Werner Sombart - Dealer and Heroes (1-2)

7/4/2017 Werner Sombart - Dealer and Heroes [1/2]
The economic lie Of the flies of the market

WERNER SOMBART
Dealer and Heroes
[1/2]
"If the representatives of the economy have only the upper hand in a country, then
they will easily transfer the views of their professional life to all spheres of life, and
the merchant's view of the world will undergo a considerable strengthening and
consolidation until the merchant world view and practical commercialism finally
become a Which can no longer be separated, as is the case in modern England. "
"Flat and homebaked, indeed, is all genuine English ethics, flat and homebaked
all the English have written about the state, and every thought of a merchant's
spirit, like all the thinking of the trader, so goes all the scientific ethics of England of
the little bit of life Which the Lord X and Y randomly lead.
" " The most infamous saying ever h e a r d o f a merchant's l e a g u e , " D o

w e l l , t h a t y o u m a y p r o s p e r, a n d l i v e l o n g u p o n t h e
e a r t h , " has become the motto of all the teachings of English ethics. The
h a p p i n e s s is the primary goal of human endeavor. T h e g r e a t e s t
h a p p i n e s s o f t h e g r e a t e s t n u m b e r , Jeremy Bentham has expressed
this universal i d e a l for eternal times in words. "
" That all the means of fraud, the break in the treaty, the crooks, the thieves, the
robbery went hand in hand with the clever contract Known to English historians.
The m o r a l i n s a n i t y o f this people is the secret of its power to no small
extent. But what interests us here is not the machinations of the barbarian trader,
who has been popular with England at all times, but that of the merchant as such.
For what we want to recognize is the birth of the whole of England from a
merchant's spirit. " " It is particularly instructive to observe how the trader goes to
w a r : we shall see: completely according to the program of the trader theorists, of
whom we know some to have. Since he knows no other interests than the material
ones, the war can always have only the importance of protecting or defending
material interests. " For what we want to recognize is the birth of the whole of
England from a merchant's spirit. " " It is particularly instructive to observe how the
trader goes to w a r : we shall see: completely according to the program of the
trader theorists, of whom we know some to have. Since he knows no other interests
than the material ones, the war can always have only the importance of protecting
or defending material interests. " For what we want to recognize is the birth of the
whole of England from a merchant's spirit. " " It is particularly instructive to observe
how the trader goes to w a r : we shall see: completely according to the program
of the trader theorists, of whom we know some to have. Since he knows no other
interests than the material ones, the war can always have only the importance of
protecting or defending material interests. "
http://www.gleichsatz.de/b-u-t/spdk/19jhd/somb-hanhe1.html 1/25
INTRODUCTION Chapter One
: The Faith

All great wars are faith wars, were it in the past, it is in the
present and will be in the future. In the past they were also
conscious of the struggle: whether Emperor KARL argued
against the Saxons, whether the "Franks" were going to the
liberation of the holy grave, whether the advancing Turks
were repulsed, whether the German emperors were defending their empire
against the Italian cities, Whether Protestants or Catholics were fighting for
supremacy in the Reformation age: the belligerents were always aware that they
fought for their faith, and we, who are looking back to recognize the world
historical significance of these wars, understand that those sentiments and
thoughts of the combatants Deep reason.

The Napoleonic wars have not been interpreted differently from the best of the
times, but as religious conflicts. So the recent biographer of Freiherr von judged
STONE whose conception of the Congress of Vienna certainly correct when he
says the Baron von STEIN if the whole thing did not show up as a struggle for
power, but as a battle between the evil and the good.

In the age of national states and capitalism, the deeper antagonisms that are
taking place in the great world wars are not so much on the surface. Rather, pure
power or economic interests appear to be the only reasons for fighting. And the
driving forces they may be. But it would stick to the surface, It was not to
recognize the deeper antagonisms which lie in the battle, and which, in turn, are
no other than that of the war believe sgegensätze or, as we like to say now:
opposites of belief are.

It can be seen that in the present world war many of the various individual
conflicts are carried out. They are sidewars, which lead, for example, Russia to
Turkey with the possession of the Dardanelles, or France with Germany around
AlsaceLorraine, or AustriaHungary with Russia for the supremacy in the
Balkans. The main war is different. This was most clearly recognized by our
adversaries when they proclaimed to the world what was in conflict with each
other: "Western European civilization," "the ideas of 1789," and German
"militarism," the German "barbarism." In fact, the deepest contrast is instinctively
expressed here. I w o u l d j u s t l i k e t o m a k e a l i t t l e d i f f e r e n c e t o
i t w h e n I s a y t h a t w h a t i s i n t h e s t r u g g l e i s t h e t r a d e r and
the h e r o , are a merchantable and heroic outlook and the corresponding
culture. Why I try to emphasize a very deep, allencompassing contrast between
worldview and the welterlife with these expressions is the following description.

Here I would only warn against the error, As if I were taking the names dealer
and hero in the professional sense. This, of course, is not the case and can not
be the case when I apply these expressions to denote opposites of the
Weltanschauung. For this is not bound by natural necessity to certain
occupations. I t i s , t h e r e f o r e , a m e r c h a n t ' s o r a h e r o i c
a t t i t u d e , and it is quite possible that someone destined to act with pepper
and raisins is a hero, while we experience it every day A minister of war is a
"dealer" because he has the soul of a soldier and not a warrior.

The individual man has a worldview at first; and so the merchants' soul and
heroic soul live side by side in the same people, in the same city. I maintain,
however, a war of peoples about world views, and so also asserts that traders
and heroes are in a fight. Accordingly, we must also be able to characterize
entire peoples in one sense or another. This is done by striving to grasp the soul
of a people, its spirit, its being. This "Volksseele," this "Volksgeist," whether we
take it metaphysically or purely empirically, is in any case a something whose
existence can not be denied, which has an independent existence alongside and
above all the individual members of a people that would remain All people who
are able to assert themselves to a certain extent against the living individuals can
stand their ground. This people of the people speaks of a thousand peculiarities
of a people (and will have to be recognized differently with each nation): From
philosophy and art, from state and politics, from customs and habits.

In this sense, peoples can also be distinguished as traders and heroic peoples,
and thus the tradi tional and heroic view of the world stand in this great war in
the struggle for supremacy. But their bearers, the two peoples who represent the
opposites, are the English and the Germans. And only as an AngloGerman war
did the 1914 World War gain its deeper historical significance. It is not who is to
rule the seas, but the important question of humanity, which is now a decision;
Much more important, and all the fate of mankind, is the question: which spirit
proves itself to be the stronger: the merchant or the heroic.

Therefore, Which embraces all the depths and all the vastness of the world, to a
completely clear consciousness. A n d t o a s s i s t i n t h i s i s t h e t a s k
of this work, in which I will first describe simply the
English, then the German spirit, in order to weigh them
a g a i n s t e a c h o t h e r, a n d t h e i n c o m p a r a b l e s u p e r i o r i t y o f
t h e G e r m a n s p i r i t t o t h e G e r m a n reader for another I am not
writing So that he might rejoice in his sovereignty.

Section One
English Händlertum
C h a p t e r Tw o : T h e e l e m e n t s o f t h e E n g l i s h s p i r i t

It is not the place to describe the genesis of the English spirit in detail, but the
task seems so charming. I shall only briefly outline the constituents which make
up the English merchantspirit, and indicate what has led to its development.

