Paul Mason is a treasure-no doubt about it. He's a Northener-that always helps! But he is widely read, deeply thoughtful, of an original cast of mind, and dedicated to humanity. He is also a great journalistic writer with all the advantages and the flaws of such-meaning, a too ready acceptance of his sources which he plunders with little scepticism or a willingness to subject to hard academic analysis and most disturbingly for me, he creates a most awful blaming analysis of Nietzsche for individualised selfishness and nihilism that, as a keen reader of this remarkable philosopher, I find unpalatably shallow and indicative therefore of a shallow analysis of the work. True-a reading of the awful 'Triumph of the Will' cobbled together by his psychopathic Nazi-sympathising, mate of Hitler- Sister, Elisabet, would lead one to deduce that Nietzche proposed a fascistic analysis of the Superman supporting a Nazi totalitarianism, but in fact, nothing could be further from the truth of his philosophical system which supported genuine love and engagement with humanity. Nietzsche was at pains to constantly point out that political control leads us to barbarism and so we must take individual responsibility for our life's MEANING. I offer no defence of his tragic misogyny other than to say it is rooted in his personal flawed experience of relationships and his natural 'turn' to a 'tragedic' interpretation of his relationships no doubt encouraged by his Wagnerian associations with Richard and Cosima which also ended in tragedy but have a beauty derived from the meeting of great but flawed minds.
Whatever, Paul Mason has written a book full of fire and well worth reading as an explanation offering some understanding of: potentially viable solutions to, our current pre-apocalyptic dilemmas. I would also urge a radical defence of the non-human being!
