Personality and the Conception of the Nationalist State

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This claims to be something written by Hitler in 1926. It is not clear to me if it was a speech or a text. At times, Hitler ‘s syntax is garbled in the fashion of people not used to rigorous thinking. For example:

“A person who holds that it is possible for a National Socialist state to transform itself into something new and different from other states by the mere process of greater equalization of wealth, better control of economic development—that is, by the mechanical method of reconstruction of its economic life—will find itself at an impasse.”

That sentence starts off talking about a person, but then slides into a statement about “it” being at an impasse. This is really bad writing that needs an editor.

What Hitler seems to be getting at in this text is that while he endorses socialism, mere redistribution of goods will not result in the full results - perhaps any results - that are sought by socialism if the social system does not give the opportunity for the talented, inventive individual to rise above the masses and improve society. Hitler starts off his discussion with observations about the importance of invention as separating mankind from animals in the “struggle for existence.”

This is interesting because it gestures at Hitler's underlying Darwinism.

Hitler, then, outlines the National Socialist approach to politics by saying that under National Socialism all decisions will be entrusted to individuals, not to committees or parliaments. Committees may either provide counseling or act to coordinate between decision-makers, but decisions will be made individually in order to allow the inventive elite to rise above the dull masses. Naturally, Hitler finds that the other forms of Socialism are Jewish inventions designed to suppress inventive personalities in the interests of the dull masses.

Ultimately, then, in this 1926 text, Hitler outlines his anti-majoritarian philosophy. One can see how an authoritarian political philosophy grows out of his view of the importance of individual personalities who rise above the masses and who are necessary for invention.

This is a short text, no more than about three or four pages. Hitler's reasoning is not particularly clear. It is odd to see someone extolling race without embarrassment.