The basis of all Englishism is, indeed, the immeasurable spiritual limitation of this
nation, its inability to raise itself a single hand over the tangible and everyday
"reality". Proof of what is called "philosophy" in England. Formed by FRANCIS
BACON , which, according to Nietzsche's accurate expression, meant an attack on
the philosophical spirit at all, In England a human age has been simply called "the
philosopher": HERBERT SPENCER .

They are of a strangely consistent basic color, all these English philosophers:
from BACON to SPENCER . And if anything characterizes them in their innermost
being, it is the remarkable circumstance which should be emphasized in every
history of philosophy, namely, that they were all quite good, and in some cases
exquisite, national economists: BACON wrote with good success colonial
economy; HOBBES always speaks of an understanding of economic problems
which is outstanding for his time; LOCKE's treatise on money is as well known as
Hume's essays on trade , money, interest, trade, taxes, public credit, and similar
issues. Even ADAM SMITH , JEREMY BENTHAM , the two mills are highly regarded
in England as philosophers, while they are familiar to us almost exclusively as
economists. And HERBERT SPENCER is not really a national economist, but he is
primarily a sociologist, but he can still be regarded as the most influential English
"philosopher" of our time.

That this inclination to economic problems and this understanding of economic
contexts, Which we find in almost every English "philosopher," was no
coincidence, shows the common orientation of their thinking in the basic
principles.

I have always been concerned by the opinion of the English thinkers, which
HERBERT SPENCER had once had with his deep, but not so famous, countryman
MATTHEW ARNOLD , who had claimed that England was a country with few ideas.
To which SPENCER in all seriousness replied: "It is not so, since" English spirit
"has been supplying water to Amsterdam in the last few years; 2. carried out the
canalization of Naples; And since 3. the "Continental Gas & Co" supplies all
countries with gas. Yes, SPENCER continues literally, it is an indisputable fact
"that the headquarters of the spirit, Berlin itself, must wait for light until this
society supplies it." "Must we not say that more faith in ideas is proved by English
than by Germans?" And he who speaks like this is not an engineer of
"Continental Gas Co." but an English "philosopher": t h e philosopher of the
last human ages!

In this view of the "philosopher," SPENCER, on the meaning and value of ideas, a
different peculiarity of the English spirit emerges, which has become of great
importance for its development as a merchant spirit. The orientation of all English
thought to practical purposes . We also find this peculiarity in the "philosopher" of
SHAKESPEARE's age: FRANCIS BACON , who called Greek philosophy a "childish
science," a "professorship," because it was fruitful in words and sterile in works.
He said that the fruits and discoveries were, as it were, the guarantors who stood
for the truth of philosophy. "The true and right goal of science is ... to enrich
human life with new inventions and means ..." "The introduction of important
inventions seems to be by far the first place among human actions." Thus spoke
BACON , the founder of the English "philosophy". Nothing has changed in this
view.

This sober way of thinking then corresponds apparently naturally a
pronounced tendency for physical comfort, for material wellbeing , for "comfort".
For this trait of the English nature can also be traced far back into the earlier
centuries. As early as the 16th century, it was a special feature of the English. A
Venetian who visited England in the 16th century and left a wellknown travel
description tells us about the English: "when the war rages most violently, To eat
well and to have any other comfort (vogliono cercare di ben mangiare et ogni
altra loro commodita [I want to eat and also every conceivable comfort. This
judgment falls LEW. LEMNIUS in his travel description from 1560; the same PETER
of BLOIS . Yes, a Dutchman (the historian, EM M. van METEREN , who lived from
1558 to 1612), so far as to regard the English as lazy and comfortable, they lived
comfortably "een ledich leven leydende" (an empty life Leading wp], like the
Spaniards (!): The difficult, tedious work they let from strangers.

On the other hand, all observers believe that a particularly strong employment
with the British should be established at that time. I t i s p a r t i c u l a r l y
interesting that this property was even noticed by the
V e n e t i a n : t u t t i d i v e n g o n o c u p i d i s s i m i d e l g u a d a g n o . All are
great for money. One can not inflict injustice on the English people, which can not
be repaid by money (non é potentialile tanta ingiuria alli inglesi plebei, la quale
non si acconci con il denaro). They are so eager in their trade, that they can not
be afraid of ushering (sono tanto diligenti nella mercatura che non temano di fare
contratti usurari). Well, an italian writes in the year 1500, when England was still
a good Catholic country.

Likewise from the time of the English, their conceit is peculiar. It was no different
in the 16th century. When they see a stranger looking pretty, T h e y s a y : a
pity that it is not an Englishman: dolore dicunt quod non
s i t h o m o A n g l i c u s , v u l g o E n g l i s h m a n , PAUL HENTZLER tells us in
his travel report from 1598. "The English are very wellversed in themselves and
their works, they even believe Not that there are other people than them, or
anything else in the world as England, "writes our Venetian attorney at the end of
the fifteenth century.

Only a splendid development of the capitalist economic life, especially of a rapid
flourishing of trade, had been necessary, as had been the case in England since
the end of the sixteenth century (in 1591 the first English ships were going to
India, and the East India trade became 1600 founded), In order to build up from
these elements the massive merchant world view, which for a few centuries
already characterizes the English character as a whole.

I understand, among merchants, the worldconception of life, with the question of
what life can give me; Which regards the whole existence of the individual on
earth as a sum of commercial transactions, each of which is as advantageous as
possible to fate or to the dear God (the religions are likewise marked by the
merchant spirit in his own sense), or to his fellow human beings individually or as
a whole With the state). The profit which is to be produced for the life of each
individual is as much a pleasure as a corresponding supply of commodities
belongs to embellish existence. In the sphere of this view of life, therefore, the
material values will be given a broad space, and thus also the activity which
provides for the bringing together of means of comfort the material goods :
economic and, above all, commercial activity . The economic interests will thus
become overweight and the other life cycles gradually become subordinated. If
the representatives of the economy have only the upper hand in a country, then
they will easily transfer the views of their professional life to all spheres of life,
and the merchant's view of the world will undergo a considerable strengthening
and consolidation until the merchant world view and practical commercialism
finally turn into a whole No longer separate unit, As is the case in today's
England.

The fact that the commercialization process of the whole of English culture has
been so complete and penetrating is once again connected with a series of
fortuitous events in the history of Great Britain, of which I shall here emphasize
only the most important: I mean the early penetration of a l l population strata
with theoretical and practical commercialism, Above all the complete
commercialization of the English nobility. Hardly any of the glorious nobility of
England is feudal. Almost all of them have left the office. And then the aristocratic
families have stood for centuries, so there is not a stand distant from business
life in England at all, Since the lower nobility, the Gentry, is automatically formed
and has acquired a capitalist character to the extent that capitalist interests
gained importance. The fact that the rest of the population has been so
completely commercialized is due firstly to the fact that by setting up a
mercenary army all the warlike instincts have been eradicated from the great
masses, and that, as we shall see, all the elements of the (The peasants) have
almost completely disappeared, so that there are almost only those in England
who are more or more distantly related to commerce.

