The Danger of Dangers
Herd Morality
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just know for sure who your enemies are, understand their strategies and how they plan to steal from you, enslave you, and kill you? And wouldn’t it be great to be able to identify them easily, so you can quickly avoid these dangerous people?
But there are so many potential enemies, and they can be clever and sneaky, and they always hide their true nature, right? They could be anywhere. Remember, just because you are paranoid, doesn’t mean they are not out to get you!
But what if our enemies actually gave us very clear signs of their intentions? What if we could almost instantly tell whether they value individual liberty and personal freedom above all, or whether they value security, safety, comfort, and personal happiness most of all?
Perhaps it is easier than you think. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche based much of his work on identifying the core morality of most of humanity, and why this “herd” morality is extremely dangerous to the individual. Herd morality means that most people will steal, enslave, and kill you, and believe it is the morally right thing to do, in order to protect humanity. See, you are the danger, and must be stopped by any means necessary.
Nietzsche divided the Herd into two main groups: the Last Man, which are those people that have no great goal or purpose, live lives of mediocrity, and prefer to seek pleasure and happiness above all - and the Slaves, who not only willingly give up their freedom in return for the security of the herd, but resent those that have the ability to live outside the herd, and desire their destruction.
Nietzsche believed that herd morality was the reason for the decline of Western civilization, and threatened the future of all humanity. At the very least, the herd mocks and ridicules the individualists; at the worst, they try to kill them. Nietzsche encouraged us to not be men and women that value security, comfort, and happiness, but to be those that seek great purposes for our lives that will give our lives real meaning. Only then will we be truly happy.
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