Reply #13: Many people who have read Nietzsche may appear to be [View All]

[Colorado Blue]

interested in the "master race". That's an error in interpretation, I think, one famously said to have been made by Hitler himself. It is also said that he took Wagner's ravings seriously, so what can I tell you.

Nietzsche's philosophy is not nearly so blatant, nor is it meant to be taken literally. It is PHILOSOPHY, ideas, meant to provoke thought and discussion.

Also, there is no law that says Jewish people have to be liberals. Nor is the fact that some Jewish people have chosen a more conservative political outlook, a sinister thing. Nor is the fact that a few Jews have sought political power, in whatever party.

Why SHOULDN'T they? Everybody else in America has sought political power; is there something worrisome about Jews wanting to serve their government?

People are free, as far as I know, to choose their political party and affiliation in the US of A.

I am concerned that Jewishness is an issue, among critics of the neocon philosophy. That, among other things, is what makes me uneasy about the article.

That the author has academic creds, I will grant you. Obviously, she is well known.

However, I've also read her reviews of Bellow and they make me nervous.

Friedman and Bellow are highly regarded intellectuals, gifted people. Strauss has something to offer as well.

In America, we are free to read their work and discuss their ideas. We do not have to espouse them, nor should we fear them.

We DO need to fear the confluence of corporate and religious and political power, such as we are now seeing in the Republican Party. That is why we need to be very creative, to present the liberal idea. We are in danger of being locked out of the discourse because we lack the thinktanks, the media outlets, and frankly the ideas.

Strauss actually has some nuts and bolts ideas about how to do that, how to get things done. This is "vizier craft", if you will. It is not evil, it is simply a fact. Powerful people have worked behind crowns since there WERE crowns.

Think of Merlin.