Röpke's Battle Against Nazi Ideology | Samuel Gregg & Kate Wand

Liberty Curious

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https://lawliberty.org/when-a-classical-liberal-confronted-nazi-terror/

https://lawliberty.org/wilhelm-ropkes-civilization-of-liberty/

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What can happen when societies decouple from the Western liberal tradition and adopt collectivist frameworks that abandon reason, the pursuit of truth, and the core principles of civilization?

On this episode of Liberty Curious, Kate Wand was joined by Samuel Gregg, Distinguished Fellow in Political Economy at AIER, to discuss the life and ideas of Wilhelm Röpke. Röpke was a 20th century economics professor who was exiled from Germany in the 1930s for defending liberty and opposing the National Socialists.

In the conversation you’re about to hear, Samuel Gregg tells Röpke’s incredible life story, and describes the humanist philosophy that Röpke lived by, which left him standing alone against the illiberal Nazi regime.

Gregg writes, “The National Socialists had no interest in reason or the individual, let alone freedom as Röpke understood it. They personified what Röpke called the “reigning illiberalism,” which was characterized by “hot air, slogans . . . glorification of direct action, violence in dealing with all those of different opinion, rabble-rousing in every sphere, empty rhetoric, and deceitful stage effects.”

Such illiberalism would, he said, “trample down the garden of European civilization.” That, eventually, was what National Socialism did, epitomized by the regime’s attempt to wipe the Jewish people off the face of the earth.”

aier.org

*** Please note that the opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and her guests. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Institute for Economic Research. The content presented in this show is intended for educational purposes only, and should not be considered as financial advice. ***

0:00 - Intro

2:18 - Who was Wilhelm Röpke?

8:20 - After the First World War

11:50 - Röpke's Opposition to the Nazis

15:50 - Röpke's humanistic convictions

19:20 - His defence of Liberalism

23:43 - Cogs in the Machine

28:28 - Dividing people by identity groups

35:00 - The pursuit of Truth

39:55 - How do you know the Nazis were the 'bad guys'?

42:32 - The Nazis thought that they were right

47:52 - Why do mass mobs lose their ability to reason?

52:40 - Threats to liberty now?

58:40 - What can individuals do?

1:01:37 - Last thoughts