Here, along with some pertinent
passages from Mein Kampf and other sources, we shall present the booklet,
German Economic Policy by Dr. Wilhelm Bauer, German Institute For Business
Research, Berlin 1939 Terramare Office, Berlin W 8
With comments (in italics) by William Finck
This non-technical and summary
examination of National Socialist German economic policy will also reveal
several other truths which have been lost in the treachery of the Jewish media.
Germany, in both world wars, was really only fighting for its rights to
self-determination and economic independence. Hitler's real enemy was
international finance, and whether it manifested itself in the form of Marxism
or Capitalism did not matter, they are two arms of the same beast which sought
to oppress and exploit Germany, along with the rest of the world, and the Jews
just happen to be its eternal purveyors.
From the May 1932 Emergency
Economic Program of the NSDAP:
“The Marxist objection that one must proletarianize
the independent middle class in the interests of hurrying the arrival of the
future Marxist state contradicts the interests of the German worker. The goal
for the German worker must not be the proletarianizing of the middle class, but
rather the deproletarianizing of the German worker, and providing him with
property.”
Hitler knew that Jewish
Capitalism and Jewish Marxism were really working hand-in-hand. Today, many
Christian Patriots or other White Nationalists also realize that same thing,
but most of us needed an additional ninety years of observation to figure it
out. National Socialism was the anti-thesis to the artificial dichotomy of
Marxism and Capitalism that we are all currently caught up in, and for that
reason it had to be destroyed.
Any non-Jew who accepts
economic theory from a Jew – from any Jew - has already lost the battle and
enslaved himself, because the Jew really only hawks wares from his own
artificial Capitalist-Marxist dichotomy, both of which subscribe to the same
Jewish-controlled central banking system.
From Mein
Kampf, p. 95:
A State has never arisen from commercial causes for
the purpose of peacefully serving commercial ends; but States have always
arisen from the instinct to maintain the racial group, whether this instinct
manifest itself in the heroic sphere or in the sphere of cunning and chicanery.
In the first case we have the Aryan States, based on the principles of work and
cultural development. In the second case we have the Jewish parasitic colonies.
But as soon as economic interests begin to predominate over the racial and
cultural instincts in a people or a State, these economic interests unloose the
causes that lead to subjugation and oppression.
From Mein
Kampf, p. 124:
When I heard Gottfried Feder's first lecture on 'The
Abolition of the Interest-Servitude', I understood immediately that here was a
truth of transcendental importance for the future of the German people. The
absolute separation of stock-exchange capital from the economic life of the
nation would make it possible to oppose the process of internationalization in
German business without at the same time attacking capital as such, for to do
this would jeopardize the foundations of our national independence. I clearly
saw what was developing in Germany and I realized then that the stiffest fight
we would have to wage would not be against the enemy nations but against
international capital. In Feder's speech I found an effective rallying-cry for
our coming struggle.
Here, again, later events proved how correct was the
impression we then had. The fools among our bourgeois politicians do not mock
at us on this point anymore; for even those politicians now see--if they would
speak the truth--that international stock-exchange capital was not only the
chief instigating factor in bringing on the War but that now when the War is
over it turns the peace into a hell.
The struggle against international finance capital and
loan-capital has become one of the most important points in the programme on
which the German nation has based its fight for economic freedom and
independence.
From Mein
Kampf, pp. 156-157:
The leading phase of Germany's superiority arose from
the fact that, almost alone among all the other European nations, the German
nation had made the strongest effort to preserve the national character of its
economic structure and for this reason was less subject than other countries to
the power of international finance, though indeed there were many untoward
symptoms in this regard also. And yet this superiority was a perilous one and
turned out later to be one of the chief causes of the world war.
From Mein
Kampf, p. 192:
The nationalization of the masses can be successfully
achieved only if, in the positive struggle to win the soul of the people, those
who spread the international poison among them are exterminated.
GERMAN ECONOMIC POLICY
DR. WILHELM BAUER,
GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR BUSINESS RESEARCH, BERLIN
1939
TERRAMARE OFFICE, BERLIN W 8
1939 GERMAN ECONOMIC POLICY
by Wilhelm Bauer
The following is based on a lecture which I gave at
the Amerika-Institut, Berlin, on August 11, 1938 before a group of American
Professors headed by Professor Dr. Bruner of Teachers College, Columbia
University, New York. It provides a short systematic sketch of the various
measures of economic policy undertaken by the German Government in the course
of the past few years in order to regulate production and consumption in
accordance with the aims of German economic policy. For more detailed
information I refer the readers of this article to the Weekly Reports of the
German Institute for Business Research (Institut für Konjunkturforschung,
Berlin-Charlottenburg 2, Fasamenstr. 6)
State and business.
