feel ashamed ; but a nation, half of which is in misery, worn with care, or indeed corrupt, makes a picture so bad that no one can feel pride in it. Not until a nation is sound in all its parts, body and soul, can the joy of belonging to it rightly swell to that high feeling which we call “national pride”. But this high pride will only come to a man who knows the greatness of his nation. The fear of Chauvinism, which is felt in our time, is the mark of its impotence.
This world is undoubtedly going through great changes. The only question is whether the outcome will be the good of Aryan humanity or profits for the eternal Jew.
The task of the national State will, therefore, be to preserve the race and fit it to meet the final and greatest decisions on this globe by suitable education of its youth. The nation which is first in the field will reap the victory.
From the point of view of the race this education should be completed by service in the Army ; just as for ordinary Germans the period of military service ought to count as the conclusion of normal education.
Great though the importance of bodily and mental training will be in the national State, selection of the best individuals will be equally important intrinsic¬ ally. This is treated very casually to-day. As a rule it is the children of better-class parents in good circum¬ stances who are considered suited for higher training. The question of talent plays a subordinate part. Talent can really only be estimated relatively. A farmer’s son may have far more talent than one of parents with many generations of high positions behind them, if he is behind the ordinary citizen’s child in general attain¬ ments. The latter’s superior knowledge, however, has no connection with greater or less talent, but is rooted in the essentially greater wealth of impressions received by the child as a result of his more comprehensive education and the more varied surroundings of his life.