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Myth: Hitler was a leftist.

Fact: Nearly all of Hitler's beliefs placed him on the far right.

Summary

Many conservatives accuse Hitler of being a leftist, on the grounds that his party was named "National Socialist." But socialism requires worker ownership and control of the means of production. In Nazi Germany, private capitalist individuals owned the means of production, and they in turn were frequently controlled by the Nazi party and state. True socialism does not advocate such economic dictatorship -- it can only be democratic. Hitler's other political beliefs place him almost always on the far right. He advocated racism over racial tolerance, eugenics over freedom of reproduction, merit over equality, competition over cooperation, power politics and militarism over pacifism, dictatorship over democracy, capitalism over Marxism, realism over idealism, nationalism over internationalism, exclusiveness over inclusiveness, common sense over theory or science, pragmatism over principle, and even held friendly relations with the Church, even though he was an atheist.

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http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/ L-hitler.htm

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“We stand for the maintenance of private property. We shall protect free enterprise as the most expedient, or rather the sole possible economic order,” Adolph Hitler

Where to start?"socialism requires worker ownership"

Main Entry: so·cial·ism Pronunciation: 'sO-sh&-"li-z&m Function: noun Date: 1837 1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods 2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state 3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.

Main Entry: col·lec·tiv·ism Pronunciation: k&-'lek-ti-"vi-z&m Function: noun Date: 1857 : a political or economic theory advocating collective control especially over production and distribution; also : a system marked by such control.

The only thing Hitler advocated was obedience to the furher all others ideas were subordinate to that.

"He advocated racism over racial tolerance,(like Stalin?) eugenics over freedom of reproduction, merit over equality, competition over cooperation, power politics and militarism over pacifism, dictatorship over democracy, capitalism over Marxism, realism over idealism, nationalism over internationalism, exclusiveness over inclusiveness, common sense over theory or science, pragmatism over principle, and even held friendly relations with the Church, even though he was an atheist." This is what he really advocated.

The state must have absolute power over every man and over every sphere of human activity, the Nazis declared. "The authority of the Fuhrer is not limited by checks and controls, by special autonomous bodies or individual rights, but it is free and independent, all-inclusive and unlimited," said Ernst Huber, an official party spokesman, in 1933. "

But socialism requires worker ownership and control of the means of production.

Thus the USSR wasn't socialist either; everything was owned by the State, specifically Party members acting in the name of the State, and more accurately, Stalin. Not "the workers".

Same goes for Cuba. Effectively, everything is owned by Castro, not "the workers".

In fact no country has ever been or will ever be "socialist" if we insist on the definition you put forth. But then it can't be a very useful definition, can it? Especially since millions of people call themselves "socialists" and some of them get in power and do certain things while still insisting they are "socialists". Clearly there must be a better definition, one which actually covers the actual people who are de facto socialists by their own light.

private capitalist individuals owned the means of production, and they in turn were frequently controlled by the Nazi party and state.

What is a "private capitalist individual"? Is that the same thing as "person"? If so, then we can make that replacement, and also replace the word "Nazi" by the word "Communist", and we get an equally good characterization of the USSR. Which, therefore, also "wasn't really socialist".

Again, it's a useless definition under which nothing is "really" socialist.

True socialism does not advocate such economic dictatorship -- it can only be democratic.

Ah, "true" socialism! And socialism is based on what it "advocates"! So in the USSR the Communist party "advocated" ownership by "the workers" and pretended to be "democratic". The fact that in reality they (and not "the workers") simply controlled everything, and were not "democratic" at all, doesn't matter. They were socialist because of what they "advocated", while being fascist. Since Hitler had almost the same system, but didn't pay as much lip service to "the workers", he's not socialist at all! In fact, the opposite! I think I understand now, it's what they say, not what they do, which makes them "socialist".

Hitler's other political beliefs place him almost always on the far right. He advocated racism over racial tolerance,

And what does this have to do with being on the right? How "tolerant" was Stalin of Ukrainians? How "tolerant" is Castro of blacks? How "tolerant" is Mugabe of whites? I guess all of these guys are on the right?

eugenics over freedom of reproduction,

See Sweden, as recently as the 1970's....

merit over equality,

Hitler advocated "merit"? Except for Jews, I guess. Stalin advocated "equality"? Except for kulaks, Ukrainians, other useless eaters, I guess.

