Once upon a time there lived a disciple of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He had devoured the philosophical pantheon, could speak thirteen languages fluently and could even compose classical music in the style of Gustav Mahler. He was very superior in every way. He was noble, austere and aristocratic.
It might help the reader to understand that Gudron (the disciple in question) had a profound loathing for foul-mouthed yobs and yobettes. He had a particular contempt for all lottery winners and in particular the man who once won £9.2 million and blew it all on cocaine, beer, mansions and trendy 'bling' jewellery. These people were weak and inferior. They were driven by their bodily twitches and cravings. They were sheep and Gudron chuckled as he remembered his master's witty contention that these wretched beings should be referred to as the 'botched and the bungled'.
The disciple, in sharp contrast, was self-controlled and enjoyed practising severity and harshness on himself.
It had been a moment of philosophical intoxication when Gudron had first discovered the master's literary outpourings. His aunty Muriel had bought him a second-hand copy of Beyond Good and Evil by mistake.
That was just the beginning of a delightful philosophical love affair that would consume his life. Finally he had encountered a philosopher who was willing to speak the truth.
One fine summer's day Gudron had spent a happy morning studying the master's excellent tome Twilight of the Idols. The disciple was struck by his guru's deep respect for the Hindu caste system and its exclusion of the outcastes from normal society.
Gudron was aware that 150 million Indians are believed to be sub-human and decidedly inferior. The Hindu religion teaches its devotees that these 'untouchables' are by nature inferior to others and so a just society must condemn such unpromising material to a life of bonded labour and slavery. These cursed ones must clean mucky toilets, bury rotting corpses and work in humble, degrading professions. For that is their karma.
And it was in that moment that Gudron mystically sensed the voice of the master beckoning him to journey to that vast and distant land. Suddenly it all became crystal clear to the 'keen as mustard' disciple. He must leave his comfortable house in Muswell Hill and take up residence on the Indian sub-continent. There was missionary work to be done and Gudron sensed the urgency of the hour.
Fortunately the disciple was wealthy. He had inherited £2 million pounds from his uncle Bertie who had acquired a substantial fortune selling golf balls to the Japanese and it was easy for Gudron to purchase a spacious house in the region of Varanasi by the banks of the river Ganges.
Gudron had never enjoyed the delicate pleasures of house-work. He detested cooking, cleaning and ironing. He loathed dusting, washing clothes and shopping. He was an important and busy disciple and this kind of inferior, physical activity should be left to others.
It became obvious to Gudron that some inferior beings should be brought into the household and forced to endure the miseries of domestic drudgery. Fortunately Gudron had met a member of the local mafia who was more than willing to help. Gudron had firmly grasped the master's contention that superior beings are entitled to 'create their own values'.
This boils down to the thesis that masters can decide what is right and what is wrong. In the context of a godless universe driven forward by the brutal meanderings of natural selection, highly evolved beings are answerable only to themselves.
In short masters may murder innocent children with impunity. The local mafia mobster had never heard of Nietzsche but was sympathetic to the central philosophical idea. He listened patiently to Gudron's domestic agonies and suggested prompt action.
In the morning two young untouchable boys arrived at the Gudron residence. They were bonded slaves and now belonged to the disciple. He had shelled out £100 and the boys were now his very own. Their mother had been forced to sell them because she owed several hundred pounds to a local loanshark who had recently decided to join the growing Nietzsche Appreciation Society.
After carefully chaining the two young boys to their wooden beds, Gudron retired to his bedroom.
Suddenly he had a crisis of conscience and recalled some of the words of his Sunday school teacher.
Was this right from an ethical perspective?
Wasn't he behaving in a cruel and immoral manner?
A few moments study of the master soothed his fevered brow. He read the following purple passage from Beyond Good and Evil and settled down for the night:
The essential thing in a good and healthy aristocracy
is, however, that it does not feel itself to be a function
of the monarchy or of the commonwealth but as their
meaning and supreme justification - that it therefore
accepts with a good conscience the sacrifice of
innumerable men who for its sake have to be suppressed
and reduced to imperfect men, to slaves and instruments.
Now Gudron could sleep peacefully.
What a joy.
No more unpleasant house-work to do.
The next day he would have the opportunity to tell more people about the inspiring work of the German genius.
