/siberia/ - Off-topic

comrades I come from an alternative universe. How revisionist is this?

German Ideology emphasises the German nation as an entity that is of its time, one that was misled by militarists who led it into a destructive war and was then taken over by international financiers who ran the country into ruin. The “German” essence of the belief, then, equates more to the communists positioning themselves as the only truly German party. The fact that Marx and Engels were both Germans was given extra emphasis in this regard.


This is not to say that German Ideology is overtly anti-internationalist, when prompted most adherents will argue that Germany was the foremost example of the international capitalist control that most industrialised countries suffer under. German Ideology, they would argue, is not only applicable to non-German countries but necessary to their development and there is more than lip service paid to this idea. Time and time again in European countries “liberated” by Comintern it is stressed that they must follow a similar path to Germany if they are to truly throw off the shackles of capitalist control. One fault in the ideology that even adherents will usually admit to is its Eurocentrism as a philosophy. German Ideology does not have much to say about imperialism other than that it hinders the development of socialist nation states both in the coloniser country and in the colonised. Imperialism, it argues, is a deliberate function of the international capitalist, to export the surplus of labour as far away from the worker as possible, leaving them at the point of starvation whilst the international financiers develop new means of recreation and resource exploitation in the developing world. There is no distinction made between the urban labourer in Berlin and the field worker in Matabeleland, both have the same enemy and as such the urban labourer, being as a more “advanced” state of consciousness, must take the lead in the fight.


Who is this enemy? German Ideology is vague in proving an international plot against the international proletariat and against Germany in particular, but remains repeatedly adamant that it does exist. Unlike the old feudal monarchies, Hitler and Goebbels have argued, the international financier does not have one concentrated power base but instead has a web of power and control across the globe from which it governs, in a non-linear fashion, the entire capitalist world. This overt description of capitalist conspiracy is one of the clearest ways in which German Ideology differs from the original Marxist-Leninist line, which is open about its belief that the state in capitalist society is an agent of capital, but does not dwell on the idea that all capitalist states are under the control of the same group. It is thus perhaps not surprising that German Ideology also differs from Marxism-Leninism, and indeed almost all forms of Marxist thought in its proposed solution to the problem of international capitalism.


Rather than merely press for and support worldwide revolution, German Ideology argues that military might is an absolute necessity for the destruction of the capitalist world. Whilst acknowledging that peacefully undermining the capitalist world until the workers in capitalist countries rise up is the preferred strategy for ending world capitalism, German Ideology maintains that a large and modern military is not only viable for the survival of socialist states but also must be maintained as an option for offensive action against the worldwide capitalist enemy. Having used the existing nation states to destroy global capitalism, German Ideology seeks to create the “New Society” envisaged by Hitler. A global community of socialist states that will together towards a communist utopia. How this will work in practice is arguably left deliberately speculative, for an ideology that is relentlessly focused on present and existing conflict with international capital.


Although German Ideology is not interested in implementing communism fully in the present, that is not to say that it doesn’t aim to take radical steps to “free” industrialised society from any remnants of capitalist control. Hitler’s words, conveyed relentlessly by Goebbels and Lang, feature a strong focus on collective leadership but emphasis on the individual battle to maintain the community and to fight off other evils, providing an example to others. It appears that this outlook, which some have described as Collective-Vanguardism, had been based the philosophy of French anarchist, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who argued that mankind had only one, unalterable, collectivist nature. This collectivist instinct could be easily broken away from but it would require a greater understanding to then return to it. In this sense, German Ideology argues that the vanguard is the collective, and vice versa. The economic and social implications of this outlook on German society will be discussed further in regards to practice later on in this work.


Although critics of German Ideology have pointed to Hitler’s mix of Proudhon and Lenin as a deliberate blurring of the line between democracy and dictatorship with the aim of justifying the latter. It would seem that Hitler did not much care about the distinction between the two modes of government or lack thereof. The position of Volksfuhrer (People’s Leader) that he appointed himself amongst the culmination of the communist seizure of power was a title that was already informally used within the KPD to describe Hitler as General Secretary. As grandiose as the title may appear, it seems that it serves a far more functional intent, German Ideology does not emphasise the need for a leading figure, only a state apparatus to facilitate the worker’s control of the economy and the military. It would appear that Hitler’s functionalist mindset has led him to believe that there is need for a leader to better realise the aims of the state as outlined above.


Functionalism as a theme permeates throughout the known works of German ideology, the reasons for which appear to be twofold. The first refers to the need for the socialist state to be ready as quickly as possible to face the capitalism, the second is a deeper belief that Germany is the natural home of socialism and as such there can be no excuses as to half measures or compromises that have been seen in the case of Russia, were the Soviet’s marxist intent has often had to compromise with the reality of a feudal state industrialising into a feudal economy. The role of woman in German Ideology would seem to highlight this. Whilst not explicitly a feminist text the adherents of Hitler Thought maintain that women must be “liberated”, not only for the betterment of themselves but also for the collective. Patriarchy is not viewed as a conflict in itself but as an archaic hangover from feudal society. There is no reason for mechanised society to keep gender roles when gender equality can lead to greater advancement and prosperity, and whilst it does not flaunt its feminist beliefs in the same way as Marxism-Leninism, adherents of German-Ideology do insist that their abolition of the patriarchy is evidence of their innate supremacy over what they view as an outdated capitalist world..


The framing of traditional Marxist aims and ideals necessary steps in the name of human advancement can be perhaps be seen as having been carried over from Hitler’s time as a futurism enthusiast, an ideology based around the symbiotic relationship between human society and the industrial economy. Many futurists became cynical about the prospects for technology after First World War seemed to indicate that technological advancement had only led to destruction but it seems that whilst Hitler was jaded by the experience the war the notion that society must in some way exist to serve the needs to the economy around it. In his semi-autobiographical, semi-philosophical work, he asserts that:


"The workers state is innately superior to the capitalist model, not only because it harnesses the collective energy of society into one aim for which all can share the benefits but also its allowance for the brilliant work of individual genius to be brought forward into the foreground without the unnecessary constraints of the capitalist caste system that restricts the arena of advancing society to the privileged few."
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Hence, whilst German Ideology is without a doubt a socialist ideology in theory, it maintain that technological development is still the solution to the problems afflicting mankind in itself that the socialism conveniently allows the best means to achieve this. No distinction is made as to whether peaceful advancement or the violent destruction of the capitalist system would be the most superior position in the long-term but, as outlined above, German Ideology is far less apprehensive about the idea of another global conflict as it believes one already exists.



~ George F. Kennan, The Theory and Practice of "German Ideology"

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