THE basis for all government intervention in business
in Germany is to be found in the National-Socialist conception of the relation
between business and the State. According to the German theory business is
subordinated to the State. Formerly, it was believed that the fate of the State
and of the nation lay in business, for it was said that business was of such
great importance and so powerful that it controlled the State and determined
State policies.
In the National-Socialist State the relation between
business and State is just the contrary. Today the State or State policy
controls or rules business.
I must emphasize that in National-Socialist eyes the State incorporates
in itself no absolute value as is the case, for instance, in an absolute
monarchy. The supreme value is the nation which we call in German Volksgemeinschaft, the
community of the nation. The State is only the form of organization and the
manifestation of the will of the people.
From Mein
Kampf, p. 93:
The State is a community of living beings who have
kindred physical and spiritual natures, organized for the purpose of assuring
the conservation of their own kind and to help towards fulfilling those ends
which Providence has assigned to that particular race or racial branch.
Therein, and therein alone, lie the purpose and meaning of a State. Economic
activity is one of the many auxiliary means which are necessary for the
attainment of those aims. But economic activity is never the origin or purpose
of a State, except where a State has been originally founded on a false and
unnatural basis.
This means that the State is not concerned with
economic conditions as long as they do not conflict with the welfare of the
nation. The principle of private initiative has been maintained. However, where
it seems necessary to bring business into line with the welfare of the nation,
the State will not hesitate to intervene and direct business into the desired
channels. In Germany, contrary to the usual belief, we have no "planned
economy", but rather a "directed" economy if I may use such an
expression.
The aims.
The aims of the present regulation of production can
be summarized in a few words. First, the securing of supplies of raw materials
for industry. All measures serving this aim are included in the Four-Years-Plan
the aim of which is to make Germany as independent as possible of imports by
increasing domestic production.
Second, an increase in domestic agricultural
production with the aim of making Germany, as far as possible, self-sufficient
in the field of foodstuffs.
From Mein
Kampf, Page 86:
Our industry and commerce had to be organized in such
a manner as to secure an increase in the exports and thus be able to support
our people by the increased purchasing power accruing from the profits made on
foreign markets....
In the first place, too much importance cannot be
placed on the necessity for adopting a policy which will make it possible to
maintain a healthy peasant class as the basis of the national community. Many
of our present evils have their origin exclusively in the disproportion between
the urban and rural portions of the population. A solid stock of small and
medium farmers has at all times been the best protection which a nation could
have against the social diseases that are prevalent to-day. Moreover, that is
the only solution which guarantees the daily bread of a nation within the
framework of its domestic national economy. With this condition once
guaranteed, industry and commerce would retire from the unhealthy position of
foremost importance which they hold to-day and would take their due place
within the general scheme of national economy, adjusting the balance between
demand and supply. Thus industry and commerce would no longer constitute the
basis of the national subsistence, but would be auxiliary institutions. By
fulfilling their proper function, which is to adjust the balance between
national production and national consumption, they render the national
subsistence more or less independent of foreign countries and thus assure the
freedom and independence of the nation, especially at critical junctures in its
history.
Germany has only a few raw materials and has always
been faced with the necessity of importing the greater part of her raw material
requirements. But as you realize, imports can only be paid for out of export
proceeds or other credit items in the balance of payments such as shipping,
insurance, or proceeds from capital investments abroad. As a result of the War,
Germany is no longer a creditor but a debtor country. In other words, she was
burdened with a tremendous indebtedness and had at her disposal no great income
from investments abroad, while her other income from abroad is today less than
it was before the War. Germany must therefore limit her imports to the extent
of her exports, with the consequence that Germany's raw material and foodstuffs
imports are dependent on the amount of goods which other countries are able and
willing to take from her in payment.
Indirect and direct Regulation
of Production.
The German government follows no definite theory in
establishing the methods by which intervention in the field of production is to
be accomplished. This is one of the most characteristic traits of
National-Socialist economic policy. In combatting unemployment, the government
did not follow one theory such as the theory of direct public works or the
theory of the stimulation of private initiative, but followed both theories
impartially according as to which seemed best at the time. The same is true of
the regulation of production.
The various measures may be classified as: 1. indirect
and 2. direct.
The State undertakes indirect measures when it
intervenes not in production and capital investment themselves but in
conditions which govern them.
