A question regarding Nietzsche....?

Question

My question:

Nietzsche stated that the weak have over powered the strong with their reactionary morals, crippling the strong, limiting them and cutting off life's richness and possibilities.

And yet I do not understand how the weak, if weak, can over power the strong and establish a society where the dominant ideal or norm is the creation of the weak.

If they are weak how can they over power the strong?

Then the weak must be the strong, and the strong the weak.

And so the weak who are the strong, must create a society where one can live and experience the richness of life. And not limiting ones potentials, but rather creating and expanding them.

While the strong who are the weak, must be the ones crippling and setting limitation on life and society.

I am not sure, I am not that well read in the works of Nietzsche.

But my initial question was:

If they are weak how can they over power the strong?

English is not my native tongue.

Answer 1

This is a difficult question to answer without some kind of context. If you could provide the source of the quote, it would be helpful.

Answer 2

Nietzsche believed that the weak had created a "slave morality" that equated the quest for power and desire to conquer with evil.  Although originally created to comfort those without power (as in sour grapes), the mentality spread and was eventually adopted by the masses (and Nietzsche believes made a cornerstone of democracy, which he also denounced.)

The previous poster was correct in that Nietzsche believed that the most important struggle was that of the individual against the masses.  To answer your question more directly, he believed that most people are weak and exert pressure upon strong individuals to conform and choose not to embrace their will to power.  If you want to read it in plain language, read "Beyond Good and Evil".  If you want to hear it dressed up a bit, read "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".

Answer 3

You are doing very well with your English.  You don't need to tell people English is not your first language.

Nietzsche was talking about the collective weak in society over powering the strong individual, which is easy to imagine.  If you were a single person with an idea and everyone else opposed that idea, you could lose your job and not be able to support yourself by the ostracism of the weak in society who dominate the society.  You would become an outcast and be powerless.

In such a society the strong are reduced to the common weakness of the others by the weak's inability to be stronger.  For example, even though many American politicians are secretly atheists, all belong to churches to get elected and they never bring up a truthful account of what they really believe or not.