SIX
Is Naziismthe FinalStageof Capitalism?
TheFree-MarketEvolutionists’ NonexistentInfluencein Germany
We havelearnedthat callsfor government-imposedeugenicsin the USAand U.K.did
not originatefromanysupposedlaissez-fairesocialDarwinismmovement.Thesecalls
weremadeby governistsof the left-wingprogressivevariety.Still,a politically-correct
governistmightretortthatit is morethanpossiblethatNaziismcameaboutfroma
laissez-fairesocialDarwinistideologythatmanifestedamongGermanintellectuals.This
chaptershallexaminethe levelof plausibilityin suchan allegation.ThisPartof this
book—partII—examinesthe degreeto whichthe Naziregimemightjustlybe considered
governistphilosophytakento its finalimplementation.
Therewere,to be sure,eugenicisttheoristsin Germanyin the early1900swhose
writingsprovideda veneerof scientificrespectabilityfor the racistand genocidalpolicies
thatthe ThirdReichwouldenact.A reliableauthorityon this pieceof historyis Alfred
Kelly(b. 1947),HamiltonCollege’s EdgarB. GravesProfessorof ModernEuropeanHisto-
ry. Kellyhas documentedtheseintellectuals’ applicationsof biologicaltheoriesto social
sciencein his 1981monographThe Descentof Darwin:The Popularizationof Darwinismin
Germany,1860–1914. Thissurveyprovidesno mentionof eitherSpenceror Sumner.That
is not an oversighton Kelly’s part;Spencerand Sumnerexercisedno significantinfluence
on the policyprescriptionsthe Germaneugenicistspromulgated.The vastmajorityof the
early-twentieth-centuryGermanintellectualswhoappliedevolutionarytheoriesandge-
neticsto the socialscienceshad arguedfor moregovernism,not laissezfaire.
AlexanderTille(1866–1912)wasa Germanphilosopherwho,in the late nineteenth
century,opinedthat the poorwereobligatedto die withoutprocreating.In AlfredKelly’s
words,Tillethoughtthat“the horrorsof the slumswereactuallygoodbecausethey
purgedthe nationof uselesscitizens.” Tilleservedas deputybusinessdirectorof the
Organization of German Industrialists and subsequently became a lobbyist for
Saarbrücken’s industrytradegroups.Accordingly,somemighthastilyinferthat Tillewas
a laissez-faireSocialDarwinistwhoaspiredto “givea scientificjustificationto whatmay
be denouncedas the evilsof capitalistsociety.” But sucha conclusionfallsflat.Tille
abhorredthe nightwatchmanstate.Accordingto Kelly,Tillewantedthe governmentto
“interveneactivelyto ‘help’ natureby killingthe cripplesand lunatics” and to expendtax
moneyon “givingmorefoodto the giftedmembersof society.”^1
Kellyoffersotherreasonsto judgeit superficialto tie ManchesterismwithNaziism.
Thisis evincedin howGermansteelindustrialistFriedrichAlfredKrupp(1854–1902)
triedto promotethe applicationof geneticsto socialscience.In 1900Kruppsponsoreda
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