Seats on a Bus: A Nietzschean Reflection
We went onto the bus today, and you were ahead of me. You found a seat, and was eyeing me to sit next to you. I was just two steps away when a man comes and asked you if he can sit next to you. A reluctant "yes" came out of your mouth, and he sat down. I ended up sitting just a bit away from you.
Why did you say "yes" to the man if you do not want him to sit next to you? Is it out of politeness? Don't you see that by saying "yes" you submit to him in a power struggle; you become the slave and he the master? But you are no weak one! You do not need to become the slave! Yet you answer: it is only polite to let someone sit on an empty seat; it is not as if I own the seat; I have no right over the seat. My friend! What is a "right"? Who said there's such a thing as "right"? That's slave morality! You are stronger than that!
Did you notice how he did not even expect you to say no? After he did his polite thing he did not even bother listening to you reply. He just went ahead and sat down. What kind of world do we live in? Are we all governed by such lame herd morality, where every one is polite to each other, and is mere dust? You are stronger than that!
Why did you not say "no"? If he can win a seat merely without a struggle, then he is not worthy of his seat. He has reduced you into a low being, and he himself depended on your lowness for him to rise above you. You are stronger than that!
Politeness is a mere mask for the herd's weakness. The strong does not need to be polite. So say no! and see how your foe takes it. If he turns away, then he is mere slave, mere man, a herd among many, unworthly of human dignity. You are stronger than that!
But if he should assert himself onto the seat anyway, then here is a worthy foe! He is no nerd from the herd; rather he overcomes slave morality - he is the Overman who is as strong in you are, and as proud as you are. You have raise yourself to a new level, and have raised him to a new level too - beyond mere politeness, beyond mere good and evil. Let him sit next to you, shoulder to shoulder - this is the enemy that you respect; this is the enemy that you love!
Thus spoke Zarathustra.
Why did you say "yes" to the man if you do not want him to sit next to you? Is it out of politeness? Don't you see that by saying "yes" you submit to him in a power struggle; you become the slave and he the master? But you are no weak one! You do not need to become the slave! Yet you answer: it is only polite to let someone sit on an empty seat; it is not as if I own the seat; I have no right over the seat. My friend! What is a "right"? Who said there's such a thing as "right"? That's slave morality! You are stronger than that!
Did you notice how he did not even expect you to say no? After he did his polite thing he did not even bother listening to you reply. He just went ahead and sat down. What kind of world do we live in? Are we all governed by such lame herd morality, where every one is polite to each other, and is mere dust? You are stronger than that!
Why did you not say "no"? If he can win a seat merely without a struggle, then he is not worthy of his seat. He has reduced you into a low being, and he himself depended on your lowness for him to rise above you. You are stronger than that!
Politeness is a mere mask for the herd's weakness. The strong does not need to be polite. So say no! and see how your foe takes it. If he turns away, then he is mere slave, mere man, a herd among many, unworthly of human dignity. You are stronger than that!
But if he should assert himself onto the seat anyway, then here is a worthy foe! He is no nerd from the herd; rather he overcomes slave morality - he is the Overman who is as strong in you are, and as proud as you are. You have raise yourself to a new level, and have raised him to a new level too - beyond mere politeness, beyond mere good and evil. Let him sit next to you, shoulder to shoulder - this is the enemy that you respect; this is the enemy that you love!
Thus spoke Zarathustra.
posted by Tristan at 4:55 p.m.
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