There are four special groups of indirect measures:
1. Regulation of taxes, especially reduction of taxes.
For example, in order to revive automobile production,
which was at an extremely low level, and thus to stimulate motorization in
Germany, which had lagged far behind the level of motorization in other
countries, as early as 1933 the Government abolished the tax on all new
passenger cars, later extending this to all automobiles. This made automobiles
much cheaper and increased the sales of the industry. In the last five years,
these measures together with the economic upswing have brought about a great advance
in automobile sales and a great improvement in German motorization. In 1932,
only 19 out of every 1,000 people in Germany owned cars as compared with 41 in
France and 37 in Great Britain; today, however, the figure for Germany is 35 in
every 1,000, as compared with about 51 per thousand in France and Great
Britain.
A further example of regulation of production by means
of tax reductions was the exemption of short term capital goods from income
tax. After 1933 the value of these goods could be deducted from taxable income
of the individual and from the taxable profits of an enterprise. This
stimulated the purchase of such goods and was a means of increasing the low
activity of the capital goods industry. The elasticity of the
National-Socialist economic policy can be seen in the fact that this measure
was repealed as soon as the capital goods industry was fully employed.
2. The second means of indirect regulation of
production is price policy. This can take place in two ways: by a reduction in
costs and by an increase in, or guarantee of, sales prices. These methods have
been chiefly used in the field of agriculture, where production reacts quickly
to price changes. An example of this reduction may be seen in the prices for
artificial fertilizer, farm machinery and agricultural implements. On the other
hand, by a scaling of farm prices it has been possible to increase considerably
the acreage given over to winter barley, the production of fiber plants and oil
fruits, and the number of sheep.
3. Closely related to this price policy is tariff
policy, the utilization of which is necessary where domestic goods compete with
foreign products. This is particularly important in the case of agricultural
products, the prices of which are considerably lower on the world market than
in Germany. Special boards have been set up in order to compensate for these
differences in prices, and are empowered to regulate imports.
4. The last method of indirect regulation of
production is the prohibition of new private issues on the capital market.
Since new issues are permitted only for special purposes all those branches of
trade and industry which are shut off from the capital market are thus limited
in their capital investment possibilities. They can only extend their plants,
etc., to the degree that their own funds allow. Thus in 1933 a special board
was set up under the control of the Reichsbank, to which application must be
made before new issues are floated. Permission is only granted for private
issues in the case of companies which serve the ends of the Four-Years-Plan,
where, moreover, no other possibility of financing their work exists.
Capital investment policy.
Among the large number of methods of directly
influencing production, I have to mention first the government orders which
predominate in some economic branches.
Apart from this a good deal of direct regulation of
production by the Government consists of the regulation of capital investment
activity.
From Mein
Kampf, pp. 135-136:
In proportion to the extent that commerce assumed
definite control of the State, money became more and more of a God whom all had
to serve and bow down to. Heavenly Gods became more and more old-fashioned and
were laid away in the corners to make room for the worship of mammon. And thus
began a period of utter degeneration which became specially pernicious because
it set in at a time when the nation was more than ever in need of an exalted
idea, for a critical hour was threatening. Germany should have been prepared to
protect with the sword her efforts to win her own daily bread in a peaceful
way.
Unfortunately, the predominance of money received
support and sanction in the very quarter which ought to have been opposed to
it. His Majesty, the Kaiser, made a mistake when he raised representatives of
the new finance capital to the ranks of the nobility. Admittedly, it may be
offered as an excuse that even Bismarck failed to realize the threatening
danger in this respect. In practice, however, all ideal virtues became
secondary considerations to those of money, for it was clear that having once
taken this road, the nobility of the sword would very soon rank second to that
of finance.
Financial operations succeed easier than war
operations. Hence it was no longer any great attraction for a true hero or even
a statesman to be brought into touch with the nearest Jew banker. Real merit
was not interested in receiving cheap decorations and therefore declined them
with thanks. But from the standpoint of good breeding such a development was
deeply regrettable. The nobility began to lose more and more of the racial
qualities that were a condition of its very existence, with the result that in
many cases the term 'plebeian' would have been more appropriate.
A serious state of economic disruption was being
brought about by the slow elimination of the personal control of vested
interests and the gradual transference of the whole economic structure into the
hands of joint stock companies.
In this way labour became degraded into an object of
speculation in the hands of unscrupulous exploiters. The de-personalization of
property ownership increased on a vast scale. Financial exchange circles began
to triumph and made slow but sure progress in assuming control of the whole of
national life.
