Home fertilizers Psychology of the masses and fascism summary. Reich Wilhelm. Psychology of the masses and fascism. Chapter xi Significance of essential labor

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Psychology of the masses and fascism summary. Reich Wilhelm. Psychology of the masses and fascism. Chapter xi Significance of essential labor

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Introduction

Despite the fact that these words are quite traditional for various kinds of reviews and annotations, the fact remains that Wilhelm Reich's book "Psychology of the Masses and Fascism", despite the fact that it was written half a century ago, remains largely relevant today. . And perhaps, at its core, even more relevant than at the time of its writing. Apparently, the reason for this is that when the book was written, the impressions of mankind from fascism were quite fresh and people all over the world, including politicians, were determined to never allow the revival of the fascist regime in any country of the world. The words "People, be vigilant!" were sharply perceived as a reminder of what a nightmare the uncontrolled actions of unbridled politicians led to. But these words were mostly perceived precisely as a reminder of the past, although the main emphasis should be placed on the future - what happened to humanity during the years of fascism should never be repeated. "It shouldn't happen again." But what exactly should not be repeated? Did we really understand well what happened to us, humanity, when we allowed fascism to power? Why did it happen that millions of people in by no means the most backward countries of the world were carried away by the ideas of the Nazis?

It is obvious that, for example, the desire to seize territories and hatred of Jews characteristic of fascist regimes cannot be considered either the most important, or even any important motives for "fascisizing" the population of these peoples. Because today, both of them take place in the world and even serve, among others, as the causes of wars, but the power regimes participating in these wars are not considered fascist, despite the fact that there is no shortage of other unflattering definitions of these regimes.

Without an understanding of what corners of the human soul then contained a breeding ground for fascism, it is impossible to "be vigilant." Without this understanding, it is impossible to timely see the new shoots of fascism, which in its "second coming" may not dress at all in the black clothes of the SS, marked for clarity with a skull and a swastika. Served in elegant "packaging", it may be accepted by us as a "new interesting experiment", "new national idea", "perfect vertical of power", or under any other sauce that tastes good. And it is not known what disasters humanity can go through before, wide-eyed in bewilderment, it exclaims: "We have stepped on the same rake again!" Wilhelm Reich, in his book "Psychology of the Masses and Fascism", analyzes these darkest corners of human consciousness with the honesty of a genuine scientist.

1. Vulgarmaterialism--fatherfascism

Fascism is not a "mistake" of history, a "coincidence", a "wrong" view of history that arose because of the unreasonable views or actions of this or that politician in this or that situation. Fascism, according to Reich, is the natural result of the suppression of manifestations of the natural in man. Moreover, suppression, which has a thousand-year history.

Marxists, considering a person from the point of view of his relationship to the material world, saw in a person an essence that is completely determined by the material conditions of his life. "Matter determines consciousness, the basis determines the superstructure." It turned out that, of course, it determines, but not completely. The fatal mistake of the Marxists, which consisted in overestimating the importance of the material and underestimating the spiritual in man, was effectively used by the Nazis, who demonstrated in 1933 that "man does not live by bread alone." Fascism simply offered man a system of views that immediately filled the spiritual vacuum created by the Marxists.

Paradox: the philosophy of Marxism gave rise to the doctrine of socialism - the doctrine of the social system, in which the purpose of the existence of society is the all-round development of man. And at the same time, Marxism reduced all the diversity of man to the material conditions of his existence. But there are many things in a person that are not reduced to purely material needs, many different “little things”, the presence of which, in certain circumstances, leads to such phenomena that are no longer petty, like fascism.

"More attention needs to be paid to... the minutiae of everyday life. Social progress or regression takes concrete shape on the basis of these minutiae, and not political slogans that cause only temporary inspiration." [p.126]

What is it in the human mind that the fascists so successfully used that the progressive (socialist-oriented) forces of that time did not see or could not use?

2. Immoralitymorality

Fascism skillfully used only a few "little things" to achieve power over people - family, morality, sexuality, the irrational nature of thinking inherent in the people.

