Speech in Stavanger, June 5, 1935: Our People's Crisis

Speech on the square in Stavanger, 5 June 1935.

By Gulbrand Lunde.

Our people are in the midst of a crisis, spiritually, economically and politically, and we are all being drawn into this state of crisis. We are forced to take a stand on all the difficulties that arise in society. Everything is sort of disintegrating, both culturally, economically and politically. Yes, the disintegration goes so far that large parts of our people deny the supporting basic principles on which our entire society has been built for hundreds of years.

The form of government that we have lived under for the past 50 years, parliamentarism, and the outlook on life that underlies it, the liberal capitalist system, no longer has any vitality. It has had its mission and is now doomed to be replaced by something new and better.

And it is this new thing that is forming in our society today. It is the new forms of social life and state governance that we see emerging in different ways. And the new thing that will come is the national, solidary people's society, a society where all Norwegians agree on cooperation for people and country.

The biases in our old society with its great injustice and unemployment have prepared the transition to all the new things that are to come, but here in our country only the Norwegian Workers' Party has understood that we are in such a change of times and that the liberal capitalist era is past.

The so-called bourgeois parties have stuck to the old and have not been able to solve the difficulties. They have not understood the new age. Therefore, from election to election, they have gone backwards and the Norwegian Labor Party has advanced.

But it is always like this during times of great change when significant innovations and new social formations occur. It is the people who keep their eyes open and understand the spirit of the times that influence development and can guide it toward either good or evil. The responsibility to lead the people forward rests squarely on the shoulders of the people. It is not a class or a mass that leads, but rather the great men—the leaders of the people.

In our current era of innovation, the responsibility borne by the people’s leaders is doubly significant. The Norwegian Labor Party recognizes that we are in a time of transformation and understands the challenges of the present. However, it has not grasped the nature of the impending change. The party’s foundation lies in Marxist teachings, which view all individuals in society as mere components of a collective mass. According to this ideology, individuality, freedom, and property rights must be abolished. Unfortunately, this approach weakens socialism and turns it into a tool for foreign interests. Consequently, the Norwegian Labor Party faces challenges today. While it has been vigilant in identifying societal injustices and rallying supporters with slogans like ‘All the people in work!’ and ‘Forward for work, bread, and freedom!,’ its failure lies in the flawed premise. The new direction is not collective Marxism but rather a solidary society.

Evil tongues have renamed DNA to KNA (Kingelig Norsk Labor Party). The Farmers’ Party assisted in this endeavor, but it too failed in its intent. Let me highlight one specific issue: the Farmer’s Party program explicitly states that revolutionaries should not hold positions within the state’s service. Yes, you read that correctly! This is the same party that collaborates with the Marxists to gain governmental power. In their pursuit of immediate economic advantages for peasants, the Peasant Party compromised its core convictions and ideals. The consequence today is the Nygaardsvold government—a coalition of two failed parties that have both sacrificed their principles for short-term gains.

Now, the Norwegian Labor Party aligns itself with the bourgeois class, jointly opposing defenseless workers and the unemployed. They perpetuate the exploitation of the working class, mirroring the actions of the bourgeois, thereby prolonging the existence of liberal capitalist society.

Norwegian workers, it’s time to think for yourselves! Recognize that you’ve been misled. Understand that this contradicts what your leaders have conveyed.

However, the Labor Party also falls short on other fronts.

No, dear Mr. Koht, bourgeois society certainly does not stand in the way of Nasjonal Samling. Bourgeois liberal society has long since ceased obstructing progress. The foundational ideas and principles of bourgeois parties belong to the past. These parties now function as mere barren machines, buzzing along because they are still in motion.

However, there is something entirely different that impedes national unity and collective action: Marxism and its international revolutionary politics. Marxism is wholly incompatible with the idea of national unity among the people. Some leaders within the Labor Party seem to recognize this, and many of them now desire to discard Marxism in favor of a national gathering based on solidarity among all countrymen.

Yet, casting aside Marxism is not as simple as being tired of it or realizing that it no longer leads. It must be allowed to evolve within society. Furthermore, a party cannot discard its entire foundational idea without risking the collapse of the entire party. The day the Labor Party no longer acknowledges Marxism is the day it follows the same path as the bourgeois parties.

The Labor Party, too, will eventually become a party machine driven by functionaries and career politicians, persisting as long as possible, while the original idea and foundation fade away.

The Norwegian Labor Party attempts to defend its tax policy by asserting that they must utilize funds more effectively than their bourgeois predecessors. But will they truly follow through on their promise to prioritize the welfare of all working people? Unfortunately, Nygaardsvold is replicating the same flawed approach as Mowinckel did before him, albeit on a slightly larger scale. Like Mowinckel, he disperses crisis grants here and there, allocating millions in various directions. Nygaardsvold’s versatility exceeds that of Mowinckel, which necessitates imposing slightly higher taxes on the populace. Essentially, it’s the same strategy, just magnified.

As these crisis funds are depleted, the call for additional millions arises, leading Nygaardsvold to introduce new taxes. The grand vision of full employment for all remains elusive. Instead, we witness a lack of comprehensive nationwide plans to improve living conditions and create new opportunities for a broader segment of the population. The lofty rhetoric about an entire workforce becomes, in practice, a focus on caring for the vulnerable. But can this approach truly succeed? Is it sustainable amidst such deception and artifice?

The Norwegian working people today are turning away from such a policy and want to gather around a new constructive outlook on life. Nasjonal Samling wants work for everyone, not welfare, but work. First of all, we want to initiate work that can provide new and lasting opportunities for our countrymen. We are aware that this cannot be done without all the people standing together willing to do their work to raise our country. You cannot get away from the difficulties, least of all in the case of taxes and duties. Only through the people's own work, through the people's own power, can we win. We want a new Norway based on order, justice and peace. That is what the people today are longing for, an orderly collaboration with a living man in his place in society. Then there will also be good conditions. Then there will also be peace, peace between people. We are not based on class struggle, but on cooperation between all Norwegians.

We will be led by Norwegians, with Norwegian ideals and with love for Norway and with a heart that beats for all Norwegians, with the will to create good conditions for us all.

Forward for a solidary, agreeable and cooperative Norway, without class hatred and discord! Before the Nasjonal Samling!