Before the War the internationalization of the German
economic structure had already begun by the roundabout way of share issues. It
is true that a section of the German industrialists made a determined attempt
to avert the danger, but in the end they gave way before the united attacks of
money-grabbing capitalism, which was assisted in this fight by its faithful
henchmen in the Marxist movement.
The persistent war against German 'heavy industries'
was the visible start of the internationalization of German economic life as
envisaged by the Marxists. This, however, could only be brought to a successful
conclusion by the victory which Marxism was able to gain in the Revolution. As
I write these words, success is attending the general attack on the German
State Railways which are now to be turned over to international capitalists.
Thus 'International Social-Democracy' has once again attained one of its main
objectives.
Thus the regulation of capital investment activity
really means a planned direction of capital investment. This was proved
especially necessary when work was started on the Four-Years-Plan. In a certain
sense capital investments were scaled according to urgency. Four-Years-Plan,
rearmament and exports are the most important.
A number of measures have been introduced in this
connection. They may be classified as follows:- There are capital investment
prohibitions, the purpose of which is to prevent industries whose capacity is
sufficient to cover demand, from extending their plants. This prevents needless
using up of the limited capital and material available, and avoids
over-production and consequent disturbances of the market. We have such capital
investment prohibitions, for instance, in the paper industry, in the glass
industry, in part of the textile industry and in part of the chemical industry.
In the second place the regulation of capital
investments and production by profits and sales guarantees given by the
government. I have already emphasized that National-Socialism adheres to the
principle of private initiative. However this does not prevent the State, if it
seems necessary, from relieving private business of some of the risk it runs in
undertaking certain projects. These profits and sales guarantees given by the
State are especially important in the production of staple fibre, motor spirit and
synthetic rubber. The companies engaged in such production in Germany are
private firms; their profits however, have been guaranteed by the State to a
certain extent, since their products are of great importance for the economic
policy of the State.
In some fields the State itself has gone into
production, and has for this purpose made capital investments. The principle
that business is to be left as far as possible to private initiative does not
mean that the State cannot engage in economic activity in certain fields of
production and under certain specific conditions. This is the case, for
example, in the field of iron ore production.
After the loss of territory in the War, only a small
part of Germany's iron ore requirements could be covered by domestic
production. In view of the fixed costs and prices prevailing and under the
usual methods of exploitation only part of Germany's iron ore deposits could be
mined with profit. The dependence on imports in the case of such an important
field as iron ore had to be eliminated. But the conditions and problems in this
type of production were so peculiar and so extensive that the State correctly
assumed the initiative itself. The Government, founded a company, the Hermann
Goering Reichswerke, the business of which is the mining of the low content
iron ores which abound in Germany.
Subsidies.
One of the oldest and best-known methods of State
intervention both here and abroad is the granting of subsidies by the State.
Outside Germany, especially in the United States, subsidies are well-known,
above all in the shipping industry. Here too private business is not in a
position itself to operate an economic branch in the way the State considers
desirable. The same thing holds in Germany for some spheres of production. For
example, certain building projects, such as the building of dwellings for
agricultural workers or the erection of settlements for industrial workers, are
carried out either directly with the help of contributions from the State, or
indirectly with the aid of loans granted by the State on extremely favorable
terms. Furthermore, the production of nonferrous metals has been supported by
State subsidies for many years.
Regulation of raw material
consumption.
The third group of measures of government production
regulation concern raw material consumption. Almost the whole of German
industry is subjected to the system of raw material quotas. The essence of
quota-fixing lies in the control of imports, which was introduced in 1934 as
part of the New Plan for German foreign trade. The control is carried out by 27
control boards, one of which has been set up for each branch of industry.
Factories which use imported raw materials are only allowed to purchase a
certain volume of raw materials abroad. Normally, the basis of the quota-fixing
is the consumption of a certain month. But the importance of the orders which
the company has to fill, is also taken into account, export orders being given
special consideration.
Apart from this system of import regulation there
exist a number of decrees dealing with the use of raw materials. For instance,
as a result of the scarcity of wool and cotton it has been decreed that all
wool and cotton cloth manufactured in Germany for the domestic market must
contain a certain percentage of staple fibre. Certain products, for example
doorknobs, may no longer be made of brass. In private residential buildings
only a certain amount of construction iron may be used. This system of
regulation has been carefully worked out and is not too strictly bureaucratic
in its application. In many cases the usual raw materials must be replaced by
new synthetic raw materials which can be produced without any import. The use
of these new synthetic raw materials does not mean a lowering of the quality of
the finished product. On the contrary, the shortage of raw materials leads to
new inventions and improvements and even brings about as in the case of buna
(synthetic rubber) a technical progress which otherwise would not have
occurred.