"... there is not a single law that can protect newborns from parents who are unable to provide appropriate upbringing, and their neurotic influence. According to fascist ideology, it is possible and necessary to produce many children. But at the same time, no one asks whether it is possible to provide proper nutrition and upbringing of children in accordance with lofty ideals. The sentimental slogan of "big family" is characteristic of fascism - regardless of who propagates it. [p.484]

The slogan "big family" actually refers not to the number of family members, but to the inevitable component of a large family - its patriarchal way of life. Why does the reactionary regime need a patriarchal family? So that from the cradle every person gets used to dictatorship, the suppression of the natural manifestations of life, a strict order, the “way of life” of the family. Growing up, such a person beyond the threshold of the parental home discovers another, more numerous "family" - a state, for the legitimacy of whose existence he is already internally ready, since he perceives the patriarchal principles of this state as quite familiar and natural. Morality is the tool by which the person needed by the state is molded. The sculptor from whose hands this personality emerges is the "big" patriarchal family.

"The task of morality is to form submissive individuals who, despite poverty and humiliation, must meet the requirements of an authoritarian order. Thus, the family is a miniature authoritarian state in which the child must learn to adapt to social conditions." [p.75]

Due to the fact that Wilhelm Reich devoted a lot of effort to the field of human sexuality in his scientific research, this topic is also considered in this book in some detail.

One of the favorite targets of state "moralizers" is the sexual sphere of people's lives, including teenagers and children. The vulnerability of the psychology of an early age is the best fit for the goal of these people - the education of a controlled person through early sexual "blinding" with the possibility for the authorities, as necessary, of selective and controlled influence on this subtle sphere of human psychology, so closely bordering on the unconscious. It is this interaction with the unconscious that makes patriarchal morality such an effective lever for manipulating consciousness and, ultimately, a means of achieving the desired goals by the authorities.

“Political reaction deliberately takes advantage of sexual desires. It not only creates models of conspicuous uniforms for men, but also instructs attractive women to recruit volunteers. ... Let us recall the recruiting posters circulated by the militant authorities, on which there were approximately such inscriptions: “ If you want to visit other countries, join the Royal Navy!” At the same time, other countries were portrayed as exotic women." [p.77]

The suppression by the authorities of the natural in a person and, in particular, manifestations related to the sphere of sexuality, as a rule, has nothing to do with the officially proclaimed power of the "struggle for the preservation of moral principles", "strengthening the family" and similar things. An example of this is the church. It is difficult to find an institution in human society that claims to be more "moral" than the church. And at the same time,

"In no other social group do hysteria and perversion flourish as in the ascetic circles of the church." [p.226]

"Catholics tempted millions of their adherents with the thought of the need to come to terms with the war, to see in it the "finger of fate", "punishment for sins." Wars are indeed the result of sins, but completely different sins than those that Catholics have in mind. [p.331]

"Catholicism forms a structural helplessness in the masses, as a result of which, when in trouble, they turn to God for help instead of relying on their own strength and self-confidence. Catholicism deprives the psychological structure of the ability to enjoy, inspiring a person with fear of enjoyment The inability to enjoy and the fear of pleasure are the source of many sadistic manifestations. [p.332]

The experience of history clearly shows that

"In times of crisis, the dictatorship always intensifies the propaganda of 'morality' and 'strengthening marriage and family ties.'" [p.159]

Wilhelm Reich has no doubt that

"... Sexual energy was able to show that repressed sexuality is the main source of sadism, which is used by the ruling class to oppress and exploit other classes." [p.525]

"Natural friendliness and morality are inherent in men and women. It is necessary to eliminate the disgusting moralization that prevents the implementation of natural morality, and then points to the criminal impulses caused by it." [p.489]

The practical conclusion that follows, in our opinion, from the foregoing is as follows: in order to understand whether the existing state mechanism does not have signs of a reactionary regime, it is necessary to determine whether the state does not pay excessive attention to the issues of strengthening the family, stimulating the birth rate, glorifying the "good old" patriarchal traditions; whether the state "flirts" with the church, openly or covertly financing it.

3. Irrationalitythinkingpeople

"... Viennese sociologist Willy Schlamm wrote the following: "Indeed, the era has passed when we believed that, guided by reason and intuition, the masses could understand their real situation in order to implement social improvements on their own. Indeed, the time has passed when the masses took part in the formation of society.It turned out that you can completely change the masses, they are unconscious and capable of adapting to any form of power or dishonor.They have no historical mission.In the 20th century, the age of tanks and radio, the masses are not called to solve historical problems - they barred from participating in the formation of society." Schlamm was right..." [p.314-315]