All the leading circles of England are then followed, and the English civil service
is filled with mercantile spirit. The superiority of England in the nowconducted
trade war is probably traced back to the circumstance by a Hamburg merchant,
the author of the English pirate: "England has a tribe of officials, either directly
from trade circles, or at least A commercial milieu, and are constantly in touch
with the predominantly trafficking population. "

This generalization of commercial interests, together with the natural platitude of
the English spirit, the c o m m o n s e n s e , has had the known effect that the
English spirit has now become a unity in the whole nation. Every foreign
observer today falls to the massiveness of the English people, Their
undifferentiation. T h e " l e a d e r s " o f t h e E n g l i s h p e o p l e a r e
p r o u d o f t h e f a c t t h a t t h e y a r e c o operating with the m a n i n
t h e s t r e e t , so that there is no longer any difference in the instincts and
thoughts of the lowest and the highest. This condition, of course, has not been
achieved, because the lower classes are so much elevated. I am sure they are
deeply under the corresponding social circles in Germany: the English worker,
the English commissary, the English entrepreneur. On the other hand, because
the heights have been worn down until they are brought to the same level with
the lowlands. Compare the spirituality of a GRAY with that of a BETHMANN
HOLLWEG . Of the English people are proud that they are co operating with the
m a n i n t h e s t r e e t , so that there is no longer any difference in the instincts
and thoughts of the lowest and the highest. This condition, of course, has not
been achieved, because the lower classes are so much elevated. I am sure they
are deeply under the corresponding social circles in Germany: the English
worker, the English commissary, the English entrepreneur. On the other hand,
because the heights have been worn down until they are brought to the same
level with the lowlands. Compare the spirituality of a GRAY with that of a
BETHMANN HOLLWEG . Of the English people are proud that they are co
operating with the m a n i n t h e s t r e e t , so that there is no longer any
difference in the instincts and thoughts of the lowest and the highest. This
condition, of course, has not been achieved, because the lower classes are so
much elevated. I am sure they are deeply under the corresponding social circles
in Germany: the English worker, the English commissary, the English
entrepreneur. On the other hand, because the heights have been worn down
until they are brought to the same level with the lowlands. Compare the
spirituality of a GRAY with that of a BETHMANN HOLLWEG . That there is therefore
no difference in the instincts and thoughts of the lowest and the highest. This
until they are brought to the same level with the lowlands. Compare the spirituality
of a GRAY with that of a BETHMANN HOLLWEG . That there is therefore no
difference in the instincts and thoughts of the lowest and the highest. This
until they are brought to the same level with the lowlands. Compare the spirituality
of a GRAY with that of a BETHMANN HOLLWEG . They are intellectually deep
among the corresponding social circles in Germany: the English worker, the
English commissary, the English entrepreneur. On the other hand, because the
heights have been worn down until they are brought to the same level with the
lowlands. Compare the spirituality of a GRAY with that of a BETHMANN HOLLWEG .
They are intellectually deep among the corresponding social circles in Germany:
the English worker, the English commissary, the English entrepreneur. On the
other hand, because the heights have been worn down until they are brought to
the same level with the lowlands. Compare the spirituality of a GRAY with that of a
BETHMANN HOLLWEG .

Chapter Three: English Science

It would again be a delightful task to prove how all scientific thought in England, if
not born of a commercial spirit, is at least borne and penetrated by it. This even
applies to the natural sciences, at least to those who have to do with the life
processes in nature. It has recently been rightly pointed out, on the part of the
prosecutor, how the socalled English biology and the doctrine of evolution is
fundamentally nothing more than the transfer of liberalbourgeois views to the life
processes of nature. How much more must the spiritual sciences, whose source
of knowledge is their own inner experience, be permeated by this general,
English national spirit! Of the philosophy which I have already noted, not to
mention!

But I am satisfied, according to the task set forth in this work, to show how the
merchant spirit manifests itself in those sciences which deal with the state and
the society to which ethics, in England, is based Founded.

It will not be denied that there is a distinctly English ethics and social doctrine,
which from HOBBES and LOCKE to JOHN STUART MILL and HERBERT SPENCER,
in spite of great deviations of the views in detail, coincide in the basic conception.
And one will not be able to refute with the reference to individual exceptional
phenomena. The fact that many as such stand out clearly from the traditional
English doctrine proves that there is a rule. Moreover, they are easily explained
by very special circumstances. CARLYLE is not to be regarded as an English
spirit at all, since from the beginning he has consulted only German spiritual food
(in which, as some think he has spoiled his English stomach). EDMUND BURKE,
however, to name perhaps the most important social philosopher, who indeed
wrote in English, and who, as we know, had exercised a lasting influence on
many German thinkers in his day, especially among the romantics , One can say:
antiEnglish. (As then, fortunately almost always, Where an Englishspeaking
writer of spirit and depth encounters us, can be established that he is an
Irishman of blood. This is especially true of the poets. I think of appearances like the
YORICK STARS , of which GOETHE said that he was "the most beautiful mind"
ever, RUSKIN , to OSCAR WILDE , to BERNARD SHAW , who, as others would
judge, Not flat and homebaked, as the English type.

Platt and hausbacken is, indeed, all genuine English ethics, flat and homebaked
all that Englishmen have written about the state. And every thought of a
merchant spirit.

Like all the thinking of the dealer, S o a l s o a l l t h e s c i e n t i f i c e t h i c s
o f E n g l a n d p r o c e e d f r o m t h e l i t t l e l i f e w h i c h M r . X and Y
happen to be leading. Or, to use a FICHTE expression: the object of their
normative thinking, just like that of their causal thinking, is not the life par
excellence, the individual life as such, but "this or that life." So basically: the dead
man. For our individual life is just as death and death as life. Why, then, FICHTE
could rightly call "the philosophy of the foreign country" as "deadly believers". This
individual human being then closes, then the utilitarianeudemonist ethics, with
life a pact, According to which it promises a number of achievements, but only in
the case of an advantageous retaliation (here or there, which remains the same).
The most infamous slogan a merchant has ever said: "Do well," "that you may
prosper, and live long upon the earth," has become the motto of all the teachings
of English ethics. "Happiness" is the ultimate goal of human endeavor. "The
greatest happiness of the greatest number", JEREMY BENTHAM has characterized this
universal " ideal " for eternal times in words. What is the "happiness" of the
individual, for the sake of which the immense, complicated apparatus of the
whole world had to be set in motion, Have, of course, differently determined the
individual ethicists according to their personal disposition. But here, too, a sort of
average opinion can be established: "happiness" is a pleasure in respectability;
Comfort with respectability: Apple pie and Sunday sanctification, peace and
football, money earning and leisure for any hobby. The virtues which must be
cultivated are those which guarantee the peaceful coexistence of traders. I call
them the negative virtues, because they all tend to f a i l to do something which
we would like to do in order to do it: temperance, frugality, diligence, sincerity,
justice, abstinence in all sorts of things, humility, patience and the like. What
HERBERT SPENCER (Sociology § 574), as the " Freedom is, therefore, equated
with arbitrariness (positive), with independence (negative), essentially at the
conclusion of the daily commercial transactions with which "the higher man",
according to these Englishmen, always fullerly fills his life. In eternal action and
haggling, these moral postulates of liberty, freedom, and independence, have
developed for the most part, which is why they are set up and represented only
in "advanced" countries like England. Volumes The following theorem of the
classic of pure merchant philosophy speaks: According to these Englishmen,
more and more exclusively fills his life. In eternal action and haggling, these
moral postulates of liberty, freedom, and independence, have developed for the
most part, which is why they are set up and represented only in "advanced"
countries like England. Volumes The following theorem of the classic of pure
merchant philosophy speaks: According to these Englishmen, more and more
exclusively fills his life. In eternal action and haggling, these moral postulates of
liberty, freedom, and independence, have developed for the most part, which is
why they are set up and represented only in "advanced" countries like England.
Volumes The following theorem of the classic of pure merchant philosophy
speaks:

"The daily exchange of services for mutual agreement due at the
same time maintaining their own as taking proper account of
foreign rights and favored a normal selfconsciousness and a
therefrom springing resistance against unauthorized violence .
The very fact that the word i n d e p e n d e n c e in its modern
meaning Has been in use only since the middle of the last
century, and that this property appears much less developed on
the continent, suggests the connection between it and the
development of industrialism. "
What does the English know of freedom?

