What’s Wrong with Admiring Hitler?

Reminder: Our online Zoom conference on open borders continues on Monday, October 28, with Benjamin Powell,  director of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University and professor of economics at Texas Tech University’s Rawls College of Business.  7 p.m.-8 p.m. Eastern Time.  Register here.

Reminder: I’ll be speaking at the JFK Lancer conference and also at the CAPA conference, which are being held on November 22-24 in Dallas. Both of them are fantastic JFK-assassination-related conferences. I highly recommend registering for both and then picking and choosing which sessions you would like to attend at both conferences. I will have some of my JFK books there to autograph and sell at a discounted price. I hope to see you there!

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According to an article in the New York Times, former Homeland Security secretary John Kelly, who also served as Donald Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, “confirmed previous reports that Mr. Trump had made admiring statements about Hitler.” Kelly made the statement in the context of discussing Trump’s authoritarian proclivities. Trump isn’t the only one though. According to an article in the Daily Mail, a fifth of Gen Z Americans (i.e., 12-27 years old) believe that Hitler had “some good ideas.”

Needless to say, American statists, including those in the U.S. mainstream press, are up in arms over Trump’s “admiring statements about Hitler.” But the discomforting fact is that American statists, whether they realize it or not, also admire and agree with much of what Hitler stood for.

Of course, Hitler has long been defined by the Holocaust. But the Holocaust didn’t get launched until the middle of World War II. What about the entire decade of the 1930s, when Hitler was serving as chancellor of Germany? How do American statists feel about the pre-war/pre-Holocaust Hitler? Well, let’s consider some of Hitler’s positions.

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1. Hitler was a big supporter of Social Security, which is a socialist program that is near and dear to the hearts of every American statist. Why, even reform-oriented libertarians favor the continuation of this socialist program for at least one generation and possibly longer.

In fact, the concept of Social Security originated in Germany, and so it’s no surprise that Hitler would favor it, especially given that his philosophy was based on national socialism. The concept was made part of the American system in the 1930s and has remained a permanent and extremely popular part of American life ever since.

In fact, it’s revealing that some reform-oriented libertarians favor a reform plan in which young people are permitted to opt out of receiving Social Security (even while having to continue paying the taxes to fund the continuation of the system for the current generation of seniors) but, at the same time, being required by law to deposit retirement funds into a government-approved retirement account. Why is that revealing? Because that’s the essence of economic fascism, something else that Kelly accused Trump of favoring. In fact, that’s the type of retirement program that was adopted by Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who was the very model of a fascist dictator, one who is still widely admired within both the Chilean and American right-wing.

2. It’s no different with Medicare and Medicaid. Hitler strongly believed in government-provided healthcare. So do American statists. For that matter, many reform-oriented libertarians favor the continuation of these socialist programs as well, calling for “health savings accounts” or something called “direct medical care” as reforms intended to fix and improve America’s long-standing healthcare crisis (that is rooted in the adoption of Medicare and Medicaid).

3. A large permanent military establishment to provide for a “strong national defense.” These are things that Hitler favored and that American conservatives and liberals — as well as Republican-lite libertarians — favor. Hitler would have loved the Pentagon, the CIA, the NSA, and the FBI as much as American statists do.

4. The Interstate Highway System. This was the biggest public-works project in U.S. history. American statists love it, even while they lament the environmental damage from all the cars it encouraged to be produced. It was inspired by Hitler’s autobahn system, even though that’s not widely publicized. Have you ever wondered why they don’t have commemorative statues of Hitler at the start and end of each interstate highway?

5. Public (i.e., government) schooling. Hitler, just like American statists, loved the concept of public schooling because he understood that this socialist program was key to producing a nation of good, little, deferential, indoctrinated, patriotic citizens who could be counted on to fall for whatever racket the government promoted, such as Germany’s war on terrorism after the terrorist attack on the German Reichstag and America’s war on terrorism after the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

In fact, take a look at this photo of pre-World War II American public-school students and see if you don’t notice something interesting. It’s worth noting that even reform-oriented, Republican-lite libertarians favor using school vouchers to put private schools under governmental control and also electing libertarians to school boards to improve the state’s educational system.

6. A government-regulated and government-managed economy. Hitler, like American statists, was a firm believer in private ownership of the means of production but, at the same time, favored an economic system that subjected private business and industry under government regulation, control, and management.

7. Paper money and a central bank. Like American statists, Hitler was a firm believer in both paper money and a central bank (e.g. the Federal Reserve). Keep in mind that President Roosevelt abandoned America’s constitution monetary system of gold coins and silver coins as part of his New Deal program. Ironically, FDR took power here in the United States at about the same time that Hitler took power in Germany.

In fact, a good book to read is Three New Deals by Wolfgang Schivelbusch, which details the similarities between FDR’s economic program and those of Hitler and Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy. Indeed, don’t forget about the letter that Hitler wrote to FDR commending him on his economic policies and economic philosophy, which mirrored those of Hitler in the 1930s.

8. Hitler also believed in invasions and wars of aggression, as demonstrated by his invasions of Poland and Czechoslovakia. But so do American statists. After all, let’s not forget the U.S. invasions and wars of aggression against Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, and others.

9. State-sponsored assassinations. Both Hitler and American statists were/are tremendous supporters of this means of eliminating people.

10. Torture. Again, American statists are on the same page as Hitler in favoring this government policy.

11. Indefinite detention. Hitler favored this policy, as do American statists.

12. Trial by tribunal. Hitler favored this type of trial for accused terrorists, as do American statists. Hitler’s trial of Hans and Sophie Scholl provides a good example, one that is mirrored in the trial procedure in the Pentagon/CIA judicial system at Guantanamo Bay.

But yes, there is the Holocaust. But let’s not forget America’s role in the Holocaust. In the 1930s, Hitler was willing to let every German Jew leave Germany. But there was one big problem. Every nation, including the United States, had systems of immigration control, which they used to keep out German Jews. If America had instead continued our nation’s founding system of open borders, German Jews could have freely come to the United States when Hitler was willing to let them leave Germany and, thus, would not have been killed in the Holocaust.

Finally, I think it’s worth mentioning that the name of the agency that John Kelly headed — Homeland Security — conjures up, at least for me, eerie feelings of Nazi Germany — as in protecting the “homeland.”

Given the strong support of Hitler’s programs among American statists and even among some reform-oriented, Republican-lite libertarians, is it really any surprise that an American presidential candidate expresses admiration for Hitler? At least Trump is being honest, at least on this point.

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Reminder: Our online Zoom conference on open borders continues on Monday, October 28, with Benjamin Powell,  director of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University and professor of economics at Texas Tech University’s Rawls College of Business.  7 p.m.-8 p.m. Eastern Time.  Register here.

Reminder: I’ll be speaking at the JFK Lancer conference and also at the CAPA conference, which are being held on November 22-24 in Dallas. Both of them are fantastic JFK-assassination-related conferences. I highly recommend registering for both and then picking and choosing which sessions you would like to attend at both conferences. I will have some of my JFK books there to autograph and sell at a discounted price. I hope to see you there!