Unconsciousness, amorphousness, conformism of the people are not harmless and are the cause of the emergence of dictatorships, totalitarianism, fascism. At the Nuremberg trials, high-ranking fascists justified their crimes, claiming that they were soldiers of the Fuhrer, and were only "following orders." This problem is familiar not only to the army of Nazi Germany. In Russia, the events of the coups d'etat in 1991 and 1993 (GKChP and execution of the Parliament, respectively) sharply raised the same question: is a serviceman (or an ordinary citizen) obliged to obey the order of the commander (chief), if the order seems criminal to him? Does he have the right to refuse to comply with it, and, if so, in what cases? Despite the great attention that was given to this problem in connection with the indicated events, a clear answer to the question posed by the society was not developed. The reason for this is not in the "technical" complexity of the question, but in the fact that an honest answer to the question will require an unequivocal recognition of the supremacy of "general human values" over the interests of the state. And this, as is clear, is not at all what the state needs, at least for a totalitarian state:

"The love of the people for their country and attachment to the land and society are too deep and serious feelings to turn them into objects of irrational political speculation. Such artificial forms of patriotism do not solve a single objective problem of working society; they have nothing to do with democracy "Manifestations of sentimental pathos indicate the presence of a sense of fear in those who cause such manifestations. We do not want to have anything to do with them." [p.374]

"'Selfless devotion', nurtured by the masses as a life ideal, gradually formed a mass psychology that ensured the implementation of dictatorial purges, executions and all kinds of coercive measures." [p.420]

"In any society, the degree to which work destroys the joy of life and is presented as a duty to the "homeland", "proletariat", "people" or some other illusion, serves as a reliable criterion for assessing the anti-democratic character of the ruling class of this society. [p.413]

"Horrible as it may seem, the fact remains that fascism of all countries, peoples and races is based on the irresponsibility of the popular masses. Fascism arises as a result of a thousand-year deformation of the individual. It could arise in any country and among any people. It does not constitute a characteristic the peculiarity of the Germans or Italians. Fascism manifests itself in every individual in all countries of the world. This fact is reflected in the Austrian expression "nothing depends on the person here." The fact does not change from the fact that this situation has developed as a result of thousands of years of development of society. The responsibility lies with on the individual himself, not on “historical events.” The transfer of responsibility from a living person to “historical events” led to the collapse of the socialist liberation movements.Nevertheless, the events of the past twenty years require that the working masses be held responsible.

If by "freedom" we mean first of all the responsibility of each individual for the rational formation of personal, professional and social life, then we can say that there is no greater fear than the fear of general freedom. The existence of any form of freedom will be limited to the life of one or two generations, if the main problem is not given priority and is not solved. To solve this problem, it will take more effort (more thoughtfulness, decency and honesty, more economic, educational and social transformations in the public life of the masses) than all the efforts spent on waging past wars (and those that will be spent on waging future wars). ) and the implementation of post-war programs to restore the economy. This problem and its solution alone contain everything that most of the most daring thinkers saw in the idea of an international social revolution. We are the supporters and bearers of a colossal revolutionary upheaval. If suffering is unavoidable, then "blood, sweat and tears" must be shed, at least for the sake of achieving a reasonable goal, that is, for the sake of the responsibility of the working masses for social life. This conclusion follows with inexorable logic from the statements:

Every social process is determined by the position of the masses.

The masses are incapable of freedom.

Genuine social freedom will be established when the masses acquire the ability to be free." [p.443-444]

The diagnosis made to humanity by Wilhelm Reich is disappointing:

"From a biological point of view, humanity should be considered sick."

"Politics serve as the irrational expression of this disease on a social level."

"Everything that happens in public life - actively or passively, intentionally or unintentionally - is determined by the psychological structure of the masses."

"This psychological structure is formed on the basis of socio-economic processes. It consolidates these processes and gives them a stable character. The biopathic structure of personality personifies the petrification of the authoritarian historical process. It reproduces the oppression of the masses at the biophysical level."

"This psychological structure exists due to the contradiction between the passionate desire for freedom and the fear of it."

"The fear of the masses of freedom is expressed in the biophysical cruelty of the organism and the rigidity of the personality structure."

"Each form of social government serves as a social expression of one or another side of this structure of the masses."

"The essence of the problem lies not in the Treaty of Versailles, the oil wells of Baku or two hundred years of capitalism, but in an authoritarian-mechanistic civilization that, over the course of four or six thousand years of its existence, destroyed the biological basis of an active personality."

"Interest in money and power serves as a substitute for failed happiness in love."

"The suppression of the natural sexuality of children and adolescents contributes to the formation of a psychological structure that supports and reproduces an authoritarian-mechanistic civilization."