HERBERT SPENCER , which I quote not only as the youngest and most
authoritarian English "moral philosopher," is therefore particularly interesting as a
type because it has fused the specifically English, that is, flat, ethics with the
specifically English, thus flat theory of development into a unity. He has done the
trick to prove that commercialization, or what he calls it, is the industrialization of
mankind in the plan of the world. What the English Händlertum what English
r e s p e c t a b i l i t y have done to Vertölpelung and Verpöbelung the culture and
the human spirit, which is the result of a "natural" development (against which
assertion with certain reservations would be no objection even nothing). B u t
now comes the shamelessness: this flattening and
d e s o l a t i o n i s t h e m o r a l h i g h e r b e c a u s e it is the "natural" (to the
grotesque s a l t i m o r t a l i o f the logic with which the "natural" is reinterpreted
into the "moral" is not here To get closer). The survivor is the stronger (in the
sense of adaptation theory, that is, the "fittest"); The stronger, the "adapted" is
the moral higher: the best individuals, " t h a t i s , individuals who are best
adapted to life in the industrial state" (Sociology, § 567); The "industrial type of
society" is the morally higher state "(Nachschrit zu Kapitel XVIII der Sociologie).
This flattening and desolation is the moral higher
b e c a u s e it is the "natural" (the grotesque s a l t i m o r t a l i of logic, with which
the "natural" is reinterpreted into the "moral" is not to be considered here). The
survivor is the stronger (in the sense of adaptation theory, that is, the "fittest");
The stronger, the "adapted" is the moral higher: the best individuals, " t h a t i s ,
individuals who are best adapted to life in the industrial state" (Sociology, § 567);
The "industrial type of society" is the morally higher state "(Nachschrit zu Kapitel
XVIII der Sociologie). T h i s f l a t t e n i n g a n d d e s o l a t i o n i s t h e m o r a l
h i g h e r b e c a u s e it is the "natural" (the grotesque s a l t i m o r t a l i of logic,
with which the "natural" is reinterpreted into the "moral" is not to be considered
here). The survivor is the stronger (in the sense of adaptation theory, that is, the
"fittest"); The stronger, the "adapted" is the moral higher: the best individuals,
" t h a t i s , individuals who are best adapted to life in the industrial state"
(Sociology, § 567); The "industrial type of society" is the morally higher state "
(Nachschrit zu Kapitel XVIII der Sociologie). B e c a u s e it is the "natural" (to the
grotesque s a l t i m o r t a l i o f the logic, with which the "natural" is reinterpreted
into the "moral" is not to be considered here). The survivor is the stronger (in the
sense of adaptation theory, that is, the "fittest"); The stronger, the "adapted" is
the moral higher: the best individuals, " t h a t i s , individuals who are best
adapted to life in the industrial state" (Sociology, § 567); The "industrial type of
society" is the morally higher state "(Nachschrit zu Kapitel XVIII der Sociologie).
B e c a u s e it is the "natural" (to the grotesque s a l t i m o r t a l i o f the logic,
with which the "natural" is reinterpreted into the "moral" is not to be considered
here). The survivor is the stronger (in the sense of adaptation theory, that is, the
"fittest"); The stronger, the "adapted" is the moral higher: the best individuals,
" t h a t i s , individuals who are best adapted to life in the industrial state"
(Sociology, § 567); The "industrial type of society" is the morally higher state "
(Nachschrit zu Kapitel XVIII der Sociologie). ( To t h e g r o t e s q u e s a l t i
m o r t a l i o f the logic, with which the "natural" is reinterpreted into the "moral" is
not to be considered here). The survivor is the stronger (in the sense of
adaptation theory, that is, the "fittest"); The stronger, the "adapted" is the moral
higher: the best individuals, " t h a t i s , individuals who are best adapted to life in
the industrial state" (Sociology, § 567); The "industrial type of society" is the
morally higher state "(Nachschrit zu Kapitel XVIII der Sociologie). ( To t h e
g r o t e s q u e s a l t i m o r t a l i o f the logic, with which the "natural" is
reinterpreted into the "moral" is not to be considered here). The survivor is the
stronger (in the sense of adaptation theory, that is, the "fittest"); The stronger, the
"adapted" is the moral higher: the best individuals, " t h a t i s , individuals who
are best adapted to life in the industrial state" (Sociology, § 567); The "industrial
type of society" is the morally higher state "(Nachschrit zu Kapitel XVIII der
Sociologie). The survivor is the stronger (in the sense of adaptation theory, that
is, the "fittest"); The stronger, the "adapted" is the moral higher: the best
individuals, " t h a t i s , individuals who are best adapted to life in the industrial
state" (Sociology, § 567); The "industrial type of society" is the morally higher
state "(Nachschrit zu Kapitel XVIII der Sociologie). The survivor is the stronger
(in the sense of adaptation theory, that is, the "fittest"); The stronger, the
"adapted" is the moral higher: the best individuals, " t h a t i s , individuals who
are best adapted to life in the industrial state" (Sociology, § 567); The "industrial
type of society" is the morally higher state "(Nachschrit zu Kapitel XVIII der
Sociologie).

As shown in
Fig.

The trader can not imagine the s t a t e any differently from the image of a huge
trading business, which all of them conclude with all. The "treatise theory" of the
doctrine of the state is fundamentally born of a genuine merchant spirit, which
had already become alive in the time of Late Antiquity, when this idea was
conceived, and which began to dominate Europe when the "Treaty theory"
celebrated its resurrection. She is eagerly seized by the "state philosophers" in
all merchant countries : HUGO GROTIUS ! And has attained in England to be the
sole ruler of the state of HOBBES . HERBERT SPENCER goes beyond them when
he calls the state "organic" ( E v e n i n t h e b i o l o g i c a l s e n s e ) ( e v e n
if the ideas of this genesis are those of the London city
m a n , so that when he traces back the beginning of the political life to the
differentiation of the members of a community into three groups, the
Supervisory Board the General Meeting of Shareholders of a stock corporation:
he himself refers to this analogy in § 470 of his sociology, or: if he makes English
budgetary law a humanity, §§ 500f, etc.); And insofar as he conquered an earlier
epoch of the history of the state without a contractual relationship in which a
natural "status" had prevailed, in order, however, only to strengthen the contract
theory more vigorously. To those times of imperfect social formation, SPENCER
follows a "natural development," a period which, in contrast to that first "warlike",
is called the "industrial", and this begins "with the establishment of the treaty as
universal To the mutual benefit of the individual.

The attitude of the individual to the state is now consciously the position of the
merchant who has his own advantage.
"Every citizen wishes to live, and to live so perfectly as the
conditions surrounding him allow." "

The State" has to ensure that the conditions are preserved under
which each of the most perfect life, As well as perfect lives of his
fellowcitizens. " (Ethics § 116)
The individual has only "rights" to the state, essentially the rights to free trade.
SPENCER counts in his "Ethics" following "people right " (= civil rights) on:
1. Right to physical inviolability. "The right to life is the decisive
point in thinking gained" that life always combined in the
aboveidentified trivial sense;

2. Right to free movement and change of location;

3. Right to the enjoyment of the natural media (light, air, earth
surface);

4. Right to property;

5. Intellectual Property Rights;

6. Right to gift and legacy;

7. right to free trade and free contract;

8. right to free acquisition;

9. Right to freedom of faith and cult;

10th
It is well known how this flat merchandizing of the state ultimately leads to what
can be called the fear of the state. The less state, the better that is the melody
that all English state theorists have been singing since LOCKE . The ideal to
which "industrial society" moves is the complete lack of government . In order to
let the "philosopher" again speak ( HERBERT SPENCER , Sociology, §§ 563, 564,
569):
"The only purpose still to be achieved by public activity is to keep
private activity within the proper limits ..."

