Nietzsche's criticism of Christianity parallels a possible criticism of Capitalism

Initially responding to an article on how work can maintain health in later life.

Long life expert Dan Buettner's concludes 

"Keep busy, stay active, and keep working - your health and longevity depend on it!" 

But I wonder if this is is just cultural because if work is so amazing why do people take a salary? Surely work is its own reward? It is all a lie. 

I've even seen people unhappy when they lose their job... that is a bit like a horse being unhappy when it is released from the yoke, or a Jew being unhappy when they are liberated from Auschwitz.

There are massive cultural lies here about work, created I suspect by Capitalists to keep people enslaved all their lives in the pursuit of profit. And don't those lies then play into studies like this?

Nietzsche criticised the Jews and Christianity for their rejection of the values of ruler and their promotion of slave values and subservience.

But he was not radical enough to say the same for the worker class in Capitalism who are told to enjoy even more pervasive and totalistic  subservience than anything the church promoted.

ChatGPT confirms that he never extended it to Capitalism but agrees "his broader philosophy provides a foundation for critiquing the modern work culture and capitalist values."

There is a direct current flowing from the values of Judaism to the values of Christianity to values of Capitalism. Capitalism could only really have happened in the West! But die to the evangelical nature of Capitalism (aldo inherited from Christianity) it has been spread around the globe.

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Chat with ChatGPT:

Nietzsche criticises Christianity for turning morality on its head and making the values of the ruling class bad and the values of the slaves good. Did he ever extend this to Capitalism and the culture of work in the West?

ChatGPT said:

Yes, while Nietzsche did not explicitly critique capitalism in the same systematic way he critiqued Christianity, his broader philosophy provides a foundation for critiquing the modern work culture and capitalist values.

1. Master-Slave Morality & Capitalism

Nietzsche’s famous distinction between master morality and slave morality offers a way to interpret capitalism. He saw slave morality—rooted in Christianity—as a system that glorifies humility, obedience, and suffering. Capitalist work culture, especially in its Protestant-inflected form, often promotes similar values:

• The idea that hard work, self-denial, and toil are inherently virtuous (the work ethic).
• The moralization of suffering in labor, where struggling workers are seen as deserving their condition while the rich are viewed as blessed by their own discipline.

Nietzsche might have seen this as an extension of Christianity’s inversion of values, where power and excellence (master morality) are condemned, while weakness and servitude (slave morality) are glorified.

2. The Will to Power vs. The Will to Profit

Nietzsche’s Will to Power emphasizes human striving for self-overcoming and creativity. Capitalism, by contrast, often prioritizes economic efficiency, conformity, and profit maximization. Nietzsche might argue that capitalism reduces human potential by valuing people primarily as workers rather than as creators or self-overcomers.

The capitalist obsession with work for its own sake (rather than as a means of personal growth) could be seen as another form of ressentiment—a resentment-driven ideology that keeps people trapped in cycles of labor rather than encouraging them to pursue greatness.

3. Herd Mentality & Consumer Culture

Nietzsche was deeply critical of the herd mentality, the tendency of people to conform to mass values rather than carve out their own path. Modern capitalist culture fosters this conformity through mass production, advertising, and a focus on status-driven consumption. Instead of cultivating independent, self-overcoming individuals (Übermensch), capitalism often reduces people to consumers chasing fleeting pleasures.

4. The Last Man & Late-Stage Capitalism

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche describes the Last Man—a passive, comfort-seeking individual who avoids struggle and greatness in favor of safety and convenience. This could describe much of modern work culture, where many prioritize stability over creative risk-taking. Capitalism often promotes this mindset by encouraging people to accept routine, uninspiring labor in exchange for material security.

Did Nietzsche Offer a Solution?

Nietzsche never provided an economic blueprint, but he did advocate for individuals to break free from inherited moral and social values to create their own. If applied to capitalism, this would mean rejecting the glorification of work for its own sake and instead pursuing a life of artistic, intellectual, and existential self-overcoming.

Would Nietzsche have been anti-capitalist? Not necessarily—he wasn’t a socialist or a critic of markets per se. But he would have likely been critical of the way capitalism encourages herd values and inhibits human flourishing.

What do you think—do you see Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity as applicable to capitalism, or do you think he would have seen capitalism as a more neutral force?