I have begun to read The Vampire Economy: Doing Business under Fascism by Günter Reimann which is available through The Ludwig Von Mises Institute bookstore. The Vampire Economy describes the economic system in NAZI Germany. As I read I will be blog my thoughts and describe what I have read and how we can learn from that horrific period in history.
Preface
A lot of people don't bother to read prefaces and I don't usually read them myself but part of this one stuck out. Speaking of the German businessman in NAZI Germany the author writes “They were willing to accept the first measures of regimentation as necessary but temporary acts.”
Sound familiar? Just like the bailouts and new powers given to the treasury secretary are supposedly “temporary”.
The author continues “They thought of the raids against the Jews and the sadistic brutalities of the Brownshirts as the excesses of 'uncontrollable elements' which would soon disappear.”
This sounds like the way a lot of Americans view police brutality, no knock raids, raids on cancer patients using medical marijuana and the worst elements among military police torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
We should remember these words as we look at the actions of our own government as it passes new legislation under pressure to “do something” about our current economic crisis. It is far too easy to dismiss the similarities between our own government and that of NAZI Germany because it isn't as blatant. Our government also does not have a policy of rounding people up simply because of their ethnicity or religion and throwing them in ovens. It just isn't as bad – yet. It is only through vigilance that we can prevent our own government from slipping into tyranny. As I continue reading The Vampire Economy I will continue to post my thoughts about what I have read. The Vampire Economy is unlike any other book about the NAZI regime that I have read. This book focuses on the economics of the regime and thus throws a unique light on the subject.