"Internal protection becomes the main function of the state."

"Almost all public organizations are necessarily disappearing,
with a single exception to legal care, since they are all of the kind
that they interfere with the citizen, either by commanding him
certain actions, or by giving him his property More than would be
necessary for his protection. "
This English conception of the state has indelibly impressed itself in our souls by
the word FERDINAND LASSALLE , who called it a "night watchman": "a night
watchman idea , because it can only imagine the state itself under the image of a
night watchman, whose whole Function is to prevent robbery and burglary. " He
once called the Manchester men "modern barbarians who hate the state, not this
particular state, or any particular state, and which, as they have now and again
clearly acknowledged, would like to abolish all the state, the judiciary and the
police And the war through stock corporations ... " LASSALLE followed his great
teacher FICHTE , who had already expressed similar views on the trader's theory
of the state: "This view of the state is quite general even in the schools of
wisdom," complains FICHTE . "It shows itself in zeal for freedom, that is, the
lawlessness of the acquisition, in the assertion that the state would be
completely omitted, if there were no robbers any more, besides all its
circumcision." "Owners hold the state as a gentleman is a servant". "The state,
they say, is a necessary evil because it costs money, but every evil must be
made as small as possible."

One has meant: That social Manchestermanship was a world view of the
bourgeoisie; It is thus due to the peculiarity of a class, that is to say social. No
less, than FERDINAND LASSALLE, has given this thought to all his writings and
speeches.
"Therefore (in order to exploit the laborer better, he thinks) the
hatred of our liberal bourgeoisie against the state, not against a
particular state, but against the concept of the state, which they
are most willing to abolish completely, and to perish in the
bourgeois society That is to say, in all its points, to be able to
penetrate with free competition . ... Therefore, above all the
culminating hatred of the bourgeoisie against every s t r o n g
state, as always organized and procured.
This was an error of LASSALLE . It may be admitted that the class interests of the
bourgeoisie are closest to antistate philosophy; But the two do not coincide.
There are also bourgeoisies with a strong state of mind. There are state theories
that are completely independent of any class interest. On the other hand, there
are abundant anticapitalist aspirations, born of a eudemonist individualistic
manchesterian spirit. Yes, there is no single E n g l i s h direction of socialism or
the movement of workers , which is not individualisteudemonistically oriented,
That is, from the rights of the individual to the community and the greatest
happiness of the greatest number to the goal.

THOMAS MORUS , who had, after all, nurtured his mind on Plato's ideas, and from
whom it was best to expect a different view, let his utopians find their satisfaction
in a flat, English middleclass fortune.
"The soul is created ... by God's infinite goodness to happiness."

"The Utopians beat the side of the party which sees human
happiness either at all or at least a substantial part of it in
pleasure."
Not in every pleasure, adds the wise state Chancellor, but only in the
"honorable". (This is what the English R e s p e c t a b i l i t y demands . )

And it has remained the same. It may be seen from the great English socialists,
whoever they may be, whether GODWIN, THOMSON, or OWEN , as different as
they may be from one another, in their theoretical foundations, as in their
practical ideals, they remain the same: society is an aggregate of Individuals,
their purpose is: to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number. And
none of the English workers, whether revolutionary or reformist, has ever devised
a different idea from this. ( CARLYLE is always an entirely unenglish special
edition.) No not socially, But the basic principles of state and society are
national. A n d t h e i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c e u d e m o n i s t s o c i a l
philosophy is originally and in the deepest sense an
e f f l u x o f t h e E n g l i s h s p i r i t ( a s f a r a s and in which substantial
form of the French spirit, can not be discussed here).

The trader's theoretical position o n t h e w a r is readily apparent from his
fundamental views: his ideal must be universal "eternal" peace . He may go forth
from the narrower interests of economic life, to which he thus grants such a
broad space in his system of values , or he may choose the general merchant
world view as a guideline for his judgment.

The fact that the international investment, that trade , especially the great trade
of overseas (in its present civilized forms wellminded!) Had required the peace
to their prosperity, sees every child. If it has become really important that bacon
and cotton be transported safely from one place on earth to another, how should
not every warlike disturbance be regarded as incompatible with the progress of
civilization? As the progressive commercialization of mankind toward a
development towards higher forms of existence, the moral demand of eternal
peace is a selfevident conclusion.

But even without the immediate consideration of the unhindered course of the
economic process, the generalmerchant world view must lead to the rejection of
war.

Since the representatives of this view have never hoped for anything more than
"the continuation of the habit of being there under tolerable conditions," there is
no apparent reason why one should not live peacefully on earth, if possible is.
Comfort is not increased by war. And above all, if the greatest happiness of the
greatest number is the goal and the purpose of life, and in the peculiarity of the
statelife, how can the sacrifice of i n d i v i d u a l men be justified in war? Why,
each one will rightly ask, From whom one would desire that he be exposed to the
enemy's bullets, shall I go to his death so that others may partake of happiness,
to which I have no lesser claim than they?

The logic of tradesmanship therefore leads, in the first place, to the rejection of
every war, and, secondly, to the extent that a war, which, of course, can only be a
"defense war," can not be avoided That the warcraft, like any other trade, is
carried out for the sake of profit. Assuming the "voluntariness" of accession, the
principles of tradesmanship have been followed conscientiously.

This is also the position of all the state theorists in England: war is a necessary
evil; He must be guided, then, "by others," and, as may be added, with all the
chicanery of commercialism. So they have learned from THOMAS MORUS until
again down to our HERBERT SPENCER .

THOMAS MORUS deserves special attention. He wrote his U t o p i a (published
in 1516) at a time when the English people had by no means been crippled; At a
time when the foreigners who came to England had even boasted of the
belligerents of the British. "Sono molto reputati nell'arme" [Their reputation
comes from the military. wp] writes our guarantee man, the Venetian author of
the R e l a t i o n s e in 1500. No wonder. Lived still the sex that had fought the
struggle between York and Lancaster, and whose elders still had the wars with
France. It is true that at that time there appeared to be a strong turn to the tradi
tional. Has the belligerent spirit of the English people blemished in the battles of
the civil war? And out of the longing for peace is written the letter of the Chancellor,
MORE , which is a cry of the English tradesman for salvation from the evil, and
from which (despite its anticapitalist tendency or precisely for this reason) the
entire merchantoriented state philosophy of the later Englishmen leaves.

What MORE says about the position of the utopians on war is therefore so
interesting, Because his program has been realized almost at every point (as I shall
show later) by the English in the later centuries: proof enough how originally these views,
which MORE represent, are the merchant's thinking and feeling.

Here are a few passages from the Utopia, which show what has been said:
Give the pledge of their own forces in war, and grant aid in the
richest measure. Among them there are very few of their own
citizens... Gold and silver, however... Give them a light heart... ""
Besides their native riches, the Utopians also possess immense
treasures abroad because most peoples ... " The Utopians are
fond of using the" Zapolets, "a 500,000 paces of Utopia," ugly,
barbarous, savage "people," which is home to its mountains and
forests It is born, the privilege before every other stay. "(That
may mean the Germans or the Swiss.)" This people are doing
utopian warfare against all the peoples against whom they are
waging war because their help is renounced by them at a price so
high as no one else does. "" They care little, therefore, how many
of them ... "" After these, they also use the troops of those
whose protection they take to arms, and then the auxiliary
troops of their other friend neighbors. At last they form a corps
of their own fellow citizens ... "" In every city, an
excommunication is made out of the throng of those who
volunteer, for no one will go to the military against his will to the
war ... " "As they strive in every way not to interfere with the
struggle,

MORUS never knows where his seriousness ends and his mockery begins.
Hence this ideal of warfare may be a mockery of the merchants, whom the great
chancellor at that time saw among his countrymen and gained influence. With
what feelings would he experience the war of 1914, in which he would see his
"utopian" perform the four hundred years earlier planned program! But I will talk
about the trade p r a c t i c e later. Here like only o n e will be marked by the
meaning and essence of the war of the time last English social philosopher word
next to the view of the timefirst the view.

The war, according to HERBERT SPENCER , once gave a blessing. Today we no
longer need it; Today it is superfluous; Today, trade and industry are doing much
better. Today, the war has only been an evil. "With the suppression of military
activities and the disintegration of military organizations, an improvement in the
state's conditions will take place on its own, and without these changes there can
be no improvement in any area." (Sociology, § 582)

According to SPENCER, only a "war of defense" is justifiable because (one hears!)
Is preserved by the sacrifice of a smaller or larger number of individuals. But
even a "defense war" only makes sense if an effective defense has prospects of
success. " I can still speak of it. "The soldier, who is only conceivable as a
mercenary, is jeopardizing his life; the rest of the people can be deducted from
the purchase, to entertain the army." These are the legitimate victims of the
citizen: "As a means of attaining the ultimate end, to assure him of the certainty
that he can exercise his activity undisturbed and enjoy the reward of it."

(!!) A d e a r people are our "cousins"! I can still speak of it. "The soldier, who is
only conceivable as a mercenary, is jeopardizing his life; the rest of the people
can be deducted from the purchase, to entertain the army." These are the
legitimate victims of the citizen: "As a means of attaining the ultimate end, to
assure him of the certainty that he can exercise his activity undisturbed and
enjoy the reward of it." (!!) A d e a r people are our "cousins"!

Chapter 4: English State and English Culture

The English s t a t e has nothing in its history. Perhaps that the merchant states
of antiquity, the states of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, have represented
the like. But a "world empire" born of a purely mercantile spirit has not yet
existed. The peculiarity of the English state reckons in the fact that it does not
contain all that had hitherto been reasonably thought by the state, namely that it
was an organically divided community of men, composed of cultural and civilizing
unity, To a correspondingly large extent. Everything that we have known so far in
large states is organically grown out of an inner life impulse. The English world,
however, is mechanically piecemeal like a capital sum: the individual
components are "accumulated", and are entirely loosely connected with one
another and with the motherland. What does this mean: India, a 300 million
country "belongs" to the UK ?! This listening has only one meaning in trying to
understand the whole British world empire from a commercialistic spirit: that is, it
tries to understand not as a state, but as a large business house in which the
motherland is the parent house, The central register, while the colonies are the
branches.

How completely inhospitable England is formed as a country for itself, is a look at
the statistics. Obviously, a state whose inhabitants are not large, I would almost
say, belong to the greater part of agriculture, an illusion. In England, however, the
proportion of persons employed in agriculture (and very considerable fishing) has
fallen to 8 (!) Per cent. Twentytwo of the inhabitants of England (45%) are active
in the industry. Such a professionally divided state is a caricature; it is no longer a
living entity, but only an office. The "colonies" are pump stations, which have the
sole purpose of either directly or indirectly giving off surpluses to the mother
country, Just as this mercantile exploitation of a landmark leads to its inclusion in
colonial possessions, or how the investment in an area makes this "ripe" appear
as an annexation. I think of Egypt, Angola, Mesopotamia.

According to the latest estimates by the M a n c h e s t e r S o c i a l S o c i e t y ,
England has invested 74.7 billion marks abroad; Of which 35.9 billion in the
colonies. If, on the other hand, these fixedincome bonds are given off from these
investments, which are, of course, primarily given to foreign, independent states,
then most of the actual capital investment will be made in the colonies. The
motherland is essentially used to direct this giant enterprise "English world
empire" and to calculate the inputs and outputs. T h i s i s t h e u n w i e l d y
n a t u r e o f t h e L e v i a t h a n , the Hobbes foresaw in the Spirit, when he
entwart his ideal image of the state from which he said that his force in the
wealth of the individual citizen exists (!): D i v i t i a e S i n g u l a r i u m
h o m i n u m s u n t p e r R o b o r e [riches Are the strength of individual people.
wp]. If, according to HOBBES, we are to present the English state in the image
of an organism, Great Britain appears to be one of those giant polyps, which
consist only of a few small arms and an enormous digestive system, while all
other organs: head, heart, and what else In differentiated organisms, are dead.
the Hobbes foresaw in the Spirit, when he entwart his ideal image of the state, of
which he said that his force exists in the richness of individual citizens (!):
d i v i t i a e S i n g u l a r i u m h o m i n u m s u n t p e r R o b o r e [riches are the
strength of individuals. wp]. If, according to HOBBES, we are to present the
English state in the image of an organism, Great Britain appears to be one of
those giant polyps, which consist only of a few small arms and an enormous
digestive system, while all other organs: head, heart, and what else In
differentiated organisms, are dead. the Hobbes foresaw in the Spirit, when he
entwart his ideal image of the state, of which he said that his force exists in the
richness of individual citizens (!): d i v i t i a e S i n g u l a r i u m h o m i n u m s u n t
p e r R o b o r e [riches are the strength of individuals. wp]. If, according to
HOBBES, we are to imagine the English state in the image of an organism, Great
Britain appears to be one of those giant polyps, which consist only of a few small
arms and an enormous digestive apparatus, while all the other organs: head,
heart, and what else In differentiated organisms, are dead. T h a t h i s p o w e r
consists in the wealth of the individual citizens (!):
D i v i t i a e s i n g u l a r i u m h o m i n u m s u n t p r o r o b o r e [Riches are the
strength of individual people. wp]. If, according to HOBBES, we are to imagine
the English state in the image of an organism, Great Britain appears to be one of
those giant polyps, which consist only of a few small arms and an enormous
digestive apparatus, while all the other organs: head, heart, and what else In
differentiated organisms, are dead. T h a t h i s p o w e r c o n s i s t s i n t h e
wealth of the individual citizens (!): Divitiae singularium
h o m i n u m s u n t p r o r o b o r e [Riches are the strength of individual people.
wp]. If, according to HOBBES, we are to imagine the English state in the image
of an organism, Great Britain appears to be one of those giant polyps, which
consist only of a few small arms and an enormous digestive apparatus, while all
the other organs: head, heart, and what else In differentiated organisms, are
dead.

As shown in
Fig.

Just as the English state is born of a commercial spirit, all the means of state
p o l i c y are, of course, taken from the circle of mercantile ideas and ideas. It is
extremely instructive to observe how the power of political power is brought into
prominence by the English policy , and is made the actual tool of the politically
active man, which is produced directly by a merchant spirit: the treaty.

