The Eternal Recurrence of Power, Blood, and Living Without Shame in the Cycle of War

“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” - George Orwell

“The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it.” - John Hay

Nietzsche's eternal recurrence is a weapon, a mirror, and a soul-testing psychological exercise. Imagine being told that you have to repeat every single humiliation, betrayal, and instance of cowardice or cruelty in your life. The realization of how little we live truly and how frequently we give in to fear, power, and envy is what causes the horror, not the idea of repetition.

The mark of this recurrence can be seen in history itself. Ethnic cleansing recurs in new forms, wars recur, and empires fall into the same mindset and collapse. Like the seasons, the desire for dominance, and the propaganda machinery all reappear. Leaders and countries do not break free from the cycle; instead, they repeat it, frequently with greater brutality on the second or third occasion.

Nietzsche's challenge is brutal for many individuals in power: they are living as slaves, bound to false ideals and the delusion of power, if they are unable to validate the life they have led. However, the recurrence is no longer damnation if they can look at their lives and the blood-soaked cycles of human conflict and still say yes; not because they deny their horror, but because they have lived with responsibility, integrity, and authenticity. It's freedom. Not if they can control others, but whether they can control themselves so thoroughly that even a lifetime of repetition wouldn't embarrass them, is the most difficult test of power.