The Führer versusFree Enterprise 183vismsimplyremovedsuchcreatures.Theywereworthlessto humanity,nothingbut an
encumbranceto theirVolk.Eventhe beesget rid of the droneswhentheycan no longer
be of serviceto the hive.TheBolshevikproceduresare thusquitenatural.... Sucha
powerfulupheaval requires sacrifices,it demandssacrifices,and sacrificesmust be
brought.”^31
Similarto booksby socialistsandProgressivesis the mannerin whichMeinKampf
insistentlyremonstrates“the egoismof shopkeepers” and“the ‘big capitalist’” while
upholdingthe “the sacrificeof personalexistence.” I willnowreproducea quotationof
Hitler’s thatI hadalreadyquotedinThe Freedomof PeacefulAction. As withsocialistand
Progressivetracts,MeinKampfupholdsthatthe collectivist“stateof mind,subordinates
the interestsof the ego to the conservationof the community.... Everyworker,every
peasant,... official,etc.,whoworkswithouteverbeingableto achieveany happinessor
prosperityfor himself,is a representativeof this loftyideal.... In givingone’s ownlife for
the existenceof the communitylies the crownof all senseof sacrifice.... Ourown
Germanlanguagepossessesa wordwhichmagnificentlydesignatesthis kindof activity:
Pflichterfüllung(fulfillmentof duty);it meansnot to be self-sufficientbut to servethe
community.The basicattitudefromwhichsuchactivityarises,we call—to distinguishit
fromegoismandselfishness—idealism.By this we understandonlythe individual’s ca-
pacityto makesacrificesfor the community,for his fellowman.” AndMeinKampfaddi-
tionallyreckons,“To winthe massesfor a nationalresurrection,no socialsacrificeis too
great.” To sumup, moralitycan be attained“onlyas longas an idealisticnationalcommu-
nityoffersthe necessarypreconditions.Andthesedo not lie in materialegoism,but in a
spiritof self-sacrificeand... renunciation.”^32
Thiswasnot just someperformancethatHitlerput on to humorthe public.As Henry
AshbyTurnerexplains,the Volkleader“displayedmuchthe samescornand mistrustfor
the practitionersof big businessevenin privateconversationswheretacticalconsidera-
tionsof that sort playedno role.” In October1941,afterhavingruledas a dictatorfor eight
years,Hitler“referredto big businessmen(die Witschaft) as ‘rogues’ and‘cold-blooded
money-grubbers’.. .”^33
The otherNazissharedin this anti-capitalism.JoachimFestwritesthatin its political
campaigns,the NSDAPpreyedupon the lowermiddleclass’s “fearsof beingover-
whelmedeconomicallyby largeconcernsanddepartmentstores,andthe littleman’s
resentmentof easilyacquiredwealth,of profiteersand the ownersof capital.” He empha-
sizesthe ceaseless“Nazianticapitalistrantingagainstusurers,speculators,anddepart-
mentstores.. .”^34 Oneof the NaziParty’s oratorsin the 1920sscreamedto a crowd,
“Stormthe commercialbanks!Takeall the moneyyoufindthereandthrowit intothe
streetsand set fire to the hugeheapsof it! Thenuse the crowbarsof the streetcarlinesto
stringup the blacksandthe whiteJews!”^35 Festfurtherwrites thatonceHitlerwas
dictator,the Nazistormtroopers—theSA—”pastedsloganson the walls” of otherpeo-
ple’s “housesand factories.. .” At othertimes,they“organizedcommandostrikesagainst
blackmarketersor capitalistprofiteers.”^36
SometimesI hearthe extraordinaryclaimthatthoughthe Naziscalledthemselves
socialists,theydid not trulybelievein the socialistideologyor preachit. Put thatplati-
tudeto rest.The NaziPartyadvocatedsocialismfromits veryinception.And,as I shall
showin chapter10, the NazipoliticaleconomyunderHitlerremainedanti-capitalistto
the end.It is no accidentthatinMeinKampf, Hitlerexplicitlynames,as his politicalrole
model,Dr. KarlLueger(1844–1910),the anti-Semitedemagoguewhowaselectedto be-
comeVienna,Austria’s, mayorin the 1890s.^37 Luegerwasno sortof HerbertSpencer-
lovingcapitalist.On the contrary,HitlercorrectlyidentifiedLuegeras a self-proclaimed
“ChristianSocialist” andmemberof the ChristianSocialistParty.^38 FareedZakariacites
the Luegerregimeas a casestudyin whathe dubs“illiberaldemocracy.” The Christian