The King of Little England

 

 "In On the Genealogy of Morality Friedrich Nietzsche considers the nature of revenge. People with power, he suggests, can take a literal revenge on their enemies: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. People with little or no power, Nietzsche writes, when “denied the proper response of action, compensate for it only with imaginary revenge.” They have to create “a truly grand politics of revenge, a far-sighted, subterranean revenge.” This is a useful way of thinking about Brexit—and indeed its American cousin, Trumpism. Those who perceive themselves to be outsiders—whether they are or not—found in 2016 a vehicle for their resentment, a way to kick out at the so-called elites. But their triumph could not produce much by way of concrete action to change their lives. So it has turned into the grand politics of imaginary revenge.

Nietzsche’s point is that fictional vengeance is more consequential and long-lasting than the real kind. An actual reprisal can be a one-off moment. It is possible for it to be over and done with. But imaginary revenge can never be satisfied and is therefore boundless. Because it is not fulfilled, it continues to generate trouble."

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 The King of Little England | by Fintan O’Toole | The New York Review of Books: