On This Day in History: February 20
Hitler's Secret Meeting
Being that I make money from selling this book, it seems hypocritical to use today’s post to shit all over capitalism. But corporations are morally bankrupt, and libertarians extolling the “virtues” of the free market are stupid. Because if you allow capitalism to run amok, it will. One example of avarice trouncing decency was the “Secret Meeting” Hitler had in 1933 with two dozen industrialists to fund his seizure of power.
--On This Day in History Shit Went Down: February 20, 1933--
This kind of history often repeats. There was a small percentage of wealthy Trump supporters who didn’t embrace him for his bigotry, but because of the tax cut he gave to the super-rich. They funded his campaign because they were paid back with a shit-ton of interest taken from the pockets of people sitting in rusty Dodge Rams wearing wrap-around sunglasses making ranting videos about her deep-state emails.
Despite spending many years proving to the citizens of Germany that he was the fucking worst, Hitler had no problem raising money from a group of morally bankrupt capitalist fuckpuddles because they saw him as the best financial choice for protecting their personal fortunes. Guess they didn’t envision the country getting obliterated in a war.
The meeting took place on February 20, 1933 at the Reichstag, which would be set on fire a week later. In attendance were heads of many companies that still exist today, and you likely recognize the names of a few of them, such as automation giant Siemens, manufacturing company Krupp, and automotive company Opel.
Hitler wanted money to win enough seats in the upcoming election to pass the Enabling Act, giving him dictatorial powers. During the meeting, Hitler gave a lengthy speech about how dirty commies were coming for them all. He actually said democracy was to blame because it was enabling communism. He told them he needed to be a dictator to save their capitalistic asses, and they were all “Take my money!”
Hitler convinced them of a catastrophic scenario, saying the choice was “either Marxism in its purest form, or the other side.” They chose the other side. He said he needed to “gain complete power” and they opened their checkbooks. He asked for three million Reichsmark, and they coughed up a little over two, which is the equivalent of about US$14 million in 2021.
The murderous shithead got his Enabling Act passed, and one of the first things he did was make opposition to the fucking Nazi Party illegal. The industrialists got what they wanted: the communist party was outlawed, and they were free to get as rich as they possibly could.
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You cover the dangers of unfettered capitalism and avarice combined with cult of personality/totalitarianism in parts of two important sentences:
"...they didn’t envision the country getting obliterated in a war."
And
"...many companies that still exist today, and you likely recognize the names of a few of them..."
That's the rub, isn't it? Those companies and their shareholders are still profiting, and did so throughout the nightmare of the middle of the last century. Leaders who recognize the right people to target, be they industrialists or "regular Joes," and use fear to target those audiences, will succeed to one degree or another. We can and should work to keep our fellow citizens aware of this tendency and try to avoid destroying our society from the inside.