Lecture in Stavanger, November 28, 1935: The Welfare System

The Welfare System: Extract from a lecture at a members' meeting in Stavanger.

By Dr. Gulbrand Lunde.

When you sit in the welfare system and work with these things and get to the bottom of the desperate conditions that prevail now, you become more and more convinced that the Nasjonal Samling's view of these things is the only possibility for better conditions. We have to get to the bottom of things, look at the conditions entirely historically, not from day to day. We are moving more and more in a socialist direction, in the direction of the common, that we must stand together and cooperate in all things. It is a completely natural path. We become more and more dependent on each other. In the past, it was the parents who completely took care of the children's upbringing. Today, you have social institutions of all kinds that help with this, you have social welfare and social security of all kinds. Society is moving more and more to take over the training of young people in the various professions, what the father did before. The question then becomes which view will form the basis of the new social order that must come. The liberal view has fully played its role. You no longer count on that. The fight will then be between the Marxist view or the Nasjonal Samling's solidarity view. There will only be these two paths to choose from. We believe that the Marxist way is crazy. It will equalize everyone. Everyone is equal and must work for the state and anything called self-preservation will be destroyed. With the Labor Party at the forefront, this is now working its way with us. The bourgeois are to the greatest extent on board with these notes and are asking Minister Madsen for support for their various enterprises and companies and are becoming more and more dependent on the state's mercy. Every fisherman, every farmer receives a contribution when he asks for it and works himself more and more into a hopelessly dependent relationship with the state.

Forty thousand fishermen have applied to the state for financial assistance, receiving a total of NOK 4 million. Each individual will receive NOK 100. In this country, it is almost impossible for anyone to manage without grants and aid.

Disintegration and decay are evident across all fields and industries in our nation. It is interesting to compare our current conditions with those of ancient Rome under the emperors. Similar signs of decline are visible. Historical records indicate that Roman farmers were burdened by debt, forcing them to abandon their farms and land. They migrated to cities, where a large population of unemployed individuals relied on state support for their basic needs—primarily bread and entertainment.

Today, farming in Norway is unprofitable. Capital holds significant sway, with stock exchanges and banks exerting control over every aspect of decision-making. Our liberal capitalist society has left farmers impoverished due to taxes, debt, and interest. The once-strong work ethic and commitment to health have waned, replaced by increasing immorality and decay.

In ancient Rome, everyone owed substantial capital, creating a universal cycle of debt. The greatest capitalist was Caesar. He was the dictator and also owned the largest fortune.

In our context, every individual, municipality, and even the state itself is in debt. Foreign financial capital exerts influence over us, shaping our destiny as it sees fit

The capitalist system as it exists today must go. We reject the notion of property rights extending to life, and we also oppose state capitalism. But our legislation must be changed to legislation that is suitable for a society of solidarity. We refuse to be slaves to capital; instead, it should serve the interests of working life.  We work along completely different lines and with different goals than Marxists and liberals.

It is claimed that today we have people's government, that democracy as it is practiced in Norway today is true people's government. I will allow myself to call it idiot rule. The professional, the skilled, has no more to say than the inferiorly gifted. It is this people's government that we have that must be protected. People's government means that the people give responsibility to the most capable person, in whom they have confidence. In order to apply this view of the welfare system as it is today, it must be our task at every opportunity to clarify that it is a disgrace to our society and that it must go.