. . ' Their authority may only be of the order and breadth determined by the Idea of the whole; they may only 'originate from its might'. That things should be so lies in the Idea of the organism. But in that case it would be necessary to show how all this might be achieved. For conscious reality must hold sway within the state." (Marx, 77) This suggests that independence is a pathway to authoritarian tyranny, whereas the 'might' of the state is accorded only by a collective population supporting this right. this resonates most closely with my own personal perspective, denoting something of a universal order in which central authority is necessary to retain civility but in which collectivism is elevated over materialism as a way of empowering such leadership.

2.

The spread of capitalism as both a chief ideology and an aggressive response to the mores of socialism in the 20th century would help to produce a staunch posture in opposition to those movements which appeared to obstruct the so-called flow of free-market engagement. One of the most troubling conceptual consequences of this staunch positioning of capitalism in opposition to the ideals of Marx would be the rhetorical conflation of free market economy with personal liberty. This is a device which Schmitt (2007) refers to as the concept of the 'political,' an encompassing mode of strategic impression building that inflates the claims of capitalist freedoms while pursuing hostile repression of progressive movements. This is because, to Schmitt, there is a direct contradiction between the aims of a liberalizing force and the agenda of the ruling class. Schmitt argues that "by the universalism implicit in its claims for equality, democracy challenges the legitimacy of the political order, as liberal legitimacy rests on discussion and the compromise of shifting majority rules." (Schmitt & Schwab, xv)

This perception is central to our discussion,...

Indeed, the aggression held by the ruling class toward those that would threaten a push for greater social equality is best demonstrated in the extreme manifestation of capitalism that would become known as fascism. The documentary on Goebbels and the Third Reich is particularly compelling on this point, demonstrating the consequences of too great an empowerment determined on material spoils and thus violently protective of this lynchpin. Indeed, its liquidation of the ethnic others in its society would denote a Nazi Germany driven to the utmost by the divergent impulses of materialism and democracy.
The horrors of World War II are merely the most troubling of indicators that what Schmitt proclaimed is still true. Namely, Eksteins (2000) reiterates, a consequence of the false connection between personal liberty and personal property is a grossly unequal society determined at remaining thus. To Ecksteins, we may make the argument that because societies appear to have progressed so extensively as a consequence of economic largess and technological advance, these are more particularly endowed with the financial incentives to strengthen the inequalities of industry. (Eksteins, 130)

Works Cited:

Eksteins, M. (2000). Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age. Mariner Books.

Gerth, H.H.; Mills, C.W. & Weber, M. (1958). From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. Oxford University Press.

Hachmeister, L. (2006). The Goebbels Experiment. First Run Features.

Marx, K. (1992). Early Writings. Penguin Classics.

Schmitt, C. & Schwab, G. (2007). The Concept of the Political. University of Chicago Press.

Tucker, R.C. (1978). The Marx-Engels Reader. W.W. Norton and Company.

Wikipedia defines this as a Nazi term referring to the German 'Master Race'