"Currently, the process of eliminating the consequences of thousands of years of suppression of the individual is underway." [p.444-445]

"Public opinion is essentially political in nature and does not appreciate the daily life of love, work and knowledge. All this corresponds to a sense of social insignificance experienced by those who love, work and have knowledge." [p.534]

Thus, another sign that a certain state is already reactionary or is becoming reactionary is the desire of the state to instill in the population "disinterested patriotism", devotion, to develop in the population the habit of supporting the decisions of its government only because it is "our" government and, conversely, the habit, without delving into the essence of the issue, to condemn the policy of other states only because this policy is "theirs." The actions of the state, aimed at demonstrating its "greatness" and, at the same time, at emphasizing the insignificance of each of its citizens individually, should also be attributed to this category of signs.

But the irrationality of people's thinking is not manifested in all spheres of public life. It manifests itself, first of all, in politics, in the attitude of people to politics and to the politicians themselves.

4. IrrationalitypoliticiansAndpoliticians

Politics is one of the spheres of human activity. Therefore, the irrationality of people's thinking cannot but manifest itself in politics. It is interesting to note in this connection that it is precisely in politics that irrationalism is most present, most familiar and, as a result, least noticed by people.

"... Every living being seeks to establish and eliminate the cause of the distress in which he found himself. First of all, he will not repeat the actions that caused the misfortune. Thus, experience helps to overcome difficulties. Natural reactions of this kind are alien to our politicians. It can be argued that they cannot learn from experience.In 1914, the Austrian monarchy unleashed World War I.At that time, she fought with arms against the American Democrats.In 1942, during World War II, a proposal was put forward to restore the Habsburg dynasty to "prevent" new wars. The proposal was supported by American diplomats. This is an irrational political absurdity. Reich psychology of the masses fascism

And here are some more examples:

During the First World War, the Italians were friends and allies of the Americans. In 1942, during the Second World War, they became bitter enemies, and in 1943 they became friends again. In 1914, during the First World War, the Italians were the "traditional enemies" of the Germans. In 1940, during World War II, Italians and Germans were blood brothers, "on the basis of tradition again." In the next world war... Germans and French will turn from "racially traditional enemies" into "racially traditional friends".

This is an emotional distress. Imagine the following picture. In the 16th century, Copernicus appears and claims that the Earth revolves around the Sun. In the 17th century, one of his followers claims that the Earth does not revolve around the Sun, and in the 18th century, a student of this follower of Copernicus claims that it does revolve around the Sun. However, in the 20th century, astronomers argue that both Copernicus and his followers are right, since the Earth revolves around the Sun and at the same time remains motionless. If we are ready to burn Copernicus at the stake, then in the case of a politician, the situation is different. When a politician spouts utter nonsense, claiming in 1940 something completely opposite to what he claimed in 1939, millions of people go beyond the bounds of decency and claim that a miracle has happened.

The irrationality of people's thinking and the transfer of this irrationality to political spheres is one of the main reasons for the popularity of fascism and the main lever of influence on people of fascist ideology:

"No worker can afford to waste time on idle chatter. Every worker must know his job and do it. At the same time, the ideologue can freely indulge in his fantasies without doing any serious work. ruining the country and after that in another country continue to give hackneyed arguments in favor of the correctness of their ideology. The real processes are absolutely inaccessible to the understanding of the politician." [p.517]

"Many doctors, educators, writers, public figures, youth, industrial workers and others came to the conclusion that political irrationalism will inevitably drive itself to death and the need for natural work, love and knowledge will become part of the mass consciousness and mass action. And then there is no need will wage a propaganda campaign to spread this theory.At that time, however, it was impossible to determine the extent and duration of the catastrophe that political irrationality would lead to before the natural worldview of the working masses stopped its development.After the German catastrophe in 1933, the Soviet Union became rapidly to return to authoritarian-nationalist forms of government Many scholars, journalists and leaders of labor organizations understood that this was a return to “nationalism.” It remained to be seen whether this nationalism was shaped along fascist lines.

