1
0
“This world is the will to power—and nothing besides!
And you yourselves are also this will to power—and nothing besides!”
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power
Friedrich Nietzsche, the original tough love philosopher, got it right when he stated in plain terms that everything in existence is the ‘Will to Power,’ that the entire world and all that is in it, is an expression of this universal striving will, meaning that every person in it, everyone who has ever lived or is presently alive or will ever live is a part of this universal will.
The will to power demands that we climb mountains, rewarding us with feelings of attainment, accomplishment and pride when we get to the top, then it makes a further demand that we find another peak to scale, one higher than the last, pushing us forward in all sorts of creative and destructive ways. That’s why it feels so good to win, the Will also punishes us with bad feelings whenever we fail, whenever we lose, whenever we’re bested in debate, or we’re beaten in any competitive field, such as losing the contract with the big firm, or when a thug blackens our eye. Crucially, the Will to Power is the source of all punishment and reward, all feelings of jealousy or contentment. All mental illness, with the exception of that caused by brain abnormalities, is the Will to Power frustrated!
The artist at his canvas is as much an expression of the Will to Power as any soldier on the battlefront, aiming his weapon at the enemy. The scientist seeking to understand the laws of physics, or defeat a terrible disease is also a part of this universal and totalising ‘will to power,’ and that’s because its alive and well within us. It creates and destroys, usually all at once and at the same time, whether the result is deemed to be good, bad or indifferent by our peers and the larger society that we find ourselves in.
The will is also present in any and all acts of kindness or altruism, such as any act that society deems to be good, from buying your pal a pint of beer when he’s down on his luck, to fixing your friends plumbing, it shows him that he’d do well to keep on your good side. The same applies to those advocating for the rights of migrants to cross the channel and live in five-star hotels on the public purse!
It’s all a power grab; a show of strength that delights in the opposition it generates for itself, because when others suffer, when others lose, when enemies are defeated, when their dreams are scattered to the winds, when their women are despoiled, when their men are all killed, when their cities are razed to the ground, when their ancient monuments are shattered, when their myths are destroyed, when their land is salted so that nothing grows, you feel incredible! It’s for this reason that during the roman triumphs a slave was continually tasked to stand behind the general in his chariot and whisper in his ear, “Look behind you. Remember you are a man.” It should be noted that without opposition, the Will to Power has nothing to overcome, and bad feelings are the result.
Nietzsche being the enlightened man that he is, takes the view that destroying cities and genociding people, whilst not morally wrong, because he didn’t believe in a preordained and totalising system of ethics, is a baser expression of the universal will, so he asks us instead, to put our energies into higher expressions of the Will to Power, to become poets, musicians, composers, politicians, scientists, engineers, doctors whilst being brave enough to live according to our own rules and not those of the common man that he dismissively decries as ‘the herd.’ The noble man, the superman, or overman makes his own rules, and regrets nothing.
