Neither one side nor the other in these pairs of extremes is correctly designated by itself as “Nietzschean” or as the core of Nietzsche’s thought. This is not to say that in the contest of extremes that forms Nietzsche’s thought one side does not gain the upper hand. It is, however, to insist upon the centrality of the contest that holds these rival and extreme opinions together and the fundamental assumptions about human beings and the cosmos that generate it.
Two things are necessary, therefore to social growth: a living sense of community and ‘degenerate’ natures which help it to evolve. And they are of equal value: “Only when there is securely founded and guaranteed long duration is a steady evolution and ennobling inoculation at all possible.” And what guarantees such steady evolution is that the majority of souls remain fettered spirits, since “all states and orderings within society — classes, marriage, education, law — derive their force and endurance solely from the faith the fettered spirits have in them.” So what Nietzsche will later call “the herd” is a vital necessity. The fettered spirit must always remain the rule, the free spirit the exception.