche believed Christianity should be overcome as it consoled the average person and served as a weapon of the weak and failures. 52:17 🕊 Nietzsche's image was distorted and appropriated by the Nazis through the efforts of his sister, Elizabeth, and misinterpretations by figures like Alfred Baumler. 54:21 🧩 Nietzsche's writings were selectively edited and misrepresented to align with Nazi ideology, despite Nietzsche's rejection of nationalism, socialism, and anti-Semitism. 58:08 📖 Nietzsche's rejection of metaphysics and political idealism was misrepresented by figures like Baumler, who portrayed him as a metaphysician and political theorist. 01:00:29 🤝 Some similarities exist between Nietzsche's ideas and those of the Nazis, such as collectivism, zero-sum conflict, and the glorification of instincts and feelings, but there are notable differences as well. Please note that the key takeaways are concise summaries of various points discussed in the transcript chunk. 01:03:45 🤔 Nietzsche opposes racism as he does not believe in the concept of pure races or collective identities. 01:04:14 🔄 Nietzsche criticizes the idea of individuals sacrificing themselves for the collective good, which contradicts the notion of racial superiority. 01:04:56 🏞 Nietzsche values change and transformation, and taking pride in one's race implies a desire for sameness and preservation. 01:05:38 📚 The differences between Nietzsche and the Nazis, as pointed out by Hicks, are more nuanced and significant than Hicks suggests. 01:06:20 🤝 Nietzsche acknowledges collective power structures but does not morally advocate for collectivism. 01:08:11 💼 Nietzsche's understanding of power, culture, and the state differentiates him from both the Nazis and Mussolini's fascism. 01:16:55 🤝 Nietzsche's relativism is rooted in the meta-ethical principle of the Will To Power, distinguishing it from Mussolini's moral relativism. 01:18:30 🏛 Nietzsche sees the state's expansion and its stifling of culture as detrimental, distinguishing his views from fascist ideologies. 01:22:26 🏹 Nietzsche's alignment with the anti-fascist symbol "Three Arrows" is due to his opposition to fascism, conservatism, and Marxism, reflecting his unique stance. 01:23:47 🎯 Nietzsche rejects fascism, capitalism, and socialism, aligning with none of the 20th-century political theories. 01:24:16 🔄 Nietzsche's thought is challenging to categorize due to his emphasis on solitude, retreat from politics, and cyclical view of history. 01:25:26 🔄 Nietzsche's harsh truths about life, struggle, and hierarchy do not translate into a desire to create a permanent state based on these principles. 01:26:06 🔄 Nietzsche suggests that the real improvement begins with changing mankind's nature rather than tinkering with the system of government. 01:27:04 🔄 Nietzsche's focus is on cultural change, working with people to overcome their limitations, rather than seeking an ideal form of government.

Doing such wonderful work. Thanks. I like Bataille’s discussion of this topic too (in Visions of Excess), and the essay on the Obelisk.

Enjoyed your video. Very thoughtful. I may have a suggestion for you since it seems that you tie Nietzsche’s political idea : Thrasymachus and his vision of justice and moral codes. The similarly and difference of his philosophy to Nietzsche.

Every episode is better than other! It is so rare to find quality content on philosophy, psychology etc this channel is a goldmine of knowledge!

exceptionally good talk, exceptionally good channel, thanks as always

Amazing video as always, was wondering if you ever made a video/podcast explaining why you left Buddhism. I think Nietzsche thought that the Buddhistic denial of suffering is in turn a denial of life itself. I also assume that Nietzsche may have (mostly) had an understanding of Buddhism through Schopenhauer. So I was wondering if that had any influence in your decision. I get if this is something you don’t wish to speak about , but thanks for the amazing content once again.