The term "fascism" is no more offensive than the term "capitalism". This concept means a certain type of mass leadership and mass influence: an authoritarian, one-party, and therefore totalitarian system, in which the interests of power prevail over objective interests, and facts are distorted to suit political interests. Therefore, it can be argued that there are "Jewish fascists" and "fascist democrats." [p.310]

"The German and Russian state apparatus arose on the basis of despotism. Therefore, in Germany and Russia, the servile character of the psychology of the masses manifested itself most clearly. Thus, in both cases, the irrational logic of the revolution led to the establishment of a new despotism. In contrast to the state apparatuses of Germany and Russia, the American state the apparatus was created by groups of individuals who fled from European and Asiatic despotism to an uninhabited region, which was free from the direct influence of existing traditions.This explains why a totalitarian state apparatus has not yet arisen in America - while in Europe every overthrow government under the slogan of freedom inevitably led to despotism. This statement is true not only for Robespierre, but also for Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin. " [p.396]

Wilhelm Reich, not without reason, puts Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin side by side. Reaction, dictatorship, totalitarianism, no matter what ideological verbal forms they dress the methods of their rule, no matter what names and people personify them, they are united in one thing: they all use the same set of levers to control people's consciousness: the suppression of certain natural properties of a person, "sublimation", switching desires aimed at satisfying the natural biological and social needs of a person to satisfy other needs artificially imposed by the authorities. In this sense, Germany after 1933 and Russia after 1934 differ slightly for Reich, and Stalinist communism is equated by Reich with German fascism. Wilhelm Reich is probably not the first to equate communism and fascism, but probably the first to do so by comparing the two "-isms" not from a political-legal point of view, but by applying the methods of psychological science.

"Each form of authoritarian-totalitarian government relies on irrationalism embedded in the consciousness of the masses. Every political dictatorship (regardless of who is its spokesman) hates and fears its worst enemy - a natural process of love, work and knowledge. They cannot coexist "The dictatorship is only capable of suppressing the natural functions of life or using them in its own narrow interests. It is not able to ensure their development. It cannot perform these functions itself, for in doing so it destroys itself." [p.433]

However, despite the harsh verdict on reactionary regimes, Wilhelm Reich remains on the solid ground of reality, not trying to see fascist dictatorships as something imposed on a "good" people by "bad" politicians:

“The assertion that this or that dictator came to power against the will of society or was imposed on it from the outside is one of the most serious mistakes in assessing dictatorships. In fact, as history shows, every dictator brought to the fore the already existing ideas of the state. He only appropriated a certain idea and suppressed all other ideas not related to the achievement of power. [p.382]

As Reich emphasizes, the attitude of the people towards their politicians is utterly absurd:

"To obtain permission to practice medicine, a medical student must present convincing evidence of his practical and theoretical knowledge in the field of medicine. On the other hand, in our society, a politician who takes the liberty of determining the fate of not hundreds, like a medical student, but millions working men and women are not obliged to confirm their professional suitability. This circumstance, apparently, served as one of the main reasons for the social tragedy that marked the thousand-year existence of a society of people as social animals. [p.497]

"Compared with the working man, the mystic and political ideologue occupy a more comfortable social position. No one requires them to prove their statements. Being in their ministries, they can promise to deliver a god from heaven, call the devil out of hell and establish heaven on earth. At the same time they know full well that no one will hold them accountable for their deceit. Their ridiculous claims are protected by the inalienable democratic right to free speech. On reflection, we find that the concept of free speech is far from perfect, since a failed artist can use this right to in a few years to win in a completely legitimate way a position in the world that was not occupied by outstanding representatives of science, art, education and technology.It follows that in a certain area our social thinking has significant shortcomings and therefore needs radical adjustments. sexual energy indicate that The authoritarian upbringing of children in a spirit of humility and submissiveness allows the political ambition to exploit the obedience and gullibility of millions of hard-working men and women for his own purposes. [p.500-501]

"A politician can deceive millions of people; for example, he is able to promise to establish freedom without intending to fulfill his promise. At the same time, no one requires him to prove his competence or the feasibility of his promises. He can promise one thing today, and tomorrow the exact opposite. Mystic can freely instill in the masses the belief in the existence of life after death.He is not obliged to present any evidence." [p.516]

"Over the millennia, the law of organic development has manifested itself in all areas of science and technology. Galileo owes his scientific achievements to the criticism of the Ptolemaic system of the world. They constitute a continuation of the work of Copernicus. Kepler continued the work of Galileo, and Newton continued the work of Kepler. Many generations of inquisitive workers were formed on the basis of these functional parts of objective natural processes.On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing left after the so-called Alexander the Great, Caesar, Nero and Napoleon.Among the irrationalists, we do not find the slightest trace of continuity, unless, of course, we consider the dream of Napoleon to become a second Alexander or Caesar as continuity ." [p.520]

"... newspapers contain many publications devoted to high politics, diplomacy, official events and military events that are not related to the real processes of life. Thus, the thought of the insignificance of their existence in comparison with the sublime, complex, “smart” discussions on issues of “strategy and tactics.” Ordinary workers feel that they are second-rate, inferior, useless and accidental in this life. [p.533]

The degree of irrationality of a state's policy is a reliable instrument for measuring its reactionaryness. The introduction into the public consciousness of the opinion that a politician knows "something" that everyone else is inaccessible to, that a politician "has the right to disinformation" (a literal quote from an interview with Yastrzhembsky broadcast on television, dedicated to one of the president's statements), the tacit recognition by the people of the rights of politicians behave inappropriately - all this should be alarming and serve as a serious warning and reason for reflection on the topic "where are we going?".

