Nietzsche on Americans

[Melchior]

A little passage I was working on recently. Looking for comments. I think he's out of his mind, personally speaking.


329
Muße und Müßiggang.— Es ist eine indianerhafte, dem Indianer-Bluthe eigenthümliche Wildheit in der Art, wie die Amerikaner nach Gold trachten: und ihre athemlose Hast der Arbeit—das eigentliche Laster der neuen Welt—beginnt bereits durch Ansteckung das alte Europa wild zu machen und eine ganz wunderliche Geistlosigkeit darüber zu breiten.

329.
Leisure and idleness. There is something peculiar to the Indian blood, a certain savageness, in Americans’ lust for gold. The breathless haste with which they work — the characteristic vice of the New World — has already begun to infect old Europe too, where we now see this mindless barbarity spreading.

Man schämt sich jetzt schon der Ruhe; das lange Nachsinnen macht beinahe Gewissensbisse. Man denkt mit der Uhr in der Hand, wie man zu Mittag isst, das Auge auf das Börsenblatt gerichtet,—man lebt, wie Einer, der fortwährend Etwas "versäumen könnte." "Lieber irgend Etwas thun, als Nichts"—auch dieser Grundsatz ist eine Schnur, um aller Bildung und allem höheren Geschmack den Garaus zu machen.

Even now we are embarrassed to take any rest, and we feel a twinge of remorse if we should devote ourselves to prolonged reflection. Thinking is done with a watch in hand, as dining is done with our eyes glued to the financial pages of the newspaper. We live like men who are always ‘afraid of letting opportunities pass us by’. ‘Better do anything whatever, than nothing’ — this principle is a noose in which all culture and all refined taste may be strangled.

Und so wie sichtlich alle Formen an dieser Hast der Arbeitenden zu Grunde gehen: so geht auch das Gefühl für die Form selber, das Ohr und Auge für die Melodie der Bewegungen zu Grunde.

And just as all courtesies are seen to be dying in this unseemly haste, so also the appreciation for courtesy itself, the ear and the eye for the melody of movement, is being destroyed.

Der Beweis dafür liegt in der jetzt überall geforderten plumpen Deutlichkeit, in allen den Lagen, wo der Mensch einmal redlich mit Menschen sein will, im Verkehre mit Freunden, Frauen, Verwandten, Kindern, Lehrern, Schülern, Führern und Fürsten,—man hat keine Zeit und keine Kraft mehr für die Ceremonien, für die Verbindlichkeit mit Umwegen, für allen Esprit der Unterhaltung und überhaupt für alles Otium.

The proof of this is the bluntness which is now demanded of us whenever we would like for once to be honest with others, in our relations with friends, women, relatives, children, teachers, pupils, leaders, and princes — we have no longer either the time or energy for ceremonies, for the dilatory exchange of petty courtesies expected of anyone of gentle birth and breeding, for any esprit in conversation, or for any otium[ii] whatever.

Denn das Leben auf der Jagd nach Gewinn zwingt fortwährend dazu, seinen Geist bis zur Erschöpfung auszugeben, im beständigen Sich-Verstellen oder Überlisten oder Zuvorkommen: die eigentliche Tugend ist jetzt, Etwas in weniger Zeit zu thun, als ein Anderer.

The constant quest for gain compels a man to exercise his mental faculties and expend his nervous energy, even to the point of exhaustion, in the ceaseless endeavour to outdo others, by putting on a false front, by anticipating them, and by cleverly taking them in. What passes as virtue nowadays is accomplishing something in less time than anyone else.

Und so giebt es nur selten Stunden der erlaubten Redlichkeit: in diesen aber ist man müde und möchte sich nicht nur "gehen lassen," sondern lang und breit und plump sich hinstrecken. Gemäss diesem Hange schreibt man jetzt seine Briefe; deren Stil und Geist immer das eigentliche "Zeichen der Zeit" sein werden.

The occasions in which sincerity is permitted have become increasingly rare, but when these opportunities arise, people are tired, and would like not only ‘to let themselves go’, but to stretch out completely and lie down. The way people write their letters nowadays is quite in keeping with the age; their style and spirit will always be the true ‘sign of the times’.

Giebt es noch ein Vergnügen an Gesellschaft und an Künsten, so ist es ein Vergnügen, wie es müde-gearbeitete Sclaven sich zurecht machen. Oh über diese Genügsamkeit der "Freude" bei unsern Gebildeten und Ungebildeten! Oh über diese zunehmende Verdächtigung aller Freude!

If we are still to find pleasure in the society of others and in the arts, it is pleasure such as over-worked slaves provide for themselves. Oh, how reluctant our cultured and uncultured classes are, to allow themselves the luxury of ‘pleasure’! How increasingly suspicious they are of all pleasure!

Die Arbeit bekommt immer mehr alles gute Gewissen auf ihre Seite: der Hang zur Freude nennt sich bereits "Bedürfniss der Erholung" und fängt an, sich vor sich selber zu schämen. "Man ist es seiner Gesundheit schuldig"—so redet man, wenn man auf einer Landpartie ertappt wird.

