The 21st century as a tribute to Nietzsche

Ideologies of Marxist or anarchist tradition, that is, what we used to call “the left”, tend to consider the legal frameworks of the bourgeois state and its diplomatic tentacles as more or less oppressive instruments. Friedrich Nietzsche, on the other hand, asserted something very different: the law, according to him, is nothing more than an invention of the weak to subjugate the strong.

In view of how the 21st century is unfolding, it is not unreasonable to deduce that Nietzsche had a point.

In matters of international relations, the situation is clear. In the words of Noam Chomsky, this area has always shown “a remarkable similarity to the Mafia”: powerful countries tend to demand tribute from the weak as the price for security. This is the old mafia protection racket: pay, and we will protect you from others and, obviously, from ourselves.

When globalization began to unfold, accompanied by a very dense network of regulations, multilateral agreements at the World Trade Organization, and contracts appealable before certain courts, one might think that capitalism (with its inherent mechanisms of exploitation) was reaching its supreme stage.

But it seems not. Since the hitherto superpower, the United States, surrendered to Donald Trump's foolishness, strength and capitalism (which today vampirizes state resources) have regained their former status as supreme laws.

It is not a new phenomenon, but an unbridled exacerbation. The United States has never agreed to submit to the courts of The Hague, most specifically to the International Criminal Court, created in 1998 to try individuals or countries accused of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity. Neither has Israel, of course. Nor Russia.

The three countries signed the creation of the Court, but did not ratify it. In the case of the United States and, above all, Israel, with the added cynicism of proclaiming that both diplomacy and the armies always adhered to the strictest moral exemplary conduct. Russia did not bother to justify itself. In 2023, the Court issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. Without any consequence.

Russia continues the war against Ukraine. Israel commits the worst atrocities in Gaza. And the United States has embarked on an undeclared war against Iran without us knowing what the objective is: every day there is a different one. In addition to operations like the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and the eternal blockade of Cuba. The regimes of Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba are reprehensible, but, as has become clear in Venezuela, Donald Trump has no intention of releasing anyone.

Arbitrary tariffs, threats to invade Greenland (an allied country), and absurd coercion of other NATO partners are a demonstration that the superpower feels more comfortable without respecting the most basic rules.

A profoundly Nietzschean turn is also perceived in the internal politics of countries that have adhered to the extreme right, camouflaged under the pseudonym of anarcho-capitalism. The accelerated suppression of social protection mechanisms (from their beginning –taxes– to their conclusion –health and pensions–) and the contempt for the most basic human rights (the actions in the United States of the ICE, or Immigration and Customs Service, are irrefutable proof) leave the field open to any whim of the powerful.

See the United States, but also Argentina, or Guatemala: so-called anarcho-capitalism seems like a Nietzschean dream. Nietzsche did not believe in democracy, he believed in "the overman" and the will to power, he criticized Christianity and "slave morality", but he conceived of politics as a philosophical phenomenon. He could hardly imagine that, 40 years after his death, Adolf Hitler would give his complete works to Benito Mussolini, calling them "treasure".

One way or another, present reality demonstrates the lucidity of Friedrich Nietzsche: when laws, however unjust, are not heeded, the force of arms and money causes the most terrible disasters.