Nietzsche

Yikes.
This is my first time encountering Nietzsche's work. Prior to reading the assigned text the most I had experienced Nietzsche was in random in-class discussions in under grad. Normally someone would pretentiously name drop Nietzsche into the conversation which was always seemingly irrelevant. It only ever seemed to accomplish making the person seem learned in Philosophy but unable to understand the idea of relevancy. So naturally, from these few experiences put a bad taste in my mouth regarding the infamous philosopher.

I can't see that I my mind about Nietzsche was much changed after reading. What I gathered from the reading is that Nitzsche venerates manipulation and overpowering as a proper means to power. He seems to not really be pesismistic regarding humanity, but somewhat or a realist. Every person/empire brought successfully to power did so by doing harm and aggressively over powering weaker nations or people. Often people of peace or "mellow civilisations" as Nietzsche refers to in section 257. Nietzsche argues that those of noble castes (who are always the ones overpowering the lesser castes) were more "complete men" than those whom they conquer. Rough. I'm not fully sure what he means by complete, but I don't like it.

Nietzsche has it right in one sense. The nobles, the higher ups, etc. do overpower through means of manipulation and awful aggression...but I do not agree that this the right (for lack of a better word) to do this. It is true, my own country came into existence through this means (think the new American habitants versus the Native Americans) but I don't like it. I don't like that shadowy part of our American history. Although I have to say, I enjoy living in America and many I suppose would argue, more than likely, this was the only way to come to be here. So Nietzsche observations are in a way correct (which I neglectfully admit).

So I guess the question is what is this text doing in our class? Why is it here. I'm not sure why yet. Perhaps it will be made more evident in hindsight. But I guess what I do know about Hitler and his socialist party and all the horrendous things they did it would make sense that we read a work some what venerating the over-powering of another people, a lesser people, a less "complete" people. Which in actuality is what the Nazis did. Not that Jews are lesser people, but that's how they were thought of.