Democracy or Leadership
Translated by Hadding Scott from the 16th (1940) edition of Hansjoerg
Maennel's Politische Fibel.
Democracy is the doctrine of the equality of all human beings and of the
ability of all human beings to govern themselves. (Democracy,
Greek = rule by the folk, rule by the masses.)
The starting point of the democratic conception is: "All men are
equal." "Everything that bears a human countenance is
equal." Not only are the peoples equal to each other (this view leads to
Internationalism), but even the human beings within a folk are equal.
Consequently all have equal rights, even an equal right to participate in the
state. "The authority of the state comes from the people." (Weimar
Constitution, Article 1.) – Since direct rule by the people is unworkable, one
chooses representative democracy or parliamentary government.
Parliamentarism is the principle of vote by
representatives, who make decisions through majority rule. (Parliamentarism,
from Lat. parlare = to speak.)
Critique of
parliamentary democracy:
1. It is not true that all men are equal. Human beings are different.
The democratic principle, "to each the same,” leads directly to
Communism, to the dispossession of the gifted, industrious, and thrifty
(precedent: Russia). – Democracy in the modern age started with the French
Revolution (1789). "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" (“Gleichheit,
Freiheit, Brüderlichkeit”) were the catchwords that ruled the entire 19th
Century. The democratic principle of equality is always an instrument of the
Jew for the elimination of the best racial forces. When all have equal rights (das
gleiche Recht), the capable and intelligent are thereby forced onto the
same level as the corrupt and stupid.
2. It is not true that the best and most capable emerge from a vote. Usually
the greatest shouters, the most irresponsible, are chosen. Whoever promises the
most has the greatest prospect of going to parliament. The MPs of the
democratic system were in no way the elite of the nation. The principle of vote
by popular representatives leads inevitably to the creation of economic or
religious special-interest parties. The MPs did not represent the folk
community, but mostly a specific class or group. Thereby unitary,
goal-conscious state-leadership was made impossible. The bourgeois parties and
the Marxist parties on the other side cancelled each other out. The power of
the nation was likewise nil and could not be effectively and coherently (geschlossen)
utilized abroad. International Jewry, however, tipped the balance on the scale
of the parliament. – Democracy is always the reign of the Jewish money-bag; it
leads to the most evil corruption.
3. It is not true that the decisions of a majority are always right
and beneficial to the people. On the contrary: by no means are 51 voices
against 49 voices necessarily correct. "What is the majority? Majority is
nonsense. Understanding has always only been among few. One ought to weigh
voices, not count them." (Schiller, Demetrius.) The individual MP
conceals himself behind an anonymous majority. He has "obeyed only his
conscience." Mostly however the "representatives of the people"
had no conscience. Parliamentary democracy is irresponsibility elevated
to a principle of government. It leads to the elimination of all authority,
thus ultimately to the complete ruin of folk and state.
Adolf Hitler: "The Jewish democracy of majority rule was always merely
a means to the destruction of the existing Aryan leader-class."
National-Socialism is the fiercest enemy of parliamentary democracy. In
opposition to that, it stands for the principle of Fuehrertum. Fuehrertum
is the direction of an organization by one over-towering man. The fuehrer-principle
is based on the conception of human inequality. There are the intelligent and
the stupid, the industrious and the lazy, the good and the bad. The particular
peoples and races are different, and so are the individual human beings within
a people. – Every folk comrade is appraised according to his performance for
the folk. Valuation according to performance. – The standard of
valuation must be the same for every folk comrade. We National-Socialists
reject preferential treatment for one class. (Examples: absolutism of the 18th
Century; the Weimar System, in which the National-Socialist was a second-class
person, while lower humanity could run wild with impunity; English plutocracy).
There is no privilege for any special class; all folk comrades are
evaluated equally (Program, Point 9). The result of an equal evaluation
of the individual person is however not the same, but different. Here this
principle applies: "To each what is appropriate,"* not
"To each the same," as in democracy. He who sacrifices and achieves
much ought to stand higher than he who achieves little and sacrifices nothing.
The National-Socialist idea of leadership (Fuehrergedanke) is founded
upon a deliberate selection according to race (genetic value),
character, and ability. Thus a rank-order develops. The entire folk
organically arrays itself as a pyramid. The most capable and gifted member of
the folk, who has prevailed through his over-towering achievements, stands at
the head of the folk: he is the Leader.
(Draw this on the blackboard.)
In democracy the "power of the state" comes from the people. It
consists in the rule of the mass. Authority (power to give orders) goes from
below to above, while on the other hand, responsibility goes from above to
below. Both are, however, unworkable in practice. One cannot command upward and
assign accountability downward. (Examples.) Democracy thus leads directly to
leaderlessness and irresponsibility. – In Fuehrertum by contrast these
principles apply: authority from above to below, responsibility from below
to above. The Leader appoints his lieutenants (Unterfuehrer),
he gives them their orders and guidelines, and for the execution and success of
these they are responsible to the Leader.
The National-Socialist movement is an example of true Fuehrertum. If
a political leader or an SA-fuehrer gives an order, this must be carried
out. Every follower (Gefolgsmann) can be called to account by his
leaders. Because Adolf Hitler built up the NSDAP rigorously according to the fuehrer-principle,
the movement inevitably prevailed against the Marxist and bourgeois mobs. –
Likewise the German state, which is led by means of strict Fuehrertum,
prevails against the neighboring democratic states. Against the democratic idea
of the mass we National-Socialists set the idea of personality. Everything
great in this world, all inventions and all cultural achievements are created
by personalities. (Examples.) – Our Leader has formed a German folk out of
disintegrating mass. Democracy is a symptom of decline in dying peoples (e.g.
Greece, Rome, etc.) All ascending peoples are, by contrast, always led
by significant personalities. – Democratic propaganda flatters the mass.
Everyone would rather command than obey. Consequently democracy was beloved and
the idea of leadership was often unpopular.
It is a mistake to believe that under the "people's government"
it goes well for the people. On the contrary! Experience has shown that
parliamentary democracy leads to the ruin of the people. A people can only
experience progress (Aufstieg) when a leader (Fuehrer) stands at
its head. Heroes make history!
A true leader feels that he is responsible to his people. Here Adolf Hitler
is a shining example. This principle of the responsibility of the Leader to the
Nation is designated "Germanic democracy." With Western
parliamentary democracy, which we reject, Germanic democracy has nothing in
common.
The fuehrer-principle has meaning only in service to the entire
nation. To be leader carries obligations The leader is the leader not because he
bears special distinctions but because he bears greater responsibility.
Leadership is not a privilege but an exalted duty. To be leader is to be an
example!
Adolf Hitler is the ideal leader: purposeful and inexorable, but at the
same time tactically astute; industrious, never resting, moreover prudent and
far-sighted; proud and righteous, but also modest and unpretentious; energetic
and austere, but full of warm love for his people. From the simplest origins
our Leader has worked his way up against the most difficult obstacles to become
the greatest statesman in German history. We National-Socialists are proud that
we are privileged to follow a man such as our Leader. He is a lofty example for
us. We emulate him with all our powers.
* Jedem
das Seine is still the motto of the German military police.
