tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166187452107096120.post5535724376255289635..comments2023-10-17T10:46:17.693-04:00Comments on BrainMortgage: Nietzsche meets Gandhi: Revenge is for the WeakJeffrey Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09056537193865305806noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166187452107096120.post-67088135286579952972008-08-20T22:02:00.000-04:002008-08-20T22:02:00.000-04:00I've recently become interested in a comparison be...I've recently become interested in a comparison between Nietzsche and Gandhi. I think it would be superficial to write this kinship off, saying Gandhi represents the ascetic ideal. Rather, they both explore a love of the earth without resentment and revenge. Is Ubermench a good translation of the word Mahatma? Are Zarathustra's tensions with his own disciples similar to Gandhi's? While Nietzsche himself led a fairly uneventful life outside of his poetic songs of rancor-less love, Gandhi, as a Karma Yogi, put this project into action, and helped bring down the most powerful empire on earth.<BR/><BR/>One thing concerns me. When people make these recognitions about the about the slippery sloping spiral that is war-retribution, why do they often say "I'm not a pacifist, but ..." I think this unfortunate fear of "Pacifism as the ideology of Peace" is due to a misconception about what pacifism is. Perhaps you believe pacifism is passive, that pacifists would not resist the injustice of an attack. Gandhi corrects his followers for such a misunderstanding: he recommended active, non-violent resistance. Two of the defining characteristics of civil disobedience is that you must do it publicly and you must be willing to take the punishment, the goal of which is to awaken the conscience of your oppressor, their supporters and the wider world. This is not weakness, nor abandoning the defense of your loved ones. Pacifism IS the ACTIVE rejection of perpetual retribution. As such, pacifism is fighting the good fight.<BR/><BR/>So why aren't you a pacifist?Steven Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16482849277989492508noreply@blogger.com