Ask the Editor: Does Hitler belong among socialists?

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Next up on The World and Everything in It: Ask the Editor.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today WORLD Editor-in-Chief Marvin Olasky takes questions about a recent WORLD Magazine cover story.

MARVIN OLASKY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: We received lots of letters in response to our May 25th cover story in WORLD Magazine. The headline was, “When Will We Ever Learn?”  The cover pictured socialist leaders including Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. It also included one man whose inclusion surprised a few readers: Adolf Hitler. 

Clay Sidenbender wrote and thanked us for addressing the problem of socialism. But he asked whether Hitler belongs among the socialists. 

Clay wrote, “I studied fascist leaders such as Hitler and Italy’s Benito Mussolini in my history classes in high school and college, but my teachers portrayed these leaders as brutal dictators with no ties to socialism. If you are saying Hitler embraced socialist ideas and implemented them as a leader, are you saying that even well-intentioned socialism eventually leads to national fascism or brutal dictatorship?”

Yup, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Adolf Hitler, when asked if he would nationalize German industries, apparently said, “I shall nationalize the people.” There’s no need to own all the big organizations if you force them to do your will, or else. Fascism is not an ideology but a technique: Beating up anyone who opposes you can serve any ideology. Stalin and Hitler were both mass murderers. Both enforced conformity through violence. Both created ochlocracy, rule by media-instigated mobs. 

Some of your professors who called socialism an alternative to fascism may believe that. Others probably wanted to leave you with warm and fuzzy feelings about a society where everyone supposedly shares. But history shows that people work hard to provide for themselves and their families. Sure, they may have an initial burst of enthusiasm for socialism, but over time they will work hard for no additional benefits only if someone holds a whip over them. 

Socialism goes against human nature so it always leads to tyranny. Kind people may be socialists for a while. When they gain power and have to enforce socialism, the kind people don’t want to do it. It’s the brutes who take over. They usually kill the kind people. 

My apologies for bursting liberal bubbles, but that’s what history clearly shows us.

For WORLD Radio, I’m Marvin Olasky.

(Photo/WORLD News Group)

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