The Roots of Nazi Psychology: Hitler's Utopian Barbarism

6 Ideology as Psychology

6 Ideology as Psychology An effective utopia cannot in the long run be the work of an individual, since the individual cannot by himself tear asunder the historical-social situation. Only when the utopian conception of the individual seizes upon currents already present in society and gives expression to them, when in this form it flows back into the outlook of the whole group, and is translated into action by it, only then can the existing order be challenged by the striving for another order of existence. -Karl Mannheim, Ideology and Utopia It is time now to put together Hitler's basic ideological principles with an emphasis on their underlying psychological meanings, which were extracted in the course of this exploration. First Principle: The world is permeated by an ill-understood mortal danger. At this eleventh hour, the historical clock for removing this danger is about to run out. The Jews are a killer alien race whose inherent nature is to destroy its victimized hosts parasitically. Being duplicitous by nature, they are frequently cunningly disguised and at times are even utterly invisible. They thus represent a mortal danger to the national organism from within and from without. By poisoningAryan blood, they decompose the psychophysical integrity ofbody and soul. This fatal disconnection deprives the sickened folk of effective use ofthe power ofthe will and plunges it Ideology as Psychology 171 tains, but it is the leader's will that determines which mountains to move. When everyone's faith is aligned behind the single leader's will, all wonders are possible and sheer willing materializes results. Fourth Principle: The urge to merge is nature's way of making people feel both good and powerful. The Volksgemeinschaft is the spiritUal outcome ofthe folkish state. It is an organic blood brotherhood under the rule of the fatherly leader. In this people's community, the leader is the national brain while the people are the national body. Organic connectedness prevails while mechanistic meaninglessness or atomistic isolation are eliminated or relegated to the realms offoreign and degenerate democracies. Not only is the organic connectedness of all members ofthe national body uplifting , but it also places the followers' faith at the disposal of the single leader's will. This cohesion generates the kind of mighty power surge that enables the folkish state to utilize its capacity for war in a quest for a new justice and a redress of old injustices. Fifth Principle: It is only just that no one should do it to us, but we should do it to them. Justice is the distribution or redistribution of all the material and psychic assets of this world, which are available in only limited quantities . It is also symmetrical, which means that a corollary of one's fortune is someone else's misfortune. Moreover, it is magical, which means that it can be influenced by ultramanipulative interventions. Justice is therefore Darwinian and requires constant struggle. The distribution of justice is affected not only by peoples' inherent racial merits and personality values but also by ultramanipulative ploys and magical maneuvers that tilt the distribution one way or another. This is unfortunately how, through foul wizardry, less meritorious people sometimes gain unfair advantage over more meritorious folks. Such injustices go against nature and should therefore be rectified. This kind of rectification can be accomplished by a powerful reordering of justice through potent ultramanipulative redistributions ofassets, which this time are completely "fair" to us. Being a master race by virtue of a noble blood and superior personality is itself a claim to justice. An inherent racial merit ordains a right to fulfill racial destiny by arrogating to oneself the lion's share of Ideology as Psychology 173 Ninth Principle: Sacrifice is the best investment. Sacrifice is the apex of the fully developed f.olkish character that enables a mature people to become a storehouse of readily accessible human energies. And its most important use is for a bold trade-off with fate in the currency of life and death. In essence, sacrifice represents current payments in folkish blood for hefty future returns in folkish life dividends. He who loves his folk and who understands this simple equation fears not war and does not engage in futile and anxious comparisons of war's inescapable sacrifices with its fantastic results. A cardinal verdict ofHitler's ideology consists ofthe grim diagnosis that the national organism would be helpless in facing its...