In the second segment of this
series I presented an off-the-cuff discussion which attempted to explain why an
individual's intellectual fruits belonged to the community as a whole, as much
as it does to the individual. This idea is embedded into the essence of
National Socialism, however it is averse to both Capitalism and Marxism. From
the Communist Manifesto, and admission that both Capitalism and Marxism would
destroy national character. Note that the Marxists are not truly complaining of
the circumstances being created under Globalist Capitalism, but are rather only
observing how those circumstances fit their own plan, and how they will be
advantageous to their goals:
The bourgeoisie has through its exploitation of the
world-market given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in
every country. To the great chagrin of Reactionists, it has drawn from under
the feet of industry the national ground on which it stood. All old-established
national industries have been destroyed or are daily being destroyed. They are
dislodged by new industries, whose introduction becomes a life and death
question for all civilised nations, by industries that no longer work up indigenous
raw material, but raw material drawn from the remotest zones; industries whose
products are consumed, not only at home, but in every quarter of the globe. In
place of the old wants, satisfied by the productions of the country, we find
new wants, requiring for their satisfaction the products of distant lands and
climes. In place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency,
we have intercourse in every direction, universal inter-dependence of nations.
And as in material, so also in intellectual production. The intellectual
creations of individual nations become common property. National one-sidedness
and narrow-mindedness become more and more impossible, and from the numerous
national and local literatures, there arises a world literature....
The Communists are further reproached with desiring to
abolish countries and nationality.
The working men have no country. We cannot take from
them what they have not got. Since the proletariat must first of all acquire
political supremacy, must rise to be the leading class of the nation, must
constitute itself the nation, it is, so far, itself national, though not in the
bourgeois sense of the word.
National differences and antagonisms between peoples
are daily more and more vanishing, owing to the development of the bourgeoisie,
to freedom of commerce, to the world-market, to uniformity in the mode of
production and in the conditions of life corresponding thereto.
The supremacy of the proletariat will cause them to
vanish still faster. United action, of the leading civilised countries at
least, is one of the first conditions for the emancipation of the proletariat.
In proportion as the exploitation of one individual by
another is put an end to, the exploitation of one nation by another will also
be put an end to. In proportion as the antagonism between classes within the
nation vanishes, the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end.
It should be evident, that both
Capitalists and Marxists would destroy all national boundaries, and blend the
world into a single race.
From Mein
Kampf, p. 46:
The Jewish doctrine of Marxism repudiates the
aristocratic principle of Nature and substitutes for it the eternal privilege
of force and energy, numerical mass and its dead weight. Thus it denies the
individual worth of the human personality, impugns the teaching that nationhood
and race have a primary significance, and by doing this it takes away the very
foundations of human existence and human civilization. If the Marxist teaching
were to be accepted as the foundation of the life of the universe, it would
lead to the disappearance of all order that is conceivable to the human mind.
And thus the adoption of such a law would provoke chaos in the structure of the
greatest organism that we know, with the result that the inhabitants of this
earthly planet would finally disappear.
Should the Jew, with the aid of his Marxist creed,
triumph over the people of this world, his Crown will be the funeral wreath of
mankind, and this planet will once again follow its orbit through ether,
without any human life on its surface, as it did millions of years ago.
And so I believe to-day that my conduct is in
accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator. In standing guard against the
Jew I am defending the handiwork of the Lord.
From Mein
Kampf, p. 125:
What we have to fight for is the necessary security
for the existence and increase of our race and people, the subsistence of its
children and the maintenance of our racial stock unmixed, the freedom and
independence of the Fatherland; so that our people may be enabled to fulfil the
mission assigned to it by the Creator.
The planned economy of National Socialism, therefore, was purposely
designed so that German sovereignty would be assured, and so that Germany would
not suffer an invasion of aliens. This is most clear in the next part of its
economic policy, concerning the labor supply.
Regulation of labor supply.
[Nothing about flooding the
land with kaffirs and mestizos.]
When in the course of the last few years unemployment
disappeared in Germany and turned into an ever greater shortage of labor, it
was impossible for the government to view this passively, since otherwise there
was danger that some industrial branches would be compelled to restrict their
production. Thus the government had to regulate labor supply and distribution
of labor among the various branches. Labor reserves today in Germany can be
secured by the employment of additional female labor, later retirement, and
employment of superfluous independent workers as wage earners in industry. But
these reserves are relatively small so that the question arises how to increase
efficiency of labor.
