Übermensch: Nietzschean Role Playing in the Era of Trump

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Very often I find that the cycles of history bring clarity when they come around again. In reading the description the politics of ressentiment in Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals what he was describing seemed essentially illusive. I have to say, however, that the Trump years and especially now with the impeachment hearings, what Nietzsche was talking about has come into sharper focus for me. And this quite apart from questions of whether he's guilty of the things he's being charged with, whether he's a good or bad guy, etc. However you view all that (and remember I didn't vote for the guy), it does very much appear that his political opponents have sort of cast him in the typical role of the Übermensch whose unbounded freedom they feel intimidated by and therefore at any cost must gang up on in Nietzschean sense and take down.

In a sense this is nothing new since the person opposed by political opponents is very seldom the person who actually exists. He or she is rather increasingly a demonized cartoon invented for the purposes of inspiring hatred and rage which can then be harnessed and focused on the real person in order that people might not vote for them. But with the advent of Trump thing have been taken to a whole new level.

To be sure I have understood for a long time that stirring a sense of resentment can be exploited as a way of moving people in a particular direction. I came to me with particular force when I was sitting with a guy from Yemen many years ago whose English wasn't very good, but who had to read, on the one hand the Communist Manifesto, a foundational politics of resentment text, and John Paul II's On Human Work which is in contrast a breath of fresh air and sanity. Trying to help a non-Westerner comprehend these texts really helped me to see the difference between their approaches.

Since then I have clearly understood that no matter how noble the causes of those who try to exploit resentment as a way of achieving their political ends may be, or how much you may personally care about the causes, it is never wise under any circumstances to make common cause with such people. But even so I never really understood how crucial Nietzsche's insight on this point really was until now (not to say of course that I agree with his application of the insight).

Trump of course will be gone presently. At most after four more years. The real question will then be whether his opponents will be able to give up the role playing that has become normative during his Presidency and take part in the usual give and take of democratic politics or whether they will have become inescapably addicted to simply casting any and all political opponents no matter how modest or unassuming in the role of dangerous Übermenschen needing to be dislodged by any means and at any cost. One must hoope for the best and brace for the worst.  The real testing point in the matter, I suppose, will be to see how quickly after Trump departs from office one of those who fought him on this model throughout his presidency will assert concerning  his  potentialsuccessor "He's/She's worse than Trump."

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