Just finished all three videos in this Nietzsche series. Very good work. You do a great job at approaching this in the most neutral way as possible. Admirable. I am someone who has become greatly fatigued with the left/right paradigm, but as such I find it difficult to find others who think like I do, which is why I like Nietzsche. I have become a bit disillusioned, as almost all the content creators I enjoy that criticize modernity and this false dichotomy, have been gradually leaning towards fascism. I can't really get on board with them, but most other people are clueless to whats going on in the world. I am sympathetic with libertarians, and seem to get on with them well, but their takes are often so "boomer-ish" that it feels like we aren't experiencing the same reality. Likewise, I am very much into art and philosophy, and most (my age especially) who are into the same stuff I'm into, are leftists. On top of all this, I am a young man who got into spirituality recently, and it seems the only people who can relate to that are old women. I am truly atomized. Nietzsche was correct on that prediction of the future. I notice a lot of Gen Zers try on ideologies like they are different clothes, so I think a series like this is immeasurably helpful for dismantling these 20th century beliefs now that they are almost completely irrelevent to our current age. Thank you!

Slave morality is triumphant

Hey just a heads up, Noticed the Contra Fascism and the Contra Socialism episodes are out of chronological order on the podcast playlist. Might be worth a quick fix for a better flow of ideas. Keep up the great work man. Loving the series 😁👍

One of the reasons I feel this video was not very accurate was that, just like socialism has endless varieties, so does Fascism (and it's contemporary offshoots). Many ideologies on the Far Right today are highly influenced by Nietzsche, as such they are essentially a synthesis of both ideas. This video has value in showing us the real errors of Clasical Fascism and Hitlerism, but not in critiquing current Far Right thinking

Love that you’re referencing human all to human…not many do. I think it’s one of his best works.

I’ve been looking forward to this.

Your work is amazing, just amazing. Love your channel.

In one of his two lectures on Nietzsche here on UKposts, Michael Surgrue called him the originator of fascism (I'm heavily paraphrasing). I'm interested what you have to say.

He's a weird one. But I think people don't realise he was pretty much a neo herderite in regards to culture and ethnicity. Saw the beauty and strength in each peoples, a kinda romantic cosmopolitan. This is something picked up quite strongly in Rudolf rockers anarchist world view as well.

The notification gets a verbal YES. Always stoked for some essentialsalts

I can’t really do much with Nietzsche. He is more an artist than a philosopher-The Mustache Man

Thank you for teaching the philosophy behind the Reich No one dares explicate on their founders

I dont know if you used word untergehen in this video, but I just waned to point out, in your latest video so you could see the comment, that h in gehen is silent. It is pronounced ge with extended e sound.

26:40 you say that Nietzsche thinks mankind can be strengthened by combining ethnic backgrounds. In BG&E he says that the mixing of blood in modern europe has created a weaker type of man who is crippled by contrary impulses. This seems to contradict what you said, did I misunderstand his point?

Another great video. Thanks so much for your hard work.

I was specifically wondering about this very issue recently. And coincidentally, it was my viewing of some of your videos that got me wondering about it. Also... I'm just beginning the video, and I'm not sure that I agree that fascism is dead in the west. Hyper-nationalism is certainly still thriving.

Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of the Übermensch, often viewed as a symbol of human potential, may have served as a psychological defense mechanism to rationalize his perceived failures in life. Nietzsche faced challenges in attracting women, struggling with health issues and social isolation. His creation of the Übermensch could be seen as an attempt to assert superiority despite these shortcomings. However, the disparity between Nietzsche's ideal and his reality suggests the concept may have been a coping mechanism rather than a reflection of objective human potential.

You should look into comparative fascist studies and the work of Roger Griffin. It's a far better method for understanding fascism and more beneficial to what you're doing here than Eco's list. Griffin directly analyzes fascism as a revolutionary and modernist political movement.

As someone who was apart of the far-right and still holds some positions that are considered far-right. My critique of the far-right on an ideological level is that it makes the mistake of raising the instinctual to the level of the idea, or turning it into their ideology. I think human instinct is important because it exists for a reason as a result of our evolution. But I think turning it into an ideology causes a lot of problems. While things like in-group preference for example, are natural phenomena, by placing such emphasis on it, it denaturalizes these concepts. It becomes inauthentic in it's own right. Healthy xenophobia is important, there is a reason this exists, but full on ethno-nationalism is to put it in Nietzschean terms is another slave morality.

