Extinctionof the SocialDarwinismCanard 235nonqualifiedownersof craftenterpriseswereobligedto qualifyfor a certificateof em-
ployment.” Owingto the regulations,the numberof wholesalersin the nationfell by 33
percent.From 1935 to 1939,the numberof radioretailersdeclinedby morethanhalf.Also
in 1935,the Statecompoundedthe burdenby insistingthatthe smallbusinessesreport
everytransactionto the regime.“Ledgersfor incomingandoutgoinggoods(‘supplies
books’ and‘customers’ books’) nowenabledofficialdomto subjectall enterprisesto
searchingtax controland to investigationsof economicviability.Thisprocesswasinten-
sifiedby the ruthlessnessof the fiscalauthoritiesin collectingtax debtsand refusalof the
licensingauthoritiesto grantnewconcessionsto smallshopswishingto diversifytheir
sellinglines.”^15
WilliamL. Shirerwritesthatsmallbusinessmenwitnessedthe destructionof their
enterprises,whichplungedthem“backintothe ranksof wageearners.Lawsdecreedin
October 1937 simplydissolvedall corporationswitha capitalunder40,000dollarsand
forbadethe establishmentof newoneswitha capitalless than200,000dollars.Thisquick-
ly disposedof one fifthof all smallbusinessfirms.” Shirercontinues,“At the headof an
incrediblycomplexstructurewasthe ReichEconomicChamber,whoseleaderwasap-
pointedby the State,and whichcontrolledsevennationaleconomicgroups,twenty-three
economicchambers,one hundredchambersof industryandcommerceandseventy
chambersof handicrafts.Amidstthis labyrinthineorganizationandall the multitudeof
officesand agenciesof the Ministryof Economicsand the Four-YearPlanand the Niagara
of thousandsof specialdecreesand lawseventhe mostastutebusinessmanwas oftenlost,
andspeciallawyershadto be employedto helpa firmfunction.”^16 From 1876 to the
1920s,Bismarck’s irrationalinfluencehadalreadywroughta trendof massivegovern-
ment-backedcartelizationof industry.^17 Still,Hitlerfurtherencouragedandultimately
exacerbatedthistrend.Justas FranklinD. Roosevelthadforciblycartelizedfarming
underthe AgriculturalAdjustmentAct,Hitlerlikewisecartelizedfarmingin Germanyto
a far severerdegree.^18 Thisresultedin Germany’s catastrophicfoodshortage.^19 In fact,
notesIan Kershaw,by late summerin 1935“the terms‘foodcrisis’ andprovisioncrisis’
werein commonuse.”^20 The priceof wheatjumpedby 15 percent,butter40 percent,eggs
50 percent,meat50 percent,and potatoes75 percent.^21 Kershawreportsthatincreasesof
“33, 50, andeven150 per centhadbeenreported” for someotherfoodstuffs.Seekingto
downplaythe crisis,Germany’s officialstatementsreportedthatfoodpriceshadrisena
mere8 percentbetween 1933 and 1935.^22 ThatDu BoispreposterouslycheeredthatGer-
manshadenough“food” to be “contentedandprosperous”—andthatit was“cheap”—
signifiesDu Bois’s ignoranceof theiractualsituation.A numberof factorscontributedto
the foodshortage,eachof whichrelatesto governism.First,as FDRencouragedthe
cartelizationof the USA’s agribusinesswiththe AgriculturalAdjustmentAct,Hitlerlike-
wiseinstitutedlawsto strengthenGermany’s agribusinesscartel.Hitlerconsequently
ratifiedgovernmentregulationsagainstthe importationof food,therebyprohibiting
foreigncompetitionagainstGermanfoodproducers.ThusGermanconsumerspaidhigh-
er pricesfor nourishmentthantheyotherwisewouldhave.
Thefoodshortagemaystillseemstrange,in lightof the fact that,priorto the war,
GermansFritzHaberandCarlBoschhaddevelopedthe Haber-Boschmethodfor culti-
vatingmorecrops.But this shortageis less surprisingwhenone considersthe myopia
and misplacedprioritiesof thosein chargeof government-managedeconomies.The am-
moniumnitratesynthesizedin the Haber-Boschprocessis usefulnot just in fertilizer,but
alsoin munitions.TomStandageofThe Economistmagazinereportsthatthe majorityof
syntheticammoniumnitrateproducedwasusedfor weaponry,and therewashardlyany
left overfor Germanfarming.Hence,the resultsat harvesttimewerepitiful.^23 As nonpro-
ductiveas this absenceof ammonium-nitratefertilizerwas,it wasjust fineby Nazioffi-
cersRudolfHessandHeinrichHimmler.As adherentsto RudolfSteiner’s ideologyof