The Last Man Has OnlyFans (and Nietzsche Predicted It)
Imagine showing a 19th-century philosopher OnlyFans, crypto gambling, infinite scroll. What would they say?
Nietzsche wouldn't laugh. He'd say: "I told you so."
140 years ago, he described exactly this as "the last man" - a generation that lost traditional values but instead of creating new ones, drowns in comfort and instant gratification. And the worst part? We have a great explanation for it.
Because this society doesn't just produce OnlyFans. It also produces reasons why OnlyFans is fine.
What the Last Man Looks Like in 2025
Can't buy a house → sell feet pics. No pension → try crypto. Work leads nowhere → lottery thinking.
That's not cynicism. That's the reality of millions of young people.
But then something interesting happens. Society doesn't say "problem." It says "rational response to a broken system." And in one sentence, you have the entire contemporary discourse.
We pay for parasocial relationships instead of building real ones - and it doesn't matter whether you're the one selling intimacy or the one buying it instead of building real relationships. Both are symptoms of the same thing. We gamify everything - likes as confirmation of existence. Dopamine on demand, meaning nowhere. And when someone asks "isn't that a bit decadent?", they get a lecture about bodily autonomy and economic justice.
"Sex work is work" - not as freedom, but as resignation. "It's not their fault" - shifting responsibility outward. "The system is broken" - truth used as an excuse.
We're not the first generation to have it hard. We're the first generation that monetizes our hell and calls it self-actualization.
What He Meant by "The Last Man"
Nietzsche wasn't an academic philosopher. He was a diagnostician. And his diagnosis of the present is more accurate than anything you'll find in sociology.
Death of God
It's not about religion. It's about the end of absolute values.
Work = meaning of life? Dead. Lifelong employment doesn't exist and a mortgage is sci-fi. Family = end goal? Unattainable. Average age of first child shifts by a year every three years. Economically, it doesn't make sense. Community = foundation of society? Doesn't exist. We have followers, not friends.
Only the market and personal branding remain. And when you don't have a brand, you have OnlyFans.
Two Types of Response
When God dies - meaning when you lose all traditional values - you can respond in two ways.
Passive nihilism (most people today): "Nothing has meaning, so why try." Looking for someone to blame - the system! Capitalism! Instant gratification as a substitute for meaning. OnlyFans, gambling, scrolling - it's all the same. Different paths to the same thing: escape from the absence of direction.
Active nihilism (what Nietzsche wanted): "Old values are dead - create new ones." Destruction as a creative act. Responsibility for your own direction. Amor fati - love your fate, don't excuse it.
The difference? One type of nihilism says "it's not my fault." The other says "it's my responsibility."
The Test of Eternal Return
Nietzsche had a thought experiment. If your life had to repeat eternally - exactly as it is - would you want that?
Apply it to the present. Do you want to scroll eternally? Post on OF? Live for likes? Wait for a miracle on some shitcoin?
Most people: "No, but what am I supposed to do?"
And that's precisely the problem.
Because Nietzsche didn't write a guide for everyone. He wrote a manifesto for those who want to overcome. For those who refuse to say "I can't do anything."
When Even AI Defends OnlyFans
Interesting experiment: Ask AI about OnlyFans and the economic crisis.
You'll get: "It's a rational response to structural inequalities. Bodily autonomy. Economic necessity. It's not their fault."
I tested it. I gave this article to AI in anonymous mode. First response? "Depends what you mean by truth" - immediate relativization. Then comparison to Jordan Peterson - delegitimization by association. Then projection of gender critique that isn't even in the text. And finally "but there are YouTube tutorials" - as if the problem were that we don't know HOW to do something, not that we don't know WHY to do it at all.
That's not an AI bug. It's a feature of our culture.
AI systems are trained on mainstream discourse. And that discourse is slave morality from top to bottom. We have endless explanations why things don't work. We have a million tutorials on how to make a website. We don't have a single guide on how to find a reason to make one.
- Compassion ✓
- Understanding ✓
- Context ✓
- Answer to "and what about it?" ✗
We celebrate vulnerability as a brand. We confuse weakness with authenticity. And then we wonder why an entire generation lives in passive nihilism.
Nietzsche called this "slave morality" - values that arise from the weak's resentment toward the strong. It's not a critique of people in difficult situations. It's a critique of culture that tells them their situation is their identity.
What if our empathy is just a more sophisticated version of "it's not my fault"?
So Now What? (Without Motivational Bullshit)
First, what NOT to do.
Wrong questions lead to wrong answers: "Who's to blame?" → passive nihilism "How to change it?" → unrealistic fantasies "Isn't it unfair?" → slave morality
The right question: "What will you create despite this?"
But careful - not as cheap motivation. The system IS broken. Economic reality IS different than 30 years ago. Technology DOES dehumanize us.
And now what?
Because Nietzsche was brutal, but he was right: Circumstances are not an excuse.
Every generation has its hell. Silent Generation: Depression + WWII. Boomers: Nuclear threat + Vietnam. Gen X: AIDS + economic collapse. Us: Broken economy + digital dystopia.
The difference isn't in how hard we have it. The difference is whether we drown in that hell and monetize it, or whether we build a bridge out of it.
Not Steps, But Changes in Thinking
- Recognize the trap: OnlyFans, crypto, gambling - these aren't ways out. They're symptoms of lost direction. Lottery thinking is passive nihilism in action.
- Nietzsche's test on everything: Do you want to do this eternally? If life had to repeat - can you justify it? If not → you're not on the right path.
- Build real skills: Long-term thinking in a short-term world is a competitive advantage. Not because "the system will reward you." But because you'll have value that you yourself appreciate.
- Create something you stand behind: Not for followers. Not primarily for money. For principle.
- Find your people: Not online parasocial relationships. Real people with similar values. Community is protection against nihilism.
Specifically: Find a physical community, even if it's just 5 people. Learn something that takes years to master. Put down your phone more than just "healthy relationship with technology." Build something tangible.
This isn't "5 steps to the Übermensch." It's a lifelong project. And maybe it'll never end. And that's fine.
The Last Man, or a Bridge?
Nietzsche had a metaphor: "Man is a rope stretched between animal and Übermensch - a rope over an abyss."
Today? Most people have settled on that rope and started an OnlyFans. Some fell into the abyss - addiction, nihilism, depression. A few are trying to move forward.
- OnlyFans isn't courage. It's aestheticized capitulation.
- Crypto gambling isn't hustle. It's a lottery with a philosophical alibi.
- Infinite scroll isn't rest. It's escape from the absence of meaning.
But this isn't moralizing. It's not "young people are lazy." It's a diagnosis. And like any diagnosis - it may hurt, but it must be accurate.
Maybe it's time to stop looking for someone to blame and start creating values. Not because it'll be easy. Not because the system will reward it. But because the alternative - being the last man - is worse than anything economic reality has done to you.
Nietzsche won't give you a guide. He'll give you a mirror. And then it's up to you whether you like what you see.
PS: If you're now expecting some call-to-action or link to my mentoring, good news - there isn't one. This isn't a sale. It's a diagnosis. And a diagnosis only works when it hurts enough to make you do something. Or not. That's up to you.