Hi, this is amazing! I am wondering if you are saying that Fascism is irrelevant on just a linguistic and philosophical level or on a literal/practical level? Because I would say on a literal/practical level, I would say its more relevant than ever given the massive rise in right wing ideologs. However, on a linguistic and philosophical level, I guess I would agree with you since people like to pit "capitalism" against "socialism" even though people completely mislabel both things.

Things happen in bubbles. Reflexive. Politically, economically, socially.

Terrific podcast, again.

I don't know how truly related to Fascism what I'm going to say is, but I wonder what Nietzsche would think of the flooding of the West with millions of people from the underdeveloped world, helped in no small part by NGO's and totally against the collective will of the people. Perhaps I think of that while watching this video because it's likely a major contributing factor in the slow and steady rise of the far right in the West over the past 10 years or so.

Things are always becoming but it is infact true that things are teleological too. Always the same yet never the same if you can understand that statement your on the right track!

33:00~ If the world is conquered and there are no aliens to fight, or some other more "abstract" battle lets say, you can divide the ruling faction into smaller faction and allot them territories and restart the whole process. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

What do you think of Stephen Hicks' Nietzsche and the Nazis?

Gotta admit, this is your weakest video. It's not so black and white. Although Classical Fascism and Hitlerism and dead ideologies, their core ideas are having a renaissance in the Far Right today and are catching on in mainstream thinking too. Dugin is a great example of a philosopher which has rehabilitated some Fascist ideas In the same way that although Leninism/Stalinism is dead, the core ideas of Marx still have strong influence Most people in the Far Right today hold ideas which are a synthesis of the Fascist and Nietzschean type. They are critics of Hitlerism and Classical Fascism. For example one of the canonical authors of the Far Right today is Julius Evola. He has a book titled "Fascism Viewed from the Right" where he critiques Fascism for being materialistic and atheistic. And, just like Nietzsche, he sees the state as a means not as an ends Also almost all of the Far Right today don't believe in the racial ideas of Hitlerism, because racial science has progressed so far and we can see what they got wrong. Such as seeing Slavs as not White. And as for anti-Semitism, this is still an open question in the Far Right. Most Rightists are staunchly anti-Zionist but not anti-Semitic

Thank you for this great discussion. It's very easy to give a Nazi reading of Nietzsche, but he deserves more care and less weaponization. Nobody gets more misinterpreted than our boy Freddy N.

Great video. This topic has perplexed me for a long time. But I still can't understand how Nietzsche commends the Jews, and yet reprimands the slave morality at the same time. In the Genealogy of Morals, he blames them for the revolt in morality and the inversion of values. You would think that no one in history, not even the most ardent antisemite, could charge a greater accusation than Nietzsche does here. This accusation is more serious than whatever antisemitic conspiracy can be conjured up. It's just hard for me to understand why Nietzsche has such a good opinion of the Jews when everything I've read from him seems to paint a different picture.

If the superman is in a constant state of becoming, then the whole idea of "Goku vs Superman" because Goku IS superman, in the Nietzchean sense, whereas Superman, ironically, isn't superman.

The great replacement

I thought Hicks was unfair in his criticism towards Nietzsche and even though it was a good book ( Nietzsche and the Nazis) it felt like a really cheap shot. Did anyone else feel this way?

47:40 political needs.

Nietzsche being thought of as right wing is as stupid as Joan of Arc being considered a proto-feminist.

Superb as usual. One very minor disagreement: you say that there are not really any monarchists nowadays. That's simply wrong in northern Europe. The majority of the English are monarchists. I suspect that's true for the Dutch, Belgians, and Scandinavians too. (And the Spanish further south.) You might argue that none of these monarchies exercise real political power, and thus the populace is not in favour of autocratic monarchies, which is true; nevertheless, constitutional monarchies appear to be less corrupt, and more conducive to freedom - and I use the word in the Nietzschean sense, as in allowing free spirits to flourish - than any other polities.