But the problem is not that of merely employing more people, it is the
employment of people in industries where they are most needed. Thus it was necessary
to take care that in certain industries there was no diminishment of the labor
supply. A law was passed recently which makes any change in employment
dependent on the approval of the labor office. This law applies to the
following branches and industries: agriculture, forestry, mining (excepting
coal mining), chemical industry, building industry, building material industry,
iron and metal industry. By this the German government hopes that in these
important branches the especially urgent needs of the state will be covered.
Hitler was not pro-Capital nor
pro-Labour, he was pro-people:
From Mein
Kampf, pp. 35-36:
On innumerable occasions the bourgeoisie took a
definite stand against even the most legitimate human demands of the working
classes. That conduct was ill-judged and indeed immoral and could bring no gain
whatsoever to the bourgeois class. The result was that the honest workman
abandoned the original concept of the trades union organization and was dragged
into politics.
There were millions and millions of workmen who began
by being hostile to the Social Democratic Party; but their defences were
repeatedly stormed and finally they had to surrender. Yet this defeat was due
to the stupidity of the bourgeois parties, who had opposed every social demand
put forward by the working class. The short-sighted refusal to make an effort
towards improving labour conditions, the refusal to adopt measures which would
insure the workman in case of accidents in the factories, the refusal to forbid
child labour, the refusal to consider protective measures for female workers,
especially expectant mothers--all this was of assistance to the Social
Democratic leaders, who were thankful for every opportunity which they could
exploit for forcing the masses into their net. Our bourgeois parties can never
repair the damage that resulted from the mistake they then made. For they sowed
the seeds of hatred when they opposed all efforts at social reform. And thus
they gave, at least, apparent grounds to justify the claim put forward by the
Social Democrats--namely, that they alone stand up for the interests of the
working class.
And this became the principal ground for the moral
justification of the actual existence of the Trades Unions, so that the labour
organization became from that time onwards the chief political recruiting
ground to swell the ranks of the Social Democratic Party.
Increase of production.
If you were to ask me what success has been achieved
in the sphere of production regulation, I could not do better than to give you
a few figures which will show you the extent of the increase of production in
Germany. Total industrial production in Germany is today 144 % greater than in
1932. Even the peak year of 1929 was exceeded as early as 1936, while today
about 30% more industrial goods are produced than in 1929. The production of
capital goods has risen much more strongly than has the production of
consumption goods, being now four times as great as in 1932 and more than one
and a half times as great as in 1929.
Progress in the field of domestic raw material
production has been even greater. Iron ore production has risen from an average
of 843,000 metric tons for the first 3 months of 1938 to 1,226,000 metric tons
in the first three months of 1939. This means an increase of 45%. Furthermore,
there has been great progress in domestic oil production. In 1938, staple fibre
production has reached 155,000 metric tons as compared with 5,400 metric tons
in 1933 and 102,000 metric tons in 1937.
Consumption policy.
A number of measures of production regulations, namely
all those which affect production of consumption goods, also influence
consumption. When, for example, in the interest of a sufficient bread supply it
is decreed that all bread should contain a certain amount of maize flour, this
is felt by each individual consumer. (Incidentally, in view of the good harvest,
this particular measure was abolished on October 1st, 1938.) The same is true
of the changes in the textile field and in other fields where the new synthetic
materials are gaining a foothold.
The idea of "consumption regulation" is
undoubtedly something completely new to you. In the economic textbooks and
handbooks nothing will be found on this subject. Of course, the fact that -
contrary to general belief - man cannot consume what he desires, is as old as
the hills. And even today in the modern economic systems the individual is
subjected to many restrictions in his consumption.
In the Middle Ages there were strict provisions as to
the clothing worn by the various classes. The Mercantile countries, that is,
the countries of the 17th and 18th centuries, restricted consumption for
economic reasons, mainly in order to stimulate home industry and to cut down
imports. And if you consider your own position you will find none or only a few
restrictions in your consumption as the result of State action (you will
remember of course the days of prohibition!), but you will probably find great
restrictions in consumption as the result of custom, fashion, habit, social
viewpoint and, last but not least, industrial production.