If the outward history of England, especially its economic and especially
commercial history, is surveyed, it is easy to show how the excellent dexterity in
contracting concluded mainly the greatness of England. If one wants to explain
the immense upswing that the English economic life has in the 18th century, In
the beginning of the century two treaties were concluded by which England
succeeded in drawing before all other peoples the stream of precious metals
from the Spanish and Portuguese colonies Only made possible all other major
trade with Europe and the East. The two treaties I have in mind are the Methuen
Treaty (1703) and the Assiento Treaty (1713).

It is known to every connoisseur of English history that all the means of
deception, the break in the treaty, the crooks, the thieves, the robbery went hand
in hand. The m o r a l i n s a n i t y o f this people is the secret of its power to no
small extent. But what interests us here, Are not the machinations of the rogue
trader, who has been popular with England at all times, but that of the trader as
such. For what we want to recognize is indeed the birth of the whole of England
from a merchant spirit. We must remember now that even in "higher" politics the
clever use of the treaty has helped the people to their successes. What is the
reason why India was "conquered" and held in the kingdom? The clever
exploitation of the thousands of opposites that India is doing, between
Mohammedans and Hindus, between the individual Nabobs [provincial
governorswp] and Subahs [provinceswp], who sought to make themselves
independent from the Grand Mogul. We always want to be present, That in the
famous Battle of Plessey (June 23, 1757), by which India was conquered for
England, 3000 men were fighting on the English side, of which 900 were English!
To conclude favorable treaties (already the government of "utopia" at MORUS ,
who had understood the English people so profoundly, saw in this its main task),
andwhich is directly related to itrendering enemy forces harmless by working
against one another And thus hindered one's own peril: on this alone the
attention of England has always been directed. It is well known that the guiding
principle of English policy has for some time been the "equilibrium" Among the
European states (just as on this principle the English policy is built up in India).
This "equilibrium position" is obviously born again from a merchant's spirit: it is
the picture of the scales held by the shopkeeper to weighed raisins and pepper.
She has seen the light of the world in the Italian merchant states of the Middle
Ages and has become the central idea of the English merchant state. Here, too,
the lifedestroying creature comes into the hands of every merchant's spirit: it is a
purely mechanical conception of all the state which wants to maintain "forces" in
"equilibrium." "Weighing" can only be dead materials; But not creatures, which
are states in reality. Already ADAM MÜLLER has poured out his mockery about
"the poor image of the wavering scales". "As if international law were nothing
more than the conclusion of a political arithmetic."


As shown in
Fig.

It is especially instructive to observe how the trader leads the w a r : we shall
see: completely according to the program of the trader theorists, of which we
have learned a few. Since he knows no other interests than the material ones,
the war can always have only the significance of protecting or defending material
interests, in England, therefore, almost exclusively trade interests, or the
interests of capital owners abroad. In 1909, the wellknown English monthly "The
United Service Institution" was the awardwinning work of a British naval officer.
The following sentences (which I quote from the account of Count Ernst to
Reventow , "England the Enemy") were found here: We (Great Britain) do not go
to war for sentimental reasons. I doubt we ever did. War is the result of trade
disputes; Its aim is to impose on our opponents with the sword those economic
conditions which we consider necessary to give us commercial advantages.

We use all conceivable pretexts and occasions for war, but the basis of all is
commerce (we all have a reputation for reasosn for, but at the bottom of allall
commerce). " Everyone who knows superficially the English war history, The
English house officer, in particular, was compelled to use martial means of
violence whenever he thought it necessary, That a competing firm is about to
take the place on the world market. Hence the wars against Spain in the 16th,
against Holland in the 17th, against France in the 18th century and now against
us now. But in every case the commercial cause of the wars which England has
led or led for herself can be proved. I am thinking of the war which England
declared to Spain in 1739, because a compensation sum paid by the South
Seasite of Spain was not paid, and the products of the South Seas had been
withheld. I am thinking of the "conquest" of India (in 1757), which Lord CLIVE undertook
on behalf of the East India Trade Company to avenge the defendants of the
society attacked by the Nabob in Bengal. I am thinking of Britain's participation in
our sevenyear war, which is particularly instructive: England supported Prussia
because, in general, it was important to him that France, at that time still the first
naval and commercial power, was weakened; Because it had in particular an
interest that France's rule was broken in India. But this was done by the conquest
and grind [prague] (16 January 1761), while the conquest of Canada in 1760 had
shaken the position of France in the West. On January 16, 1761, therefore, England
was interested in the war of Frederick II . exhausted. Therefore, it should also be his
participation! In December 1760 the alliance treaty of England with FRIEDRICH II .
Once again renewed with great unanimity of Parliament; I n t h e f o l l o w i n g
y e a r h e w a s n o t renewed, in spite of the wretched and humble letters of
the great King to Pitt .

But I am also thinking of the wars of the 19th century, which are performed
immediately as a trade or capital Wars: the Opium War (1840/42) against China
to the gold and diamond war against the Boers in the war of 1914.

As But the motivation of the war in a merchant trade is a purely commercial one,
which is the basis of every capitalistic enterprise to achieve the highest possible
profit , the war itself is regarded as nothing else but a capitalist undertaking,
Organized. Here is the chief thought: one does not lead a war itself, but a war is
made. How to buy production and labor on the market for the operation of a
cotton spinning mill, according to the principle of the mercenary army, cannons
and soldiers. It is the old standpoint of the belligerent merchant, as in the
antiquity of Carthage, and in the Middle Ages the banking states of Italy. It is
even better and more mercantilist to think of the war not at its own expense and
danger, but merely to participate in this enterprise with a capital contribution: this
was the Englishman 's procedure in the eighteenth century, when the European
states were united Their subsidies [support wp]. Unfortunately, however, the
business nowadays is no longer quite as convenient. I t i s a g e n e r a l
characteristic of our time, and here too the damned
G e r m a n s made life worse for the poor Britons, just as in sales on the
commodity market.

Today, a somewhat more elaborate procedure must be applied in order to allow
foreign peoples to wage the wars for England's trade interests: if they can not
simply be given the order to deliver so and so many men as does the branch
offices and agencies of the parent shop With the colonial peoples, who, of
course, are also strangers to the English in England, with vassal states like
Egypt, Portugal); Either a partnership must be entered, which is the right thing for
likeminded nations, Or where one must still count on decency and chivalry, as
in the case of the French, it is necessary to skillfully use their weaknesses in
order to participate in this enterprise.

If the enterprise is now set in motion, the eye of the careful merchant must
ensure that it is carried out with the greatest possible profit and with the least
possible losses. Foreign troops do not cost England anything, so they can be
sacrificed at will; Even foreign cities can be bombed (Antwerp, Ostend with
English guns!). But their own troops must be paid in cash: consequently, they
must be spared as much as possible. Especially their own ships are very
expensive! According to this mercantilist principle during this war, for example, in
Antwerp, Cries to heaven. Without any thought of duty and loyalty and decency,
the English troops withdrew from the besieged fortress, which they were to
defend, in time to reach the ships in Ostend, which brought the refugees to
safety. I am convinced that the heads of department, who, as Ministers, were in
charge of the department store of England, G., did not have a moment's thought
that this was an unspeakably dirty thing. They would reply, if they were to them,
but it was more practical to do so. And they are quite right from their point of
view. We saw, as her theorist, HERBERT SPENCER , preach this usefulness in his
shophouse ethics.

