Permanent War Economy - Question of Deliberate Policy

Question of Deliberate Policy

Some authors emphasise that the permanent arms economy was not something planned by capitalists. It was like a lucky fate, which came upon monopoly capitalism by special circumstances, which cannot be repeated at will or by planning. This contrasts with the view of the German Marxist Alfred Sohn-Rethel who with a rather similar theory claims that the idea of an arms economy was applied rather deliberately in the Germany of the 1930s to fend off a crisis for German capitalism. Based on analyses which were in fact influenced by Marxist theory, German capitalists came to the conclusion – according to Alfred Sohn-Rethel – that only arms expenditures as a kind of waste could “save” German capitalism for the moment. Thus, they decided to opt for Adolf Hitler and his promises of increasing military expenditures.

Read more about this topic:  Permanent War Economy

Famous quotes containing the words question, deliberate and/or policy:

    You run ahead?—Do you do it as a shepherd? Or as an exception? A third possibility would be as a runaway ... First question of conscience.
    Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

    ‘Beware
    The soft-voiced owl, the ferret’s smile,
    The hawk’s deliberate stoop in air,
    Cold eyes, and bodies hooped in steel,
    Forever bent upon the kill.’
    Geoffrey Hill (b. 1932)

    The Oregon [matter] and the annexation of Texas are now all- important to the security and future peace and prosperity of our union, and I hope there are a sufficient number of pure American democrats to carry into effect the annexation of Texas and [extension of] our laws over Oregon. No temporizing policy or all is lost.
    Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)