Extropianism in the media

Lyle Burkhead (LYBRHED@delphi.com)
Tue, 06 Aug 1996 01:27:28 -0500 (EST)


Andray Dunnan writes,

> "What Blonde Beast, its hour come round at last,
> Slouches towards Cyberspace to be born?"

Nietzsche scholars, correct me if I'm wrong; but I think Nietzsche was
referring to the Russians, not the Germans, when he coined the
expression "Blonde Beast." Does anyone recall the original context for
this?

Anyway I don't think the Blonde Beast meme (as it has developed
since Nietzsche's time) is viable. It doesn't create a stable community
around itself.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Europeans conquered the world, not
because they were Blonde Beasts, but because they were *not* beasts.
They were civilized men. They were, in fact, Christians. In the
20th century, we have lost the thread, and the civilization of Europe is
only a memory; and we have, at the same time, lost our strength.
Some people think we can get our strength back by being Blonde
Beasts. I doubt it. That's exactly the wrong way to go.

Andray also writes,

> Several people of my acquaintance seem bothered by the
> neo-Nietzschean subtext in a lot of Extropian rhetoric,

What rhetoric are you referring to? I don't recall seeing any such
rhetoric on the list. I'm the only one here (as far as I can tell) who is
seriously unhappy with the PC world we live in. I have never been a
spokesman for Extropianism, and in any case I'm not going to be here
much longer.

By the way, "Andray" is pig-Latin for "Rand," isn't it?

Lyle