The Nazi 25-Point Program Was Not Socialist: A Point-by-Point Look

Conservatives often try to connect Nazis to socialism instead of fascism, even though conservative capitalists like Fritz Thyssen and Henry Ford praised and supported the Nazis. Among the misleading claims by conservatives is that the Nazi 25-Point Program was a socialist document.

Now, the first thing to do is decide what definition of “socialism” applies. Ignorant people say armies and libraries are examples of socialism, but if that’s so, monarchies and churches are socialist. When I google “socialism”, this is the first definition I get:

“a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.”

So the reasonable question to ask is whether the Nazis believed the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. Once asked, the discussion should be over: They did not. The Nazis loved corporations and rich people, and corporations and rich people loved Nazis.

But logic never stops humans. So let’s break down the 25-Point Program that was created in 1920 when the Nazis changed their name from the uninspiring German Workers’ Party to the National Socialist German Workers’…