5. Back,tonature

What then to do? What should we strive for, what should we be afraid of, what should we support and what should we fight against in order not to become yet another victim of another fascist regime?

Reich's point of view

"... The real goal is not work (social freedom provides the possibility of a permanent reduction in the working day), but sexual activity and life in all its manifestations, from orgasm to the highest achievements. Labor was and remains the basis of life, but within the framework of the social structure these functions are transferred from man to machine. This is the essence of labor economics." [p.215]

Here it seems necessary to make a reservation regarding sexual activity as the goal of man in this life. No doubt there is such a goal, and for some people it is the main goal of life. Obviously, this goal is not the only one; there are other interests as well. However, we should not forget that Wilhelm Reich is a follower of Freud's theory, therefore the concept of "sexual activity" for him includes many, if not all, aspects of human activity, including, in the ordinary sense, and far from what is usually denoted by the word "sexuality". ". In this regard, under the free sexual activity in Reich's book, one should obviously understand the free manifestation of the psychological individuality of a person in all, including biologically determined, spheres of his activity, that is, human activity, taking place under the slogan "the natural is not shameful."

In Reich's book, one can find several "formulas" of fascism, but one of them seems to be especially relevant for Russia:

"Mass fascism is nothing but disillusioned radicalism plus nationalist 'petty bourgeois'." [p.334]

In Russia, there is currently an excess of disillusionment with the "radical" reforms carried out by people who called themselves democrats. In fact, as it is easy to see, they were not democrats, just as those who replaced them in government posts are not democrats now. There is also no shortage of the second term—nationalist petty-bourgeoisness. True, petty-bourgeoisism in Russia still has a slightly "wild" character, since the bourgeoisie in Russia is very young, but the desire of the authorities to create a "middle class", combined with everyday nationalism and a very "average" education of its representatives, provides the formula of fascism with a weighty second term.

From the hands of Wilhelm Reich, we get an unequivocal assessment of the political views of people who are sometimes called "statists". Here is what Reich thinks about those who prefer themselves, and encourages others to "think like a state", put "state interests above public interests", "build a vertical of power", etc.:

"The Second World War reaffirmed what had long been known: the fundamental difference between a reactionary politician and a genuine democrat is found in their attitude towards state power. On the basis of this attitude, one can give an objective assessment of the social character of a person, regardless of his belonging to one or another political party. It follows that there may be true democrats among fascists, and there may be true fascists among party democrats. Like the characterological structure of personality, this relation to state power is not limited to any one class or political group. From a sociological point of view, it seems it is wrong and unacceptable to depict everything in black and white.It is impossible to mechanically identify mental attitudes with political parties.

The characteristic features of the reactionary include his desire to defend the supremacy of the state over society; the defense of the "idea of the state" leads him directly to dictatorial absolutism, regardless of the form of its manifestation (royal, representative or fascist form of state power). The true democrat recognizes and defends natural workers' democracy as the natural basis for international and national co-operation. It always aims to overcome the difficulties of social cooperation by eliminating their social causes. This goal characterizes him as a true democrat." [p.378-379]

As you can see, Reich's opinion is unequivocal: the desire to elevate the state above society is a sign of a reactionary and a direct path to dictatorship. True, it must be admitted that those of today's Russian politicians who are trying to build some new, strong, clearly oriented linear power structures do not, for the most part, call themselves democrats.

Reich's thoughts on the tasks facing the state are also relevant, although not new. What should be the state to be progressive, not reactionary, leading to fascism, an instrument of society?

"... When evaluating any activity of the state, we constantly ask ourselves how much of this activity relates to the initial fulfillment of social tasks and how much relates to the subsequently acquired function of suppressing the freedom of members of society ...

One of the tasks of workers' democracy is to eliminate those functions of social administration by which it rises above and opposes society. The natural process of development of workers' democracy allows only those administrative functions that contribute to the unification of society and facilitate its essential activities. This shows the inadmissibility of mechanical "approval" or "condemnation" of the "state". A distinction must be made between the original and repressive functions of the state...