This definition of socialism is becoming more and more detached from reality.

competition over cooperation,

USSR, Cuba, North Korea, they're all about "cooperation", don'cha know!

power politics and militarism over pacifism,

Ah, Mugabe that lovable "pacifist". Many here probably fondly remember Kruschev's (?) famous "pacifist" words, "we will bury you". There is also the wonder "pacifist" way in which the Bolsheviks rose to power using terrorism, slaughtered the Czar's family, purged people, and excused all form of murder and assassination because in their eyes "political terror" is perfectly justified. Gotta love those leftist "pacifists".

dictatorship over democracy,

So unlike leftists.

nationalism over internationalism,

Stalin, again, was so "international". That's why he had such love for Ukrainians. Not to mention Jews!

exclusiveness over inclusiveness,

USSR, of course, being so "inclusive". Everyone was "included" in the opportunity to be sent to slave labor camps.

common sense over theory or science,

By contrast the USSR advocated "theory or science" over common sense? Yup, that Lysenko.. such good "science".

What a worthless "summary". Does it have anything to do with reality?

Many conservatives accuse Hitler of being a leftist, on the grounds that his party was named "National Socialist."

Hitler was pro-abortion (for non-"Aryans), pro gun control, and believed schools should be strictly controlled by the state. He supported smoking bans and speech codes. He had a goal to destroy Christianity. He supported euthanasia. He inisisted the private sector should be strictly regulated by the state.

I'd say he was a lefty.

even held friendly relations with the Church

Sure, just as our own Democratic Party does -- just so long as the church doesn't make waves and serves a useful purpose.

Many things to argue, but eugenics was strongly advocated by the likes of Margaret Sanger who is the patron saint of birth control in this country. I do believe that birth control is one of the cornerstones of leftist thinking. Plus the Nazis had no problem with abortion of "non-Aryan" children.

Actually Nazism or more correctly Hitlerism (as he set the rules) was a mix of socialism, racism, and nationalism.

Hitler's other political beliefs place him almost always on the far right. He advocated racism over racial tolerance...

And just why is racism a right wing attribute? Especially when the leftists these days basically say "If you are black, you're inferior, so you need affirmative action and other government handouts to keep up with whites." Interesting how we're always the "racists" for wanting to judge people on their merits rather than their skin color.

"Capitalism over Marxism"? Among the first victims whom Hitler had executed were capitalists.

Nazism was inspired by Italian Fascism, an invention of hardline Communist Benito Mussolini. During World War I, Mussolini recognized that conventional socialism wasn't working. He saw that nationalism exerted a stronger pull on the working class than proletarian brotherhood. He also saw that the ferocious opposition of large corporations made socialist revolution difficult. So in 1919, Mussolini came up with an alternative strategy. He called it Fascism. Mussolini described his new movement as a ``Third Way'' between capitalism and communism. As under communism, the state would exercise dictatorial control over the economy. But as under capitalism, the corporations would be left in private hands.

Hitler followed the same game plan. He openly acknowledged that the Nazi party was ``socialist'' and that its enemies were the ``bourgeoisie'' and the ``plutocrats'' (the rich). Like Lenin and Stalin, Hitler eliminated trade unions, and replaced them with his own state-run labor organizations. Like Lenin and Stalin, Hitler hunted down and exterminated rival leftist factions (such as the Communists). Like Lenin and Stalin, Hitler waged unrelenting war against small business.

Hitler regarded capitalism as an evil scheme of the Jews and said so in speech after speech. Karl Marx believed likewise. In his essay, ``On the Jewish Question,'' Marx theorized that eliminating Judaism would strike a crippling blow to capitalist exploitation. Hitler put Marx's theory to work in the death camps.

The Nazis are widely known as nationalists, but that label is often used to obscure the fact that they were also socialists. Some question whether Hitler himself actually believed in socialism, but that is no more relevant than whether Stalin was a true believer. The fact is that neither could have come to power without at least posing as a socialist.
A Little Secret About the Nazis
Joseph Goebbels own words: "Those Damn Nazis", long German propaganda piece defining intent and meaning of the Nazi's....National, Socialists....left-wing, "third way.".
If a Communist shouts "Down with nationalism!", he means the hypocritical bourgeois patriotism that sees the economy only as a system of slavery. If we make clear to the man of the left that nationalism and capitalism, that is the affirmation of the Fatherland and the misuse of its resources, have nothing to do with each other, indeed that they go together like fire and water, then even as a socialist he will come to affirm the nation, which he will want to conquer.

That is our real task as National Socialists. We were the first to recognize the connections, and the first to begin the struggle. Because we are socialists we have felt the deepest blessings of the nation, and because we are nationalists we want to promote socialist justice in a new Germany.

A young Fatherland will rise when the socialist front is firm.

Socialism will become reality when the Fatherland is free.

Documents, facts prove the intent of the Nazis. Their words are clearly leftist....their sympathues, their attempted allegiances, indeed they considered "Capitalists" their biggest enemies.

Thanks for making the sensible case. Unfortunately it seems likely that you will be drowned out by people who believe what they want to believe.

I seem to recall that in Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, he talks about how many early members of the SA felt they had been deluded when the party did not carry out the some of the social programs it had promised to gain power. Of course not everyone can be identified with a unique point on a left-right scale, but as you say the majority of Hitler's policies place him at the far right.