Outlooks of the String Pullers

Part I

The Hierarchical Assumption

March 29, 2000

This is the first in a series of articles dealing with the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), an influential German philosopher, whose ideas were considered "bold" only because he dared to say and write what a lot of people already believed, but were prevented by social etiquette from admitting in public. He was of course said to be a major influence on Adolf Hitler and others. His influence is very much alive today.

I must state at the outset that I do not accept the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche on quite a number of subjects where either history has made him obsolete or else he was misinformed to begin with on subjects he could not have had sufficient knowledge. But a few months ago in discussions with a fellow researcher, it was suggested that if I hadn't read Nietzsche yet, I hadn't, that reading his work would offer me a perspective from which to view the outlook of the string pullers. If you need to know who the string pullers are, you may need to go back and read some earlier articles in this website.

In every healthy society there are three physiological types, gravitating toward differentiation but mutually conditioning one another, and each of these has its own hygiene, its own sphere of work, its own special mastery and feeling of perfection.

This is not a new assumption. Plato's Republic makes a similar argument. There is nothing "new" or "original" in Nietzsche. It is that his opinions are so closely aligned with those of the string pullers and their financiers that concerns us.

It is not Manu but nature that sets off in one class those who are chiefly intellectual, in another those who are marked by muscular strength and temperament, and in a third those who are distinguished in neither one way or the other, but show only mediocrity--the last-named represent the great majority, and the first two the select.

The superior caste--I call it the fewest--has, as the most perfect, the privileges of the few: it stands for happiness, for beauty, for everything good upon earth. Only the most intellectual of men have any right to beauty, to the beautiful; only in them can goodness escape being weakness. Pulchrum est paucorum hominum.

It was from old and is still believed that only those whose tastes are refined are deserving of the finest in the world. Notice that everything is based on materialistic considerations; what the unaided senses tell us. Nietzsche, and for that matter the vast majority of the string pullers and their financiers, could care less about anything but objective material reality measured in power and money. Therefore no matter how high flown Nietzsche's "intellectuals" become in their aesthetics of beauty, it is all basically a materialistic goodness and beauty that is being considered. Inside, their hearts are and become as stone. This being ultimately so, the power and prestige these classes aspire to and often acquire becomes empty. In quite a number of their caste, their lives become nothing but corruption and debauchery, since they have nothing inside with which to combat their essential emptiness. Nevertheless, let us follow Nietzsche's argument a bit further since it is so instructive...

Goodness is a privilege. Nothing could be more unbecoming to them than uncouth manners or a pessimistic look, or an eye that sees ugliness--or indignation against the general aspect of things.

Fair enough, except it is simply that, a pose. Inside, many of these people are quite fearful. They cannot simply enjoy life because they are too aware of their position. Yes, they would like to increase that "distance" as much as possible so as not to be reminded of how empty and squalid are the insides of their hearts!

Indignation is the privilege of the Chandala; so is pessimism.

The Chandala are "the lower orders" of society. The leaders are assumed to wear an "optimism" over everything as a "mask of courage" while the lower orders are acquainted with the hardness of everyday life and know that this life is more than not "a vale of tears".

"The world is perfect"--so prompts the instinct of the intellectual, the instinct of the man who says yes to life.

And this is a static idealism that may be in fact the outlook of the confirmed materialist "scientist". Nevertheless, it is also a pose, as indeed is every idealism. And there are no "instincts," just undiscovered consciousness.

Imperfection, what ever is inferior to us, distance, the pathos of distance, even the Chandala themselves are parts of this perfection.

And this sentence says quite a lot; in the "perfect" scheme of things the higher castes rise to the top of society and the rest of society supports them. Actually they claim they support the rest of society through the corrupting influence of their political and financial influence. These be the real strings that bind us all.

The most intelligent men, like the strongest, find their happiness where others would find only disaster: in the labyrinth, in being hard with themselves and with others, in effort; their delight is in self-mastery; in them asceticism becomes second nature, a necessity, an instinct. They regard a difficult task as a privilege; it is to them a recreation to play with burdens that would crush all others. . . .

This too may be true in areas where very few of us would fear to tread, like practicing major surgery or atomic physics for instance or high finance or the law. But it is an overblown statement in that only the best craftsmanship in matters that are essential to the entire society; farming, housing, energy, manufacturing, etc. belong to those among "the lower orders". Of course the higher castes always assume, and history pretty much backs them up, that no matter what happens, they will always prevail, always be able to eat, always have habitation, basic comforts, etc.

Knowledge--a form of asceticism.--They are the most honorable kind of men: but that does not prevent them being the most cheerful and most amiable. They rule, not because they want to, but because they are; they are not at liberty to play second.