It would probably be very hard for you to secure
outside the six to eight different forms of straw hats to be found in almost
every shop, one which was especially light and comfortable and in a form
designed by yourself. This is nowhere manufactured and it would be hard for you
to find someone to make you a straw hat according to your own design and
measure. Industrial hat production, which is rationally based on machine
production of hats, will certainly not do it. While on the subject of hats, it
would be impossible for you to walk around in America, in a round plate-like
felt hat, instead of the usual form of felt hat, without being laughed off the
street, for that would be contrary to American custom and habit. And finally
the fact that each family must spend a certain part of its income on food, the
amount being in inverse proportion to the income, is most certainly a
restriction of freedom of consumption which weighs quite heavily on the
individual.
As you can see, complete freedom of consumption is a
rather doubtful matter. Once you have realized this, it will no longer seem
absurd to you when I speak of government consumption regulation. In the
authoritarian states, a direction of consumption forms part of the totalitarian
claim of the State, which subordinates the individual to the higher needs of
the nation.
The aim of consumption policy in Germany is to
increase consumption and thus raise the standard of living of the entire
nation, - especially that of the working class - to adjust consumption to
production and to regulate consumption along National-Socialist lines. The aims
of consumption regulation are partly of a political nature and partly
determined by the economic situation.
It is far harder to regulate consumption than it is to
regulate anything else in economy. For every measure of consumption policy
affects the largest unit, the entire population. A decree concerning the iron
ore producing industry affects only a few hundred firms. However, an appeal to
the consumer affects 19 or 20 million households with 75 million people. This
fact alone makes special methods necessary for regulation of consumption.
I have hinted at these methods in telling you about
the bread supply and textile production. Of a similar nature are certain
limitations imposed upon trade, whereby only a fixed amount is allowed to each
customer, as for example in the case of fats in months when there is a
shortage.
The most important means of regulating consumption is
publicity. Of course, this method does not guarantee as sure a success as do
legal measures. But it has the great advantage that it gives the consumer the
feeling that he is doing something of his own free will and that the only
pressure exerted upon him is that which is exerted by his conscience.
Nutrition.
Germany is in the unfortunate position that there is a
limit to which those foodstuffs the consumption of which increases with a rise
in income, such as fats, butter, eggs, etc., can be produced or imported. Thus,
the aim has been to influence the consumer to use as much as possible those
foodstuffs which are abundant in Germany and to use to a less degree those
which are not so plentiful or which have to be imported. At the same time,
there was a possibility of directing nutrition in the best ways from the point
of view of health. For instance everything possible was done to convince people
that for a great part of the population, for example those who do not do hard
physical labor, a diet too rich in fats is not especially healthy. Along the
same ideas, great success has been achieved in increasing the consumption of
fish. Today Germany consumes 26.9 lbs. per head per annum, as, as compared with
18.7 lbs. five years ago.
A summary of everything desired in the field of
consumption regulation may be found in the food list which the German Institute
for Business Research has worked out. The Institute classified the food-stuffs
into three groups, those whose consumption should be increased, those whose
level of consumption should be maintained, and those whose consumption should
be restricted.
The foodstuffs concerned are as follows:
Consumption to be increased: potatoes, sugar, jam,
skimmed milk, whey cheese, barley, oatmeal, sago, artificial honey, buttermilk,
Harz cheese and Limburg cheese, vegetables grown in Germany, fish, mutton,
rabbits.
Consumption to be maintained: bread and pastry, flour,
fruit, lentils, pork, eggs, milk, venison, rice, peas, dried fruits, poultry,
cocoa, beans, honey.
Consumption to be restricted: beef, veal, butter,
lard, bacon, margarine, cooking oils and fats, buckwheat, millet, imported
vegetables, cheese with high fat content.
In Germany we do not have a regular supply of all
foodstuffs throughout the year as you do in America. The Institute therefore
drew up a list of those foodstuffs which are to be especially pushed in certain
months. As an example I shall quote two months: January: pork, geese, fish,
cabbage, root vegetables, fruit and vegetable conserves. September: mutton,
poultry, mushrooms, pickles, tomatoes, beans, salad, spinach, plums, pears and
apples. However, I would like to emphasize that these are not the only goods
which may be consumed, but the public is to be educated to adjust its diet to
conform more or less with the fluctuations in the supply of certain foodstuffs.
Publicity to this end is not carried out by the Institute for Business Research
or by the Government direct but by organizations like the Reich Food Estate
(Reichsnahrstand) and private companies.
Another measure serving the same purpose is the
Anti-Waste Campaign. The purpose of this is clearly to be seen in its name.
Other fields of consumption.
