Socialism, Like Other Forms of Ressentiment, Is a Manifestation of the Will to Power of the “Least and Dumbest” Members of Society

Nietzsche’s critique of socialism can be divided into two major lines of argument. The first line is grounded in Nietzsche’s identification of socialism as a Rousseauian perfectionist political theory. For Nietzsche, Rousseau and socialist thought represent forms of idealism that ought to be met with “suspicion and malice” because they promise what they cannot deliver and even if they could, their ideals are undesirable (WP [Will to Power] 80). The primary source of their error lies in a flawed theory of human nature and an unjustified hope in the transformative power of institutions.

The second line of critique that Nietzsche offers is grounded in his identification of socialism as a political theory born of resentment and a desire for revenge. In Nietzsche’s view, socialism is “an attack of sickness” brought about by “underprivileged” human beings who blame “society” for their “lack of power and self-confidence” (WP 125 and 373). In other words, socialism, like other forms of ressentiment, is a manifestation of the will to power of the “least and dumbest” members of society (WP 125).

--Nicholas Buccola, “'The Tyranny of the Least and the Dumbest': Nietzsche's Critique of Socialism,” Quarterly Journal of Ideology 31, no. 3-4 (2009): 15.