Umberto Eco's points about fascism are totally wrong, I suggest you to read the book "Origins and Doctrine of Fascism" by Giovanni Gentile for a better understanding of what fascism really is.

build back better

I haven’t finished the video yet but there’s this one part that struck out to me that you said nietzsche was WRONG about. How our ancestors are good at certain things and it’s better to focus on what our ancestors did than going another path. How is that wrong? Intuitively and from what I’ve seen in my life, this seems to be the case. Wether it’s physical or athletic pursuits it always seems like children have a high aptitude for what their parents excelled at.

*Man there is a lot of good critiques of Fascism that Nietzsche had, but I'm disappointed in this video for not having enough nuance. Nietzsche is one of those people who were more Right Wing than even the Fascists. Like Julius Evola. When Nietzsche critiques Fascism and Nazism, he is mostly in agreement with them with the exception of some of their core principles, not all of them. This video hides that fact*

40:00

To be or not to be is not the question. It is an invitation. Everything revolves around the hometeam,identity, if you haven't already noticed. Especially when it comes to fighting former injustice and injury incurred by identity. Quite a schizophrenic moral relativism. Nietzche was a philosophical alchemist. A very salty ,bitter, weirdly satisfying genius. What else is the will to power.

Imagine taking your definition of ''fascism'' from Umberto Eco xD

If Fred could only see the expansion of the apartheid / ethno state being undertaken right now by Greater Israel.

Saying that Nietzsche rejected the idea of racial purity because he wanted a new pan-European identity to form by the mixing of the various European nations, is disingenuous. The mixing of Europeans produces more Europeans. This is still limited by a racial component. I don't believe Nietzsche would ever have supported race mixing in the way we understand it today. Especially when you see how he spoke about other races (like thr East Asians and the Africans)

I completely agree that Mussolini was a far better Fascist than Hitler. That's why modern culture demonizes Hitler but ignores Mussolini. Hitler is low hanging fruit, he was fascism for the low IQ. Mussolini was Fascism at it's best (for his time)

Italian Fascism included Jews. Exclusivity is a German value. Nietzches genealogy of Morals doesn't flatter Judeo, Christian, values. In fact, Slave Morality is essentially Jew Morality. Victim virtue. The proverbial meak inheritance - Power dynamic.

I have enjoyed almost all of your videos so far, but this one seems a little contrived to me, other than antisemitism, how is Nietzsche’s vision for Europe any different from a fascist vision? Aristocratic, emphasising physical strength and excellence, and unified.

The "Evil" of Fascism has been stupidly exaggerated. My instincts tells me Nietzche would have endorse an Italy that had embrace Italian Futurism. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was a very "Nietzschean" type and you see this all about the Futurist Manifesto.

You tried too hard to separate Nietzsche from the Far Right here. You focused on some of the anti-Fascist ideas Nietzsche had, and didn't balance them with the things he and the Fascists/Nazis agreed upon. Not to mention that modern day neo-Fascist thinking doesn't hold the views which Nietzsche would critique

Seems like Fascism is coming back.

Nietzsche is bullish on Bitcoin, a maximalist with Lazer eyes 😂

Overall, despite the issues and critiques I've made with this video. Ultimately Nietzsche did have some good criticisms of Fascism. That's why today I'm not a Fascist, my political ideology is that of Aleksandr Dugin and the Fourth Political Theory. Some people call this basically Fascism 2.0 but personally the issues that Fascism had were so fundamental that if you fix them you don't have something which can fairly be called Fascism anymore. But ultimately I'm very indebted to the work of the Fascists, for all their flaws they were still the best ideology of their century

The good stuff is in.

The 3 strands of political thought you said “that emerged” were ALL City of London/Wall Street operations……

Good video. I have a video titled 'My Nietzschean Liberalism'', in which I attempt to show how Nietzsche's philosophy can be combined with liberal political thought.

Promises made made. Promises kept.

