 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
I will conclude this chapter by summarizing previous arguments against what may be called the Nietzschean view, namely, that only a section of mankind are to be considered as ends, while the rest are merely means. In the first place, as soon as the section is defined, the theory will become inacceptable to all who do not belong to it; it cannot be expected, for instance, that men who are not white should admit that the world exists for the exclusive benefit of white men. So long as white men retain supremacy, men of other colours will preach the Rights of Man, and say that all men are equal. But if men of some other colour have some prospect of success, as the Japanese believed themselves to have after Pearl Harbour, they will become converts to the Nietzschean philosophy, merely substituting “yellow” for “white” -- a change of no logical importance.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, (1954), chapter 8：Ethical Controversy
More info.:https://russell-j.com/cool/47T-0814.htm
* a brief comment, Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
In other words, Japan is following the US because government officials believe that it is in Japan's national interest to be subservient to and receive favours from the US, which is a superpower. ”Japan as number one" has ended up being an illusion, but if Japan had really become the world's largest economy, it would have adopted the same attitude towards the outside world as the US does today.