Public Humiliation of Capitalism:
'Das Kapital am Pranger'
by
Sabine Barnhart
by Sabine Barnhart
DIGG THIS
 There
are very few outspoken voices of the classic-liberal sense in Germany
raised in support of a free market economy. One of these voices
is Roland Baader, economist and member of the Mont Pelerin Society,
who makes an appeal to a German speaking audience in his new book
Das
Kapital am Pranger. With some tongue-in-cheek humor and
with a passionate approach to defending liberty, he unravels the
misuse of words and gives them their rightful place and meaning.
Each chapter guides the reader out of the socialist maze that has
kept entire nations confused and captive. He convincingly shows
how the erroneously used concepts surround capitalism and how the
false accusations made by its political and intellectual opponents
have clouded the judgment of the German citizens. The book serves
as a wake-up call to a people whose survival hinges on this very
truth.
Last year’s
publication came during a time when the German nation has placed
capitalism on the open market to be publicly pilloried
by its political caste. This is not surprising; the free-market
has been chained to the German legal system and its political figures
for over a Century. For the last four decades capitalism has been
made subservient to the socialist politicians and populace, which
has crippled not only the performance of the German economy in general,
but has also fostered a general Weltanschauung that grew
to distrust the moral order of an unhindered free market system.
Mr. Baader,
a student of Friedrich A. von Hayek, refers to this system as Scheinkapitalismus
(pretend capitalism). In his first few chapters of the book, he
sets up the rhetorical idea of a free market for his reader. He
defines capital as human capital (i.e. knowledge, education, skills,
imagination, and talents) and the application of human capital leading
to the creation of tangible property and financial wealth, their
natural interactions and ultimate benefits to man, his community,
his country and the world at large. Capitalism, in that sense, is
not an invented ideology, as its opponents would like to argue.
It is based and thrives on the free and peaceful cooperation of
people, who are also known as market participants. The concept of
capitalism is therefore a natural order without any (political)
force or coercion.
A large part
of the emphasis in his writings, which are heavily influenced by
the Austrian School of thought and Ludwig von Mises, is to refute
the leftwing slanders against capitalism that it creates corruption
and fosters injustice and immorality. He points to the historical
facts on how the majority of people were poor, oppressed and without
rights to any liberty prior to the onset of the Industrial Revolution
in the modern era. From the 20th Century, the author uses examples
of the former GDR (East Germany) and USSR to show the dire consequences
of a centrally controlled society that is absent of entrepreneurial
spirit and private capital.
Roland Baader
brings up several but often little-known examples of how the suppression
of a voluntary exchange between people in those communist states
always found its way into the criminal world through the black and
gray markets. Despite the ill intent of the leaders of those nations,
and their police (Stasi and KGB), laws did not prevent the natural
order of the free market from emerging, as it prospered illegally,
which forced a great shortage of popular and mostly imported items
and the relative abundance of the state-companies own produced Dreck.
Herr
Baader further describes how the well-developed shadow economy behind
the Iron Curtain not only served as an outlet against the thievery
of the state but, oddly enough, as a last ditch attempt by the regular
folks to keep from sliding further into abject poverty.
The creation
of the German welfare state has similarly affected the behavior
of its citizens. The working-class German might look for illegal
work to supplement his income in order to offset the heavy tax burden
and social contributions, which may leave him only with a third
of his income. Bribery and special favors have become bargaining
tools not only in politics, but also in private enterprise as well.
A competitive employer or employee is often publicly ridiculed as
a Streber (striver) or a nerd. Mobbing
in the workplace and in public schools are only side effects of
a society in which competence and personal accomplishment are belittled.
Germans, like Americans, have noted an alarming increase of aggression
against those who want to be successful.
The once legendary
German work ethic and drive for perfection, while not yet completely
demolished by the socialist mentality, have been subverted in many
instances. This has further eroded the ability of German companies
to compete on a global market where the high quality of German products
remains a signature characteristic, but where their affordability
is a long-forgotten past. Legislated wages and labor protection
laws have been detrimental to the German economy whose performance
is ultimately stifled by their oppressive legalism.
An outspoken
supporter of the minimal state, Baader challenges the accepted misinterpretation
of the noble ideas of "profit, entrepreneurship, liberalism and
trade/globalization" that have had their lexicon hijacked by a domineering
Left. Their negative slogans within the mainstream of the German
culture have degraded and sneered at the very notions that brought
Germany its economic miracle between the late 1940’s to 1960’s.
Similar sentiments existed prior to 1933 in the German mind-set
and Mr. Baader emphasizes that the degradation of these concepts
always lead to poverty, destruction and war.
What remains
of today’s economy is a nearly-empty granary after hungry socialists
and a misguided public have raided the troves to fatten up the state-cow.
Both Germany’s public media, with its two major state-owned broadcasting
stations which charge every radio and TV owner a monthly fee of
17 Euros, and its state-run education system, have been instrumental
propaganda tools that have served as mouthpieces for socialist ideas.
