182 Chapter 8
Hitlerand the NazisWereAnti-CapitalistfromBeginningto End
We thusreturnto the NorthAmericanprogressiveviewpoint,as seeninThe Corpora-
tion:The PathologicalPursuitof Profitand Power. Unexpectedly,this Canadiandocumentary
takesprivateentrepreneursto taskfor not beingpatrioticenough.Its narrator,Mikela
Mikael,complains,“It shouldnot surpriseus thatcorporateallegianceto profitswill
trumptheirallegianceto any flag.”^26
Hitlerconcurswiththiscriticism.In his secondbookhe expoundsthatcommerce
underminesone’s loyaltyto one’s owncountry.“Peoplewholoveto speakof socialism
do not understandthatthe mostsocialisticorganizationof all wasthe Germanpeople’s
army.Thusalsothe fiercehatredof the typicallycapitalist-mindedJewryagainstan
organizationin whichmoneydoesnot equatewithstatus... or honor.. .”^27 Notethat
Hitlercelebratesmilitarism.However,Hitler’s militarismdoesnot conformto the stereo-
typesthatthe academicLeftholdstowardright-wingmilitary-industrial-complexjingo-
ists. Contraryto left-wingpresumptions,the Nazileaderdoesnot judgethe militaryto be
a toolwherebyhe can aid big businessesin establishingnewinternationalmarketsper
Lenin’s imperialismtheory.Nay,Hitlercelebratesmilitarismfor anotherreason.It is that
he interpretsit as an institutionwhereinthe individual’s personalwillmustbe subordi-
natedto the group.The Führerwishesthatsociety,as a whole,followedthe samemodel
of organization.HenceAlanS. Milwardnotesthat Hitlergenuinelythoughtof “war as...
a devicefor eliminatingthe corruptingegotisticalself-seekingwhichhe sawas the con-
comitantof falseideasof humanliberty.. .”^28
Andpredictingthat“the miserablearmyof our present-dayshopkeepers” willnot
sharein its jingoisticsentiments,MeinKampfscreamsat suchmerchants,“Youhavebut
oneconcern:yourpersonallife,andoneGod:yourmoney!But we are not addressing
ourselvesto you,we are appealingto... thosewhoare so poorthattheirpersonallife
cannotmeanthe highesthappinessin the world;to thosewhodo not see the ruling
principleof theirexistencein gold,but in othergods”^29 (emphasesHitler’s). Havewe not
heardthis before?MichaelMooresnarlsthat “the rich,by and large,are neitherconserva-
tive nor liberal,nor are theydevoutChristiansor Jews.Theirreal politicalpartyis called
Greed,andtheirreligionis Capitalism.”^30 ByGreedandCapitalism, MooremeansMam-
mon.
In March 1930 Hitlerrestatedhis opinionthatbusinesspeopleare seditious,this time
in personto OttoWagener.HitlerwantsWagenerto notice“the differencebetweenthe
formerage of individualism”—the late 1800sin the InventivePeriod—“and the socialthat
is on the horizon,” meaningfor Europefor the rest of the twentiethcentury.“In the past—
thatis, for mostpeopleit is still the present—the individualis everything,everythingis
directed at maintaininghis life andimproving his existence.Everythingfocuses on
him.... Everyoneis a centralfigure,as is officiallyacknowledgedin his vestedhuman
rights.In the socialismof the future,on the otherhand,whatcountsis the whole,the
communityof the Volk.The individualand his life playonlya subsidiaryrole.He can be
sacrificed—he is preparedto sacrificehimselfshouldthe wholedemandit, shouldthe
commonwealcall for it.” The Führerconsidershis currentmilitaryregimeto be the setter
of standardsfor the rest of the Reich.Thatis whyhe has instilledregulations“to punish
anyonewhododgesmilitaryserviceby self-mutilationor desertion,evenprescribing
deathfor flightin the faceof the enemy.Here,therefore,the basicsocialistprinciple
prevails.But in the rest of life, individualism,[laissez-faire]liberalism,egotismcontinue
to triumph.” Thatwill haveto change.He hateslaissez-faireliberals,for, in theirownself-
interest,theywishto avoidjoiningin combat.“Aren’t these[laissez-faire]liberals,these
reprobatedefendersof individualism,ashamedto see the tearsof the mothersand wives,
or don’t thesecold-bloodedaccountantsevennotice?... It’s understandablewhybolshe-