238 Chapter 10
In the end,the ThirdReichsuccessfullysquashedthe insubordination.^43 Hereis the
textfromFrankfurterZeitungin thatsameyear,October15: “membersof the butchers’
guildrefusedto abideby the pricesfor meatsas fixedby the countyadministrator”—this
countyofficialis calledtheLandrat—“at the behestof the GovernmentPriceControl
Office.The spokesmanfor the butchertoldthe police:‘We won’t let the countyadminis-
tratorset the pricesfor us.’ He wasthereuponorderedby the chiefadministrativeofficer
of the region,” theRegierungspräsident, “to be takenintocustodyandwaslodgedin the
policejail at Recklinghausen.”^44 At one point,one grocertoldthe Nazisoutright,“I have
myselflongcontravenedpriceregulationsandcannotreportany colleaguefor the same
offense.”^45
Recallmy previouscitationof historianGötz Aly abouthowthe Nazisfavoredtheir
holistichealingmethodsoverscientific“Jewish” medicine.ThissameGötz Aly presents
evidencethatthe Naziregimewastemporarilyableto sustainitselfby livingoff of the
assetsit hadexpropriatedfromwealthyJewsin the 1930s.Suchassetswouldrun out
eventually.The Nazieconomywasultimatelyunsustainable,as it allocatedits mostim-
portantresourcestowardthe wareffort,leavinghardlyanythingfor day-to-daycivilian
sustenance.Had therebeenno worldwar,the governmentregulationswouldhave
broughtGermanbusinessesto stagnationat bestand collapseat worst.
We thereforefindit disturbingthatCalifornianpoliticalscientistandanti-capitalist
MichaelParentiassertsthe exactoppositeof the truth:“AfterAdolfHitlertookstate
powerin Germanyin 1933,he set aboutestablishinga... reactionarygovernmentthat...
drasticallyreducedwages,eliminatedworkerbenefits,” and “ignoredoccupationalsafe-
ty” regulations.Parentiwouldhaveus believethatHitler’s missionwasto “cut taxesfor
the veryrich” as he “privatizedvariousstateenterprises.”^46 As I mentionedin BookOne,
therewasa briefpointin the WeimarRepublic’s history,priorto the ascensionof Hitler,
where,duringthe GreatDepression,the WeimarRepublicnationalizedvariousindus-
tries.And,as I also mentionedin BookOne,whenHitlerconvertedthoseenterprisesback
intoprivateproperty,thoseassetswereprivatelyownedin nameonly.In practicethey
remainedcontrolledby the State.
HistorianJoachimFestthusconcludesthatHitler“wasnot the last desperategaspof
dyingcapitalism, as a goodmany ideologists”—MichaelParentiimplicitlyincluded
amongthem—“havedescribedhim.”^47 No longerlet business-haterstarnishcapitalism’s
reputationthroughsucha scurrilousassociation.Likewise,it shouldfinallybe compre-
hendedthatNaziesqueeugenicshas nothingto do withfree enterprise.Shamefully,that
doesnot stopEdwinBlackandothergovernistsfromcryingthatfree-marketeconomics
willindeedrevivea Nazi-styled,Aryan-centeredeugenics.Theysay thiswillhappen
whenAmericansare finallyableto utilizeprenatalgeneticengineeringto provideour
futurechildrenenhancedimmunesystemsand upgradedaptitudes.
Is Biotechnologythe NewEugenics?
We humansopt for specificcomplexactionsas a resultof our ownwillfulchoices.
BookTwooutlinedhowthoseactionsaffecta person’s ownlikelihoodof beingableto
propagateher owngeneticlegacybeyondthe nexttwogenerations.It thenstandsto
reasonthatconditioningandindividualhumanchoicesactuallyinfluencethe biological
evolutionof the humanspecies.Compoundingthat,in the nearfuture,improvementsin
biotechnologymaybestowthe citizensof industrializedcountrieswiththe opportunityto
playa moredirectrolein affectingthe humanrace’s biologicalevolution.It willbe
througha processthathas beendubbed“germlinegeneticengineering” or “reprogenet-
ics.”^48 Alternately,for this sameprocessI will alsoemploythe labelhumanenhancement—
simply“enhancement” for short.Scientifically,the procedurewouldgo as follows.