This distinction makes it possible to consider each essential activity of the administration in order to determine whether it is trying to rise above society and oppose society, whether this or that administrative function is turning into a new tool for the authoritarian power of the state. As long as the activities of the administration are carried out in the interests of society, the administration is part of society. It is necessary, and its activity belongs to an essential area. If the state apparatus claims to be the master of society and demands independent powers for itself, then it turns into the worst enemy of society and should be treated accordingly." [p.388-390]

When reading these lines cited above, one involuntarily recalls the constant desire of the Russian authorities to obtain new powers. The authorities are constantly lacking some rights to take the next, "most important" steps on the "path of reforms."

"The state is obliged not only to encourage the passionate desire of the popular masses for freedom, but also to do everything possible to cultivate the ability of the popular masses to freedom. If the state does not fulfill this task, if it suppresses the desire for freedom or even abuses it and stands in the way of the development of self-government, then, obviously, we are dealing with a fascist state. In this case, it is necessary to demand from the state an account of the harm and danger that it has caused by virtue of the violation of its duty." [p.399]

The last lines emphasize once again that Wilhelm Reich is a man from Europe, not from Russia. In Russia, it is not customary to demand a report from the authorities. In Russia, it is customary to memorize and accumulate. And when it is no longer possible to save, then here ... No, at this moment the people do not require a report. At this point, there is usually a riot in Russia - not always senseless, but guaranteed to be merciless.

The following quote is a good rebuke to those who like to accuse the few Russian democrats of being, democrats, only criticizing and "doing nothing." Such "accusers" ignore the fact that criticism is an important matter, which in Russia, among other things, is often a dangerous matter:

"... The first duty of every true democrat is to identify and analyze difficulties in order to then help overcome them. An open recognition of the existence of a dictatorship is less dangerous than a false democracy. If one can defend oneself from a dictatorship, then a false democracy is like an algae clinging to the body of a drowning man. Soviet politicians can be accused of deceit. They have done more harm to the development of genuine democracy than Hitler. This is a heavy but well-deserved accusation." [p.419]

Where to move? To love, free labor, liberation from the meaningless conventions of traditional politics, from the baseless reverence for pseudo-intelligent politicians:

"To achieve freedom, it is necessary to ruthlessly be freed from illusions, because only then it will be possible to eradicate the irrationalism of the masses and open the way to responsibility and freedom. The idealization of the masses will only lead to new misfortunes." [p.448]

Political systems appear and disappear without affecting the foundations of social life. Social life does not stop. But if the natural process of love, labor and knowledge stops even for one day, then the pulse of social life will stop beating.

Natural love, essential labor, and natural science are the rational functions of life. By their nature, they can only be rational. Therefore, they act as the main enemy of any form of irrationalism. Political irrationalism poisons, disfigures and destroys our lives. In a strictly psychiatric sense, it represents a perversion of social life caused by a misunderstanding of the natural functions of life and the exclusion of these functions from the regulation of social life.

We must remember that man is a part of nature, its integral part, subject to its laws of development. No matter how expensive a suit a person puts on, no matter how narrow a tie a snow-white collar is, no matter how long a limousine he climbs into, the essence of a person remains the same: a person is just a highly developed animal. And it is not an insult, it is not shameful. We must accept this and try to live in harmony with nature:

"The desire of man to dissociate himself from the animal is the source of the theory of the German superman. His depravity, inability to live in peace with his own kind, wars - all this indicates that man differs from other animals by boundless sadism and the mechanical trinity of an authoritarian worldview, mechanistic science and machine If you look back at the many fruits of human civilization, you will find that the claims of man are not only unfounded, but are designed in such a way as to make him forget that he is one of the animals. [p.461-462]

"the struggle against dictatorship and the irrational desire of the masses to submit to authority can consist in only one, fundamentally important action: it is necessary to separate the natural, vital forces of man and society from all obstacles to the spontaneous manifestation of natural vital energy." [p.487]

"The existence of civilization, in the strict sense of the word, can have only one goal - the creation of optimal conditions for the development of the natural processes of love, labor and knowledge. Freedom cannot be organized, since any form of organization is contrary to freedom. Nevertheless, it is possible and necessary to create conditions that which will clear the way for the free development of the vital forces." [p.487-488]

"Positive work is always done for something; it is never directed against something." [p.506]

"The stronger the masses cling to the truth, the weaker the desire for power. The more irrational illusions penetrate the environment of the masses, the wider the individual desire for power spreads and is more unsightly manifested." [p.454]

Humanity's rejection of these principles, in accordance with which life must be built, can once again lead humanity to fascism:

"Our failure to distinguish between labor and politics, between reality and illusion, as well as our mistaken understanding of politics as a rational human activity, comparable to sowing and building buildings, led to the fact that some unsuccessful artist plunged the whole world into the abyss of suffering ." [p.536]

Only next time the Fuhrer may not be an artist, but a person of a completely different profession ...

