Strauss thinks hard about the Germany, which he left in the early 1930s. He blames events on youth, rather than on the NAZIs. His theory is that the German youth were naive Marxists who believe in the theory of classless society but are due to their upbringing and fear committed to avoiding it by doing whatever is possible to destroy the current order. To Strauss, Hitler is a mere feature of history, not a cause in any sense. Probably the best feature of the essay is a somewhat Spencerian presentation of morals and science as "pillars" of civilization. (Herbert Spencer stated that religion and science were the pillars.).
His criticism of materialism falls flat as all criticisms of materialism tend to.