Work is now thought of more and more as a matter of obligation. The desire for pleasure is already called the ‘need for recreation’, something of which we are beginning to be ashamed. ‘One owes it to one’s health’, people say, when they are caught at an outing in the country.

Ja, es könnte bald so weit kommen, dass man einem Hange zur vita contemplativa (das heisst zum Spazierengehen mit Gedanken und Freunden) nicht ohne Selbstverachtung und schlechtes Gewissen nachgäbe.— Nun! Ehedem war es umgekehrt: die Arbeit hatte das schlechte Gewissen auf sich.

Soon we may well reach the point where one cannot yield to the desire for the vita contemplativa (that is, excursions with thoughts and friends), without experiencing self-contempt and a bad conscience. Well! Formerly it was the very reverse; it was ‘action’ that suffered from a bad conscience.

Ein Mensch von guter Abkunft verbarg seine Arbeit, wenn die Noth ihn zum Arbeiten zwang. Der Sclave arbeitete unter dem Druck des Gefühls, dass er etwas Verächtliches thue:—das "Thun" selber war etwas Verächtliches. "Die Vornehmheit und die Ehre sind allein bei otium und bellum": so klang die Stimme des antiken Vorurtheils!

The men of noble families concealed the fact that they were working, when, facing dire and unaccustomed want, they were compelled to labour. Slaves laboured under the impression that they were doing something contemptible, whereas what was contemptible was the ‘doing’ itself. ‘Only in otium and bellum is there nobility and honour’ — thus spoke the voice of prejudice in antiquity!

[Wyman]

It was the end of the age of aristocracy and the leisure class. Work was beneath them. Must have been nice while it lasted.

[Dubious]

A little passage I was working on recently. Looking for comments. I think he's out of his mind, personally speaking.

I can't see it by what's written here. In what way was he out of his mind?

[Systematic]

Nietzsche has hit the nail right on the head. The only thing that Americans saw fit to mourn was their fast-built skyscrapers falling. All we could hear from the Bush administration was how communism, which they thought had vanished like the morning dew, had destroyed their lovely twin towers. Those towers were built with much effort, so they were seen as highly valuable.

[Melchior]

Nietzsche has hit the nail right on the head. The only thing that Americans saw fit to mourn was their fast-built skyscrapers falling. All we could hear from the Bush administration was how communism, which they thought had vanished like the morning dew, had destroyed their lovely twin towers. Those towers were built with much effort, so they were seen as highly valuable.

This was written in 1881!

[Melchior]

A little passage I was working on recently. Looking for comments. I think he's out of his mind, personally speaking.

I can't see it by what's written here. In what way was he out of his mind?

Oh, well the British started the Industrial Revolution, and neither they nor the Germans needed the infection of American gold-lust to be crazy for wealth.

[Melchior]

It was the end of the age of aristocracy and the leisure class. Work was beneath them. Must have been nice while it lasted.

Yep, but I don't see the Americans as the source of the infection. How about Great Britain?

[Wyman]

It was the end of the age of aristocracy and the leisure class. Work was beneath them. Must have been nice while it lasted.

Yep, but I don't see the Americans as the source of the infection. How about Great Britain?

Apparently, everyone hates Americans, even back then. Nietzsche also hated Great Britain, from what I've read, but I forget why.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Can you imagine what a pain in the arse Nietzsche would be these days. Troll? Christ he'd be the worst kind of Internet warrior out there.
One thing is for sure he'd never get published today.

[Melchior]

Can you imagine what a pain in the arse Nietzsche would be these days. Troll? Christ he'd be the worst kind of Internet warrior out there.
One thing is for sure he'd never get published today.

Well, no-one paid much attention to him while he was sane.

[Systematic]

Can you imagine what a pain in the arse Nietzsche would be these days. Troll? Christ he'd be the worst kind of Internet warrior out there.
One thing is for sure he'd never get published today.

That's not true. There's always self-publishing on Amazon. Perhaps no one would buy his books, but he would still be allowed to try to sell them.

[Dubious]

My! How the mites love to feast.

[Melchior]

It was the end of the age of aristocracy and the leisure class. Work was beneath them. Must have been nice while it lasted.

Yep, but I don't see the Americans as the source of the infection. How about Great Britain?

Apparently, everyone hates Americans, even back then. Nietzsche also hated Great Britain, from what I've read, but I forget why.

He hated everybody. LOL

[Hobbes' Choice]

Can you imagine what a pain in the arse Nietzsche would be these days. Troll? Christ he'd be the worst kind of Internet warrior out there.
One thing is for sure he'd never get published today.

That's not true. There's always self-publishing on Amazon. Perhaps no one would buy his books, but he would still be allowed to try to sell them.

it's not really "publishing" though is it. It's more like vanity publishing was in the old days.

[Systematic]

it's not really "publishing" though is it. It's more like vanity publishing was in the old days.

You learn something new every day.