NINE
TheyLovedBloodand Soil but Not the Mind
YourPersonalHealthIs Everyone’s Business?
Appropriately,the ideologicalpositionfor whichthe Nazisare mostfamous—white
supremacism—becamepoliticallyincorrectdecadesago.I definitelydo not disputepoliti-
cal correctnesson thatcount.Sadly,we discernthatin variousotherareasasidefrom
supportfor tax patronageto the arts,the Nazisadvancedan agendaconsistentwith
modernPC notions.Thecenter-leftpoliticalorthodoxyof WesternEurope,Canada,the
UnitedStates,and Australiais repletewithgovernistideasthat werepopularunderboth
the SecondandThirdReichs.Onegovernistacademicianbothknowledgeableandsup-
portiveof thosePC ideasis PennsylvaniaStateUniversitysciencehistoryprofessorRob-
ert N. Proctor.Duringhis researchon the atrocitiesthatthe Naziscommittedin their
experimentson humanhealth,Proctorcameto discoversomethingthat astonishedhim.It
wasthatthe Nazisimplementeda plethoraof tropesof Proctor’s ownmodernenviron-
mentalideologybeforethe NewLeftmadethempopularin the UnitedStates.More
astonishingyet,Proctorfoundhimselfstronglyappreciatingthisandwishingthatthe
currentU.S.governmentwouldactuallyadoptmoreof whathe considersto be the better
aspectsof the Nazis’ publichealthprograms.
Proctorwritesthat“fascistidealsfosteredresearchdirectionsandlifestylefashions
that lookstrikinglysimilarto thosewe”—bywe, he meanshis center-leftenvironmentalist
alliesandhimself—“mightembrace.” The Nazi’s tax-fundedpublichealthprogramwas
“pursuednot justin spiteoffascism,but alsoin consequenceoffascism” (emphaseshis).
“Thisis the ‘flip side’ of fascism—the sidethatgaveus strugglesagainstsmoking,cam-
paignsfor cleanerfoodandwater,for exerciseandpreventivemedicine.” It is “disturb-
ing,” he mutters,that“Nazidoctorsand publichealthactivists” were“involvedin work
thatwe... mightregardas ‘progressive’ or evensociallyresponsible—and thatsomeof
that workwasa directoutgrowthof Naziideology.Nazinutritionistsstressedthe impor-
tanceof a diet free of petrochemicaldyesand preservatives... ManyNaziswereenviron-
mentalists;manywerevegetarians.Speciesprotectionwasa goingconcern,as wasani-
mal welfare.”^1
Amongscholarswhostudythe ThirdReich’s history,Proctoris not solitaryin this
assessment.Accordingto JohnToland,“the problemof pollution” substantiallyworried
the Reichchancellor.“Anti-pollutioncontrivanceswerealreadyinstalledin somefacto-
ries in the Ruhrbasin,andnewplantswererequiredto constructpreventivedevicesto
avoidpollutionof the waters.” Moreover,underHitler’s reign,“welfareandtrainingof
the youthof the nationwerealsogivenpriority.” TheFührerput a newemphasison
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