A more honest paraphrase; yes knowledge is power, inside information provides one with success, and since it is limited, it is a secret to most. Secrecy is a necessary form of this asceticism Nietzsche speaks of among the higher castes. What they know separates them from everyone else. This is mostly the "distance" that separates them from the rest of us. But they are NOT the most honorable kind of men. Far from it. Their secret knowledge in fact makes them less honorable than the ignorant because they have far too much to hide. Among the greatest vices of the powerful, aside from pride of position, is their fear of losing it. Their cheer and amiability are as I have already said, nothing but a pose, and Nietzsche himself, not being of the higher orders himself, was duped by assuming the pose was real. The rulers rule completely because they want to and can and here again Nietzsche has been duped. It is never safe to assume that anyone in any position, high or low, does anything for duty or altruism alone, but because they have the desire and the opportunity. You too would do the same. This is human nature. To think otherwise is idealism not reality. The first caste upon the earth at the present time I will consistently call "the barge". They are powerful and have for all practical purposes, limitless financial resources. They tend to equate brains with political and especially financial success. The academic intellectuals like Nietzsche always flatter themselves that they are the highest caste. They are not nor ever have been. They are mere playthings of the truly powerful. They should learn to keep their place!

The second caste: to this belong the guardians of the law, the keepers of order and security, the more noble warriors, above all, the king as the highest form of warrior, judge and preserver of the law. The second in rank constitute the executive arm of the intellectuals, the next to them in rank, taking from them all that is rough in the business of ruling their followers, their right hand, their most apt disciples.

This arrangement is also of ancient conformity and not a new idea. But again it's presentation is hardly honest. The rulers are those characters on the political stage whose strings are pulled by the string pullers, who themselves are not so much intellectuals these days as they are "intelligence officers," who serve the interests of "the barge"; the highest caste on earth. People of "the barge" float above the rest of us, weighing anchor in their favorite harbors, chiefly London, New York, Los Angeles, various European capitals and countries, especially Switzerland, Tokyo and at one time Hong Kong, but now Singapore. They have no country nor fixed place of abode. Or rather they live in a string of properties around the world and jet between them. Most of these people are not "celebrities" as few of us have ever heard of most of them. They are above and beyond all celebrity on earth. They "make" celebrities as their playthings. What they make they can also destroy. The relations between "the barge" and the political ruling caste is similar to the ancient relations between "the gods" and the kings of ancient civilizations such as the Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Indus and others including those in the Americas. The relations very probably extend far back into antiquity. But "the barge" are not "the gods," by which their sure knowledge comes sure fear. Of course "the gods" were not really gods in the strict sense either, but that's another story.

In all this, I repeat, there is nothing arbitrary, nothing "made up"; whatever is to the contrary is made up--by it nature is brought to shame. . .

Nietzsche, like the highest castes, assumes that the hierarchy is completely natural, that there is nothing "made up" in the sense of an arbitrary ordering of positions by a series of historical events. This too is an illusion. Nature is far from being as automatic or as beneficent as Nietzsche or for that matter Rousseau, whom Nietzsche despises but nevertheless follows, would have us believe.

The order of castes, the order of rank, simply formulates the supreme law of life itself; the separation of the three types is necessary to the maintenance of society, and to the evolution of higher types, and the highest types--the inequality of rights is essential to the existence of any rights at all.

Emphasis mine. This is the great irony behind the modern "democratic" societies. They are democratic only in appearance, in order to appease the Chandala mob, as is the modern economy. Were either of these to break down, the highest castes would resort to more brutal methods; their optimistic mask would come right off.

A right is a privilege. Every one enjoys the privileges that accord with his state of existence.

It is exactly thought of in opposite terms by the highest castes; THEIR privileges are rights denied to the rest of us. So it has always been. So shall it ever be.

Let us not underestimate the privileges of the mediocre. Life is always harder as one mounts the heights--the cold increases, responsibility increases.

And so too do certain eases, comforts, better healthcare, better food, more exotic adventures, etc. etc. Yeah sure, the life of the higher castes isn't as easy as the lives of the lower orders. This is a lie!

A high civilization is a pyramid: it can stand only on a broad base; its primary prerequisite is a strong and soundly consolidated mediocrity. The handicrafts, commerce, agriculture, science, the greater part of art, in brief, the whole range of occupational activities, are compatible only with mediocre ability and aspiration; such callings would be out of place for exceptional men; the instincts which belong to them stand as much opposed to aristocracy as to anarchism.

One would really like to know whether these "exceptional men" have anything distinguishing them from the mediocre except knowledge and opportunity. What on earth was so "exceptional" about Adolf Hitler that a "high civilization" followed him? Human beings have something against them; that they are easily led and Jesus was the most honest in his estimation of humanity as "sheep."

The fact that a man is publicly useful, that he is a wheel, a function, is evidence of a natural predisposition; it is not society, but the only sort of happiness that the majority are capable of, that makes them intelligent machines.

This too is assumed by "the higher orders". It is regrettably proved true everywhere. If it were not so, there would be more "high culture" among the "lower orders". There is emphatically not! Why offer them filet mignon when they're more than satisfied with hot dogs? Television is the perfect means to insure a separation of castes. The lower orders watch TV. The higher orders read books. The internet stands between the two and to date is the most subversive of forces since the inventions of movable type and gunpowder. If you are reading this, you are already participating in a quiet revolution. If you don't want to know any more than you already know, you might as well go back to watching sitcoms on TV and benumbing your sense with cheap "lite" beer.