Mr. Baader believes that nothing will change for Germany until at
least 18 to 20 percent of intellectuals in these influential institutions
comprehend the essence of capitalism (including those who call themselves
"capitalists"). He mentions the dire need of a private
think tank along the lines of IEA (Institute of Economic Affairs)
which is found in most of the larger industrialized nations. Germany,
he sadly states, is the only industrialized nation on earth without
such a branch.
Page after
page, the author unmasks the illusion that an economy and the wellbeing
of Bürger (citizens) depend on the interference of a
centralized state. He places strong criticism on politics in which
he rightly states the political power plays: poor against rich,
young against old, patients against doctors, consumers against producers,
men against women, smokers against non-smokers, etc. This, Mr. Baader
writes (paraphrased), creates a continually heated friction which
only fuels the fire of envy and jealousy. It has an appealing attraction
to special interest groups whose votes are solicited by political
advocates to represent their rights.
Briefly mentioned
in his book is his observation that Germany still has private ownership;
and yet its bureaucracy has heavily burdened that ownership with
laws which limit the rightful use of one's property, which in turn
narrows choices and limits the supply of products and services.
Germany is only a miniature reflection of what the political monstrosity
of the EU resembles. Its original idea as a vehicle of economic
cooperation between the European nations has grown out of all proportion
until it has turned the Continent into a political wasteland. Brussels
squanders billions of Euros annually on farm and energy subsidies
in the hands of an organizational structure that comes to resemble
more and more a political tool of economic destruction rather than
unity.
EU-enforced
mandates already restrict private contracts, as ordered through
the "Anti-discrimination Law," which is a sure start down
the "the path of stupidity." Baader explains that economics
unites peoples, and that what could have been a peaceful exchange
between individuals in these old cultures is being destroyed by
its political rulers. EU executive committees are thus creating
disorder, conflict, and hostility which hinder the natural flow
of a peaceful market.
"It is
the long absence of politics that brought man out of the Stone Age,"
says Baader, who continues to say that "dictatorship does not
grow from politics announcing evil deeds; but from its promises
to bring more happiness, wealth, more security and justice."
He quotes the great philosopher, Edmund Burke, who says: "The
Thing (politic), the Thing itself is the abuse." It is the
wisdom of these words that does not penetrate the understanding
of the social and political engineers who would like to control
the free interaction of people by placing them into legal straight-jackets
designed to "reform" their fallen natures.
It is precisely
this false mentality that has eroded the moral ground in das
Abendland (the Western World). A society whose politics takes
on a "semi-religious character" will gradually force the
removal of any competing influence over people’s lives, which in
the West has always been the Christian Church. Social justice has
become a misused political and Christian expression that, as of
today, is, as Baader quotes W.S. Schlamm, "the death slogan
of the vertical civil war."
People must
ask the question why they want to be governed by social justice
rather than morals. The book makes a striking comparison between
this ideology, which killed 30 million people under Mao Zedong in
China, and capitalism, which has brought 300 million Chinese out
of starvation and poverty. Its irrational reasoning lies in "social
rights" and a misuse of the concept of justice that has transgressed
against personal rights. The coercion by the state to enforce social
justice through political force is an act of injustice when judged
by morals. It unquestionably leads to loss of personal freedom and
eventual totalitarianism.
The book comes
at a critical time with a plea made especially to the citizens of
Germany. It is not a book that merely preaches to the choir; it
can also reach the undecided. It can be an enlightening revelation
to those questioning the current political and social dilemma in
Germany, and provides many in-depth examples specifically to the
German nation. Roland Baader is a supporter of a minimal state,
which means that free citizens must reclaim their right to self-govern
their communities, cities, and counties. "Capitalism: Those
are people themselves. Only in capitalism is there a natural order.
Only in capitalism can there be liberty and dignity of life,"
writes Baader. "This only happens when people know what it
is and is not."
Roland Baader
is a minority in his crusade to reduce the power of the modern state,
which controls both the economy and human behavior. His publication
is a rarity indeed, since classic-liberalism has very little public
exposure in written print or in the media. Junge
Freiheit is the only publication available in hard print for
which Herr Baader also writes occasional articles. There is a great
need for German citizens to be educated about capitalism, its benefits,
and its ultimate link to their well-being. The final six points
in his last chapter on the characteristics of capitalism should
arouse a serious debate within the mind of any reader and make him
or her ponder over the erroneous teachings that have been pounded
into the heads of students and workers for decades.
Das
Kapital am Pranger and all of his other books are only available
in the German language. Considering that Engel and Marx started
off with their writings in German as well, it would be a delight
to see Roland Baader’s book reach the same crowd.
 August
5, 2006
Sabine
Barnhart [send her mail]
moved to the US in 1980 and lives in Fort Worth, TX with
her three children. For the past 15 years she has been working for
an international service company.
Copyright
© 2006 LewRockwell.com
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