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Miguel Castro

ENG 3073

Dr. Christian Beck

22 September 2011

Transitional Nihilism and “Anarchy in the UK”

1.

The English punk scene established the course that much of the genre was to follow in

subsequent years. One English Band, the Sex Pistols, was perhaps the most emblematic

representative of the scene. In particular, their song “Anarchy in the UK” encapsulates many of

the associations that would attach themselves to punk—rebellion, surliness, and a blasphemous

rejection of contemporary Western culture. This song is interesting in so far as it echoes what

Friedrich Nietzsche called “transitional nihilism” in the unfinished opus The Will to Power.

In this paper I propose to demonstrate this relationship, by referring to Nietzsche's

writing and the ideas expressed in the song, respectively.

2. The Will to Power and Historiography

Although he criticized German philosophy for its emphasis on history and overarching

metaphysical narratives, Friedrich Nietzsche attempted something of the kind in The Will to

Power. Often mistaken for a systematic expression of his ideas, especially during the Nazi era,

The Will to Power is in face a philosophical mash-note that, at least in part, attempts to explain

history and the decline of civilizations as a phenomena relating to weakened dogmas and

epistemological error. In particular, Nietzsche identifies Western civilization as existing in a state

of “transitional nihilism,” or an interval signaling the complete overthrow by “degenerative”

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forces. In brief, Nietzsche define this stage as the following:

What has happened, at bottom? The feeling of valuelessness was reached with the

realization that the overall character of existence many not be interpreted by means of the

concept of “aim,” the concept of unity, or the concept of “truth.” Existence has no goal

or end; any comprehensive unity in the plurality of events is lacking: the character of

existence is not “true,” is false. One simply lacks any reasons for convincing oneself that

there is a true world. Briefly: the categories “aim,” “unity,” “being” which we used to

project some value into the world—we pull out again; so the world looks valueless. (13)

These degenerative forces are none other than false ideals and dogma. Their failure as

empowering ideals relates to the false confidence they inspire as teleologies. For a long time, as

Nietzsche goes on to explain, man assumed that he lived in the shadow of a benign creator who

protected him and intervened on his behalf against the forces of nature (26). When man began to

suspect that he could not really depend on the endorsement of said creator (especially during the

advent of modernism) he was paralyzed by the absence of providence, and assumed that life was

therefore meaningless. Although Nietzsche held that all life was inherently meaningless, he still

believed that this simple fact was no excuse for apathy; on the contrary, it gave man the unique

opportunity to create his own values and assign whatever meaning he wanted to life. Of course,

few were as discerning as this and consequently surrendered to mild, but nonetheless destructive,

forms of apathy which ensured the eventual decline of civilization, especially as they would

allow the baser elements of society to rise to the top. As Nietzsche writes,

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The lower species (“herd,” “mass,” “society) unlearns modesty and blows up its need into

cosmic and metaphysical values. In this way the whole of existence is vulgarized: in so

far as the mass is dominant it bullies the exceptions, so they lose their faith in themselves

and become nihilists. (19)

3. Degenerative Anarchy in the UK

To a certain extent, these same thoughts are echoed—or mirrored, rather—in “Anarchy in

the UK.” The song, as a whole, expresses discontent with contemporary western society, in such

a way as to give a general impression of hopelessness. This is exemplified by the second stanza:

I am an Antichrist

I am an anarchist

Don't know what I want

But I know how to get it

I wanna destroy passerby

The last line, “I wanna destroy passerby” is interesting in and of itself. Anarchism is a serious

political ideology which, contrary to common perception, does not promote widespread violence

and libertinage; instead, to put it briefly, anarchists promote mutual responsibility without the

presence of a governing body. The sheer thrills of killing for its own sake is much closer—

symptomatic, rather—of psychopathy and, in a different sense, nihilism, since life is not given

any inherit value, making any form of responsibility redundant.

However, what was only implied in the second stanza becomes explicit further on,

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particularly in the fourth stanza. After advocating anarchy, the lyrics go on to provide an unusual

justification for the necessity of anarchy which strongly echoes the distrust fostered by

teleologies:

Anarchy for the UK

It's coming sometime and maybe

I give a wrong time stop at traffic line

Your future dream is a sharpie's scheme

The third and fourth lines of the stanza here are of interest. The third implies that anarchy is

imminent and may occur at any time of day because “your future dream is a sharpie’s scheme.”

This line calls into question the reality of living in Western culture, and implies that all

institutions and mediums of behavior are a conspiracy. “By whom?” the song asks. No one

knows, but it needs to be dismantled. The reasoning of this stanza recalls the history of political

institutions in Western society, with a particular emphasis on the misadventures of the twentieth

century: Nazism, Bolshevism, the atomic bomb, and systematized ethnic cleansing. The distrust

borne from these historical events reflects the misguided confidence people have placed in

governments, as teleogies. Traditionally, at least in western societies, and especially under kings,

it was held that the governments were an extension of God and therefore infallible. However, if

so, we have to ask, why have governments been responsible for so much suffering? The answer:

because they are man-made, and the constituents of those societies are the only ones to blame for

failing to think without teleologies.

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4.

“Anarchy in the U.K.” survives as a glimpse into the burgeoning punk aesthetic, and also

illustrates what Nietzsche called “transitional nihilism” in The Will to Power. Borne from

decades of political resentment and failure to think beyond teleologies, the song represents a

violent—and inane, in my opinion—picture of how misguided beliefs can endanger entire

societies. It serves as an object lesson that everything should be questioned, and that our

nostalgia should never get the better of us.

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Works Cited

Lydon, John, Sid Vicious, Paul Cook, and Steve Jones. "Anarchy in the UK." Sex Pistols. 1976.

P.L. Lyrics. Web. <www.plyrics.com>.

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, Walter Arnold Kaufmann, and R. J. Hollingdale. The Will to

Power. New York: Vintage, 1968. Print.