The Vampire Economy: Doing Business Under Fascism

A sample of headlines from the Voelkischer Beobachter, the official Party newspaper of the !DAP " ational !ocialists #erman $or%ers Party or A&' Party(

) U E*P+),*E T- T.E*E D)U! !U//E!! )F T0E F)U. ,EA. P+A 1 $).2E.! $'++' # T) $).2 0A.DE. 1 /E+EB.AT' # T0E E$ $).2 /)**U 'T, 1 .'!' # !A+E! A D D'V'DE D!

These figures do not re3eal whether #ermany4s prosperity is shared 5y many or only 5y a few, or if it is confined to a relati3ely few large units "corporations(6 These figures do not show what happens to profits, how large a proportion of them are a5sor5ed 5y ta7es, nor what the 5usinessman is permitted to do with the portion that is left to him6 They gi3e little hint of the e7tent to which go3ernment inter3enes in e3ery 5usiness transaction6 They do not re3eal whether the indi3idual 5usinessman is permitted to raise his prices if his costs ad3ance nor whether he is allowed to shut down a department or e3en an entire factory should it pro3e to 5e unprofita5le6

+and owner, 0err V, spo%e to his 5an%er, 0err &: 8' want to in3est my li9uid funds in a way which is safe, where they can4t 5e touched 5y the !tate or the Party6 'n the old days ' always refused to speculate, to 5uy stoc%s6 ow ' would not mind6 0owe3er, ' would li%e 5est to 5uy a farm in !outh $est Africa6 Perhaps my ne7t crop will 5e a failure and ' will 5e 5lamed, accused of 8sa5otage:, and replaced

in the management of my estates 5y a Party administrator6 ' want to 5e prepared for such a contingency, and ha3e a place to go should the Party decide to ta%e away my property6:

The 5an%er had to inform 0err V that there was no such way out6 The !tate would not allow him to lea3e #ermany with more than ;< mar%s6 *anufacturers were panic stric%en6 *any industrialists were 3isited 5y !tate auditors who had strict orders to 8e7amine: the 5alance sheets and all 5oo%-%eeping entries of the company or indi3idual 5usinessman for the preceding two, three, or more years until some error or false entry was found6 The slightest formal mista%e was punished with tremendous penalties6

The decree of Fe5ruary =>, ;?@@, nullified article ;A@ of the $eimar /onstitution which guaranteed pri3ate property and restricted interference with pri3ate property in accordance with certain legally defined conditions6 The conception of property has e7perienced a fundamental change6 The indi3idualistic conception of the !tate 1 a result of the li5eral spirit 1 must gi3e way to the concept that communal welfare precedes indi3idual welfare "#emeinnutB geht 3or EigennutB(

The go3ernment of a totalitarian !tate would not 5e 8authoritarian: if the courts still functioned independently as they do under li5eral capitalism6 The di3ision of power 5etween the e7ecuti3e and legislati3e 5ranch on the one hand and the Cudicial 5ranch on the other was formerly a guarantee to the owner of pri3ate property that his property rights would 5e protected e3en against his own go3ernment6 The totalitarian !tate, in

a5olishing this separation of power, a5olishes the sanctity of pri3ate property, which thereupon ceases to 5e a 5asic principle of society fundamental to !tate morality6