To the mediocre, mediocrity is a form of happiness; they have a natural instinct for mastering one thing, for specialization.

There is no "natural instinct" for anything! Nietzsche is uninformed. The instinct remains undefined throughout all his work as if it stands outside of reality and runs on its own. It does not. He can no more understand the "instincts" of a cat than he can of a human being. A specialization is FORCED on each of us who has knowledge and opportunity at our particular station in society, nothing more. There is no "instinct" about it, natural or otherwise. For most of us, if we do not find our niche we cannot live. If our niche disappears, we must adapt or die. Luckily in most advanced societies there are "safety nets." But the reality is just as sure even if it takes longer.

It would be altogether unworthy of a profound intellect to see anything objectionable in mediocrity in itself. It is, in fact, the first prerequisite to the appearance of the exceptional: it is a necessary condition to a high degree of civilization. When the exceptional man handles the mediocre man with more delicate fingers than he applies to himself or to his equals, this is not merely kindness of heart--it is simply his duty. . . .

Duty, schmuty! This is indicative of nothing more than CAUTION and PRUDENCE. The wise man deals with fools more delicately because fools can and sometimes do render a wise man great harm, including physical harm. Nietzsche is again spouting an idealism that may be believed to some extent by the higher orders, but it is more likely that they are merely acting out of their own self preservation, whether out of "natural instinct" to do so, or just the will to survive without serious injury.

Whom do I hate most heartily among the rabbles of today? The rabble of Socialists, the apostles to the Chandala, who undermine the workingman's instincts, his pleasure, his feeling of contentment with his petty existence--who make him envious and teach him revenge. . . .

Emphasis mine. These too I hate every bit as much as Nietzsche ever did, mostly because they have nothing better than the present order to put in its place, and history has always proved this to be the case, and since they are basically incompetent at doing anything useful themselves but stirring up trouble which is no benefit to anyone even those they claim to be helping. I also hate them because they are covering their true intentions which are every bit as selfish and tyrannical as those they would supplant. Also envy and revenge are two of the most poisonous vices among humans. That which is envied may not be worth possessing and revenge accomplishes nothing constructive but usually ends in death for the perpetrator as well as the victim. Of course the revolutionaries themselves rarely get killed, except by other revolutionaries, so the victims of their anarchistic rebellions are drawn from among the Chandala mob they claim to be helping. All social revolutions are tragedies. There is nothing noble in tragedy, despite all claims to the contrary. To the extent that life is bad, dead is still dead, the great unknown for us all, high and mighty as well as poor and squalid.

Wrong never lies in unequal rights; it lies in the assertion of "equal" rights. . . .

Emphasis mine. Never better stated than by George Orwell who said it, "all are equal, but some are more equal than others." This too is assumed by the higher castes no matter what democratic raffia is used to cover it.

What is bad? But I have already answered: all that proceeds from weakness, from envy, from revenge.--The anarchist and the Christian have the same ancestry. . . .

And on this point Nietzsche is more uninformed than most. The anarchist is an exponent of his Chandala rage against the prevailing order as Nietzsche clearly asserts. But the Christian is even more an exponent of hierarchy than Nietzsche is, of a divine hierarchy at the head of which presides a rightful king of this world who is at present merely physically absent for a while only. The true Christian's care for his present station is to do his duties with as much humility, craft and grace as possible until he is relieved of duty. Nietzsche stands outside of Christianity and therefore cannot understand it. His view is materialistic, carnal and vulgar. The beauty he sees is only apparent, not real. The average Moslem is far closer to understanding the Christian viewpoint than Nietzsche and those like him ever are, for at least the Moslem accepts the requirement of submission to God. The "cringe" that every human being feels when they hear the name of Jesus is the acknowledgement that he was, is and will be the rightful king of this world. No one else has ever made such a claim, not Buddha, not Mohammed, not Nietzsche or his followers. And to all of what Nietzsche has said I offer these incredible words.

I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. Ezekiel 34:16

Emphasis mine. The Bible of the Christians is full of stern admonitions that the rich and powerful be aware that their position is a grace awarded them by divine agency not a "privilege" of their own making. To the Christian, the real hierarchy is not of this world. The real highest caste are made of those who are not served but who serve all. All are called, but few will come. The choice is not apparent.

Nevertheless we will in the main be dealing with THIS world in these pieces so that more people can become aware that the string pullers and those behind them are there, what they think of the rest of us and what we may decide to do with this knowledge as it becomes more widespread. Envy and revenge are not options, neither is violence of any kind. These compulsive emotional reactions have been, can, are and will be manipulated by the string pullers. Think of the present situation as quite like the movie The Matrix.

"be seeing you..."

The Polar Bear