What do you make on Nietzche anger towards his fellow Germans. Was is it disappointment that they could waste their potential or was it sheer hatred? I've even read somewhere that one of his "Mad" letters stated that all of Europe should team up and destroy Germany while they still could and that he was having all Anti-Semites shot. If true this is clearly a Man who would have despise the Third Reich and probably sided with the Soviets out of pure anger. No wonder he was deeply troubled with his heritage that produces and was home to the worst type of Christianity, Protestantism.

Nietzsche was wrong about the rejection of metaphysics, and so many of his errors spring from that. To say that different races or ethnicities don't have an essence, and that these essences aren't somewhat different, is just blatantly wrong

1:16:45 Completely disagree. Fascism doesn't see culture as a threat to the state at all. And it doesn't seek stagnation. This criticism fails on the ground floor because the author himself (not you the narrator) strawmaned what Fascism was

Essentialsalts please explain why slave morality has triumphed

17:44 like Trump for example

I think this is an oversimplification. You know who were hated before they were successful. The exclusion is what created the selective pressure for them to adapt in different ways. Your notion of success is also wrong. Nietzsche never had children, was very weak, had zero abilities with women. Biologically, he was a failure, just like most philosophers and intellectuals. Their whole existence is dependent on people they despise. Make an analysis of this if you are brave. Why does he tell himself that he's superior and deserves to leech off the masses with no evidence of it?

Slave morality won And Nietzsche greatly helped

Based essay. I wouldn't take Nietzsche too seriously about biological evolution. Nobody, including Darwin, understood it very well at the time. For example there was no understanding of epigenetics, which. plays a huge role in skin color. The Űbermensch may be something, but it is unknown what. Maybe evolution will be cultural or transhuman. As for mixing ethnicities, hybrid vigor is a thing. Two lines may have different partial solutions to a problem, and mixing them can give both, which is usually better.

Call me a meathead but I have always viewed Christianity as spiritual fascism and I have also used Neitsczche ideas to fortify my left hand spiritual philosophy. To me it clicks. Forgive me🙏🔥🤘

While it is obvious that you have read friedrich nietzsche's work and understand his philosophy to a greater extent than any other youtuber I have come across, certainly more than that idiotic comedian who calls himself uberboyo, you fail to recognise the true extent in which Adolf Hitler and therefore the whole nationalsocialist movement was influenced by Herr Nietzsche. For example at 1:09:39 you make the uneducated and naive statement that that national socialist germany "wanted to win the war to end all wars" . Where as in reality hitler made a statement contradicting your comment in which he said, roughly translated from german, "Germany must have a war every 15 to 20 years, soldiers who's job it is to purely maintain peace merely play at being soldiers". This is just one example i thought was nessecary to highlight. I suggest you learn german and read both Mein Kampf and Hitler's table talk by henry picker known as Hitlers Tischgespräche im Führer hauptquartier. In addition to this i would also reread all of Friedrich nietzsche's work in german as the english translations you read by the jew walter kauffman are not to be trusted. As we all know Arthur Schopenhauer said "jews are the great masters at lying" . Hitler's friend as a young man, august kubizek, said Hitler carried books from Schopenhauer and later on Nietzsche with him. Nietzche's sister gave hitler Nietzsches favourite walking stick with the remark" my brother would of liked you" When we say Heil Hitler, we also mean Heil Nietzsche

If we take the Nazis' Aryan ideology, seriously we can't really lump them into the same group as the Italian Fascists. The Aryan program is based on Race rather than Nation. Racial purity, superiority and world domination were central to the Nazis. Their Aryan ideology crossed national boundaries as a proto-race narrative. The Nazis grasped at anything that would support their racial ideology be it occultism, neo-paganism, linguistics or genetics. How far the Nazis would have taken their extermination of Non-Aryans and inferior types, so defined, is hard to say. Certainly Nietzsche never defended genocide. However, neither a proper mixing of the races nor his pan-Europeanism would not seem to be strong arguments to count him out as a similar type.

"Deutschland, Deutschland über alles... That is the end of German Philosophy" - Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols (1888) "Make America Great Again" - Trump (2016) Welp...