The problems of consumption regulation in other fields
are just as great as those in the field of foodstuffs. It is well-known that
Germany must import the greater part of the raw materials required for the
manufacture of textiles, shoes, etc. As a result of the considerable rise in
income in the course of the last five years, the demand for these goods has
increased greatly. Thus there arose the danger that consumption would exceed
production possibilities. Since it is impossible forcibly to restrict the
consumer in this field, the aim was, mainly by means of publicity, to direct
consumption in those paths where there was practically no limit to consumption
possibilities. Therefore, consumption was directed to all such services as
travel, theater, sport, diora (vacations ?), etc. The introduction of the
low-priced popular car also means a direction of consumption to a ware which
can be produced in quantities sufficient to meet demands.
Of course publicity is not in itself sufficient. For
it is precisely in those fields of consumption where the consumer feels himself
free, that it is hardest to get him to use his money for the things which it is
desired that he buy. Therefore, publicity has been effectively supported by
price reductions of all kinds. Here, too, the low-priced popular car is the
best example. This will cost about 1,000 RM. and will be much cheaper than any
other car. Moreover, the low-priced popular radio set has promoted purchases in
this field. This is being continually improved and reduced in price. The
Reichsbahn, the German State Railroad, has established reduced fares for trips
to all large exhibitions, such as the automobile exhibition, the radio
exhibition, sports meetings, etc. so that more people can take advantage of
these occasions.
Organized consumption.
A special field in consumption regulation is the
organization of consumption which is carried out by the large political units,
especially the German Labor Front. Here political and social aims correspond to
economic aims. Everything is being done to influence the worker to spend his
income as much as possible for such things as mean a substantial rise in his
standard of living and as little as possible for such things as burden the
German foreign exchange balance. Through organization it is possible to effect
price reductions, and these price reductions are to make it possible for the
worker to do those things which formerly only the better-situated classes were
able to afford.
The main factor in the field of organized consumption
is the organization Kraft
durch Freude "Strength through Joy." The following
figures and examples show what has been done. Up to 1937, 9 million German
citizens had taken journeys and walking trips. The following were taken at
random from a list of 350 vacation trips from Berlin which have been arranged
for the period from May to September 1938: -
A two-week trip to Upper-Bavaria costs 60-50 RM.,
while an eight-day stay on the Baltic costs only 31 RM., and a 16 day trip to
East Prussia but 41 RM. These costs include everything: railroad fare, room and
board, trips, etc. In the last theater season, 1937/1938, the " Strength
through Joy" arranged 7,000 theater performances. For the workers on the
auto highways alone some 7,000 concerts and entertainments were arranged. In
the last four years 34 million people have participated in the evenings of
culture and entertainment arranged by the organization "Feierabend"
which I might translate into English as "The Evening Off." Seven
million have taken part in sport exhibitions, gymnastics, games, etc. On the
island of Rügen a large seaside resort is being constructed, which will offer
20,000 an opportunity for recreation and rest.
Sea trips take German workers to Portugal, Madeira,
Norway and Italy. By the end of 1937, over 180,000 had made such trips.
Recently the German Labor Front launched its own ships, the Wilhelm Gustloff and the
Robert Ley,
which were especially built and fitted for such sea trips. It is planned to
build about 20 steamers for this purpose. The comfort and living conditions in
that ship are but little different from those in the great liners. Just as on
the great luxurious liners, so on the Wilhelm
Gustloff and the Robert
Ley, you can have your daily bath in fresh water, enjoy running hot
and cold water in your cabin, drink ice water, swim in a large pool, play in
the sports room, enjoy all the deck games and dance in the evening or attend
some entertainment. The land trips which are taken are not different from those
arranged by the North German Lloyd or by the Hamburg-America Line. Yet the
whole three weeks only cost the sum of 158.37 RM., including the railroad trip
from Berlin to Genoa and the railroad trip from Hamburg to Berlin. The usual
rule is that only those workers are allowed to take these trips whose income is
not over 300 RM. per month; most of the participants, indeed, earn less than
200 RM. monthly.
All these possibilities of organized consumption,
which each year include more people, lead to the fact that the standard of
living in Germany cannot be ascertained by the usual methods, and also leads, I
would like to say in closing, to the fact that the standard of living in
Germany cannot be compared statistically with that in other countries.
Therefore, when you read any statistics about the standard of living in
Germany, you yourselves will have the impression, after hearing about these
trips, etc., that these figures do not give the right picture, since the
standard of living in Germany is affected by a number of things which cannot be
shown by statistics.
____________________________
Printed in Germany
Published by the Terramare Office, Kronenstrasse,
Berlin, W 8
Printed by the Terramare Press, Dresdener Str. 43,
Berlin, SW 19
No comments:
Post a Comment