The Spirit of Militarism By Nahum Goldmann

"Thus, the first task of our time is destruction: all social stratifications and social formations created by the old system must be destroyed, individuals must be torn out of their ancestral milieus; no tradition may be considered sacred any longer; old age is regarded only as a sign of illness; the slogan is: what was, must go. The forces that carry out this negative task of our time are: in the economic-social field capitalism, in the political-spiritual field democracy. We all know how much they have already achieved, but we also know that their work is not yet completely finished.
 
Capitalism is still fighting against the forms of the old, traditional economy, democracy is still fighting a hot battle against all forces of reaction. The militaristic spirit will complete the work. Its principle of uniformization will carry out the negative task of the time completely: when all members of our cultural circle are uniformed as soldiers of our cultural system, this one task will be solved.But only then the other, greater and more difficult task arises: the construction of the new order. The links, which are now torn out of their old roots and stratifications and lie around disorderly, anarchically, must be closed into new formations and categories; if in the solution of the first task all were at first declared equal, now men must again be divided and differentiated: a new pyramidal, hierarchical system must be established.
 
Capitalism also tried to solve this task; we know with what misfortune. It made the fundamental division into rulers and ruled according to wrong points of view: according to those of wealth, of capitalist power. This second task, too, can only be solved by the militaristic spirit by virtue of its other great guiding principle of subordination. He will bring the true aristocratic principle to rule: Let those who can rule, rule."
 
"This writing gains importance through the person of its author: Nachum Goldmann is a Russian Jew by birth; he was born in 1894 in Wischnewo as the son of a writer. Having come to Germany in his early youth, he became such a good German in his thinking and feeling that he was able to write this beautiful work for Germany." -The Publisher
 
Nahum Goldmann (Hebrew: נחום גולדמן) (July 10, 1895 – August 29, 1982) was a leading Zionist. In the 1930s, he represented the Jewish Agency, the Jewish shadow government in Palestine under the British mandate, at the League of Nations.He was a founder of the World Jewish Congress and its president from 1951 to 1978, and was also president of the World Zionist Organization from 1956 to 1968.