Now, however, the warfare for England is only the incidental part of the war
which it itself is carrying against us: its participation with troops in this enterprise
is, in fact, of no consequence, and its fleet does not put it into battle because it is
too expensive , Its main war is, in the strict sense, a trade and moneywar, as
other traders and unscrupulous such as the owners of two large department
stores of lower rank. After all, the most important means of fighting which
England herself applies are direct commercial oppressions and harassment, all
of which are, above all else, the English management seems hardly to think of
destroying our material interests: boycotting, patent theft, ,

It is, as is well known, only thanks to England that there is still capitulation to this
day, in which England's hostile nations must necessarily participate. It reveals the
innermost essence of its warfare, that it considers this modest form of struggle as
essentially its most important component to which, as it has been declared anew
at every international conference, "can not do without it."

It is well known that the English government is sending messengers to all foreign
markets during the war, in order to discourage the customers from the German
competition. The following letter from a correspondent of the "Times" in Pahang
(Malacca), published by the newspaper in his number of the 14th century, proves
how much one hopes for the effect of the war on the outbreak of the war.
"This war is about enriching a lot of aboriginal traders, from the
point of view of a British industrialist: t h e l o n g e r t h e w a r
l a s t s , t h e b e t t e r f o r B r i t i s h i n d u s t r y , we may feel the
pressure, in a few years we will have the advantage German
company in the British colonies, which has eaten into the deepest
bowels of the British trade and Business will then be ruined. I
have no doubt that the generous, farsighted, never out
continuous B r i t i s h g o v e r n m e n t o f t h i s f a c t f u l l y a w a r e
is. If we had a large army possessed to overthrow the field and
overcome Germany in the first attempt, so the effects were n o t
a s f a r r e a c h i n g been. Slow, Constant pressure, like the
present one, is all in all the right policy. "(!)
The meanest means of warfare, which, as we know, have been used in such a
masterly manner during this war, is what has been called the "journalistic
encirclement" of Germany. With its money, it has laid or bought all the cables of
the world, which it now ruthlessly uses to spread its lies; With his money, it has
bribed the dispatch offices, the newspapers and magazines, the publishers and
press agents in neutral countries and in allied states, to work in the English
interest. Always the dealer from the crest to the sole, this time even the greasy
trader. Never has a war been so pure in the merchant spirit, not even from
England, Because it naturally perfects itself from time to time in its dealer
technology, like this war. One often thinks: a department store fights against us. It
is sometimes as if a business man played a new trump in the struggle with the
competition , when the official English reports of war are read, for example, when
the future of Indian troops in France is announced: "A fine, excellent article, the
Everything that happened so far, has arrived today, and lies in the shop window. "
Advertising, product pricing, depreciation of the opponent: everything is in line
with the picture. Even the purely quantitative consideration of the war comes
from the same ground of souls. How many times have we heard of the millions of
the noble Lord KITCHENER , And that so and so many troops from Canada, India,
and Portugal will arrive. Always numbers and numbers only. Quite consistently,
from the point of view of the capitalist entrepreneur, who sees in high
conversions the surest landmark for the flourishing of his business. In shameless
openness has indeed CHURCHILL (or was it LLOYD GEORGE ?) Explains: England
will win, b e c a u s e it had to expend the last million. Here the purely capitalist
conception of things is no longer a cloak; The war is a business like any other,
and since we are living in the age of capitalism, the business with the greatest
capital will be the victory.

The disgusting, however, What this war has brought to light is that it is regarded
by the English as a kind of sport. When the "Emden" had finally been thrown
under the influence of a mighty overpowerment, the English press was jubilant.
After all, English trade had been liberated from a relentless injustice. But the
unbelievable happened: the heroic capital of Miiller was lifted into all the heavens. If
he came to London, he said, he would be the most celebrated man. Why?
Because he had done heroic deeds in faithful fulfillment of duty against the
emperor and the empire? Oh no! But because he had done so outstanding
sporting performances! And when the captured Englishmen withdrew from the
fortress of Liège, they stretched out their hands, Like the footballer after the
match! And they were very astonished when they were given the proper answer:
footsteps into a certain part of the body.

Nowhere can the complete commercialization of war appear so clearly as in this
unconscious confusion between war and sport. For the sport is born from the
innermost soul of the trader, who can never understand the war. I'll tell you why.
We need only to keep in mind the cultural values and habits of the merchant in
order to find the answer. Nowhere can the complete commercialization of war
appear so clearly as in this unconscious confusion between war and sport. For
the sport is born from the innermost soul of the trader, who can never understand
the war. I'll tell you why. We need only to keep in mind the cultural values and
habits of the merchant in order to find the answer. Nowhere can the complete
commercialization of war appear so clearly as in this unconscious confusion
between war and sport. For the sport is born from the innermost soul of the
trader, who can never understand the war. I'll tell you why. We need only to keep
in mind the cultural values and habits of the merchant in order to find the answer.

As shown in
Fig.

What, then, if we disregard the miscarriage of the state and a hypertrophy of the
economic apparatus, has been produced in England at SHAKESPEARE as a
"cultural value" ?

It is far from me to speak of what is called "religion" in England; It essentially
corresponds to what is to be called "philosopia" there, which has to be
unfettered. In any case, in this field, if we do not wish to lead the salvation army,
the British did not undertake any creative act. The fact that the ideas of the
Reformation were imported foreign goods, m a d e i n G e r m a n y , have not
yet been forgotten. But what they have mastered again, W a s t h e
a d a p t a t i o n o f t h e i r s o i d i s a n t [socalledwp] metaphysical need to
their d e a l e r s ' i n t e r e s t s . The dear God is very well placed in the general
business. The English have even become "tolerant" in religious matters: this is
far better suited to profitmaking and to a more comfortable life than a strictly
orthodox orthodoxy. We shall occasionally recall that CROMWELL had already
taken the Jews back to England, because he thought they needed them for his
finances and for the English trade. Do not forget that in the famous Declaration of
Indulgence and II of Jacob . From 1687, which is admired as the M a g n a
C h a r t a of religious tolerance, literally means: "Persecution what unfavourable
to population and to trade": religious persecution is not compatible with the
interests of industry and commerce. So also in the ecclesiastical politics of this
people we must establish the primacy and commercial interests.

Poetry? Except for a few Irishmen, the Lord BYRON , who had been cursed by
the country , who had cursed his people; The likewise exiled SHELLEY , who in
"Laon and Cynthna" solemnly left his homeland.

Visual arts? The Sweets of GAINSBOUROUGH and REYNOLDS and the Hysteria
of the PreRaphaelites.

Music?

No spiritual cultural value c a n a r i s e from the trades. Not now and not
forever. B u t t h e y w a n t no intellectual culture. All mental values oppress
them. And that is why they have born, from their innermost being, two forms of
life which can serve as a substitute for spiritual values, but which, through their
generalization, also help to eradicate the last remnant of spiritual life from the
people: I mean comfort and sport.

Since I have these two human strata still in another context penetrating!
below, it may be enough to have mentioned them.

But righteousness requires that in these fields of material culture the English
have been actual promoters and pluralists. As they did, Which need not be
emphasized, have enriched our stock of technical and economic skill, at least in
earlier times. We shall still have to consider whether these single gifts of this
people have been a blessing to mankind.
LITERATURE: Werner Sombart, Dealer and Heroes Patriotic Reflections, Munich /
Leipzig 1915


Werner Sombart - Dealer and Heroes (1-2)

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Werner Sombart - Dealer and Heroes (1-2)

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

7/4/2017 Werner Sombart - Dealer and Heroes [1/2]

" " The most infamous saying ever h e a r d o f a merchant's l e a g u e , " D o

Potrebbero piacerti anche