Conclusion

The reviewed work of W. Reich is a classic study of the relationship between the psychology of the masses and fascism. It was written during the economic crisis in Germany (1930-1933) and was later banned by the Nazis. The undoubted merits of the book include its unique contribution to the understanding of one of the most important phenomena of our time - fascism. In this book, W. Reich uses his clinical knowledge of the characterological structure of personality to study social and political phenomena. Reich rejects the concept that fascism is an ideology or the result of an individual's activities; people; any ethnic or political group. He also does not recognize the understanding of fascism put forward by Marxist ideologists, which is limited by the socio-political approach. Fascism, from Reich's point of view, serves as an expression of the irrationality of the characterological structure of an ordinary person, whose primary biological needs have been suppressed for many millennia. The book contains a detailed analysis of the social function of such repression and the crucial importance for it of the authoritarian family and church. The importance of this work can hardly be overestimated in our time. The characterological structure of personality, which served as the basis for the emergence of fascist movements, has not ceased to exist and still determines the dynamics of modern social conflicts. To ensure the effectiveness of the fight against the chaos of suffering, it is necessary to pay attention to the characterological structure of the personality, which is the cause of its occurrence. We must understand the relationship between mass psychology and fascism and other forms of totalitarianism.

Mass fascism is nothing but disillusioned radicalism plus nationalistic "petty bourgeoisness".

"Why am I not a politician?" Wilhelm Reich asks himself this question and answers it himself.

"Under the influence of the 'emotional plague', scientific Marxism has become the Marxism of political parties, which has lost all connection with scientific Marxism and is largely responsible for the emergence of fascism." [p.537]

"Power and truth do not combine... To achieve power, it is necessary to nourish millions of people with illusions." [p.453]

"History has shown that truth always dies when its champions come to power." [p.452]

"The fact that Hitler was a political genius clearly exposes the essence of politics." [p.539]

The last two quotations from Wilhelm Reich should have been written in gold letters on every deputy's certificate - so that they remember.

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Racial theory is the theoretical axis of German fascism. In fascist ideology, the economic program of the so-called 25 points aims only at "the genetic improvement of the German race and its protection from racial mixing", which, according to the National Socialists, invariably leads to the decline of the "master race". Indeed, the National Socialists are convinced that even culture owes its decline to race mixing. In Germany and in the countries occupied by Germany, all available means were used to put this theory into practice in the form of the persecution of the Jews.

The racial theory is based on the assumption that there is an "iron law" in nature, according to which the mating of each animal should be carried out only with a representative or representative of its own species. Only such exceptional circumstances as life in captivity can lead to a violation of this law and racial mixing. In these cases, nature begins to take revenge, using all possible means to combat such violations. The revenge of nature is expressed in the sterilization of bastards or the birth control of the next generations of these bastards. With each metization of living beings standing at different "levels" of development, the mestizo inevitably occupies an intermediate position between these levels. But nature strives to create higher forms of life, and therefore metization conflicts with the main aspiration of nature. In the daily struggle for survival, the law of natural selection is implemented. At the same time, weaker, i.e., racially inferior, creatures perish. This process is in accordance with the "tendency of nature," for the improvement of the breed would cease if the weak, who are always in the majority, could supplant the strong, who are always in the minority. Therefore, in order to limit the number of weak beings, nature provides for them more severe living conditions. On the other hand, nature excludes the possibility of indiscriminate reproduction of other creatures, subjecting them to ruthless selection based on the criteria of energy and health.

Next, the National Socialists proceed to apply this hypothetical law of nature to peoples. In doing so, they argue as follows. Historical experience shows that the "mixing of Aryan blood" with the blood of "lower" peoples inevitably leads to the degeneration of the founders of civilization, lowering the level of the race, followed by spiritual and physical regression. These are the signs of the beginning of the "decline". The North American continent, according to Hitler, will be strong “until he (the German living in America) falls victim to blood defilement”, that is, until his blood mixes with the blood of Negroid peoples.

“To promote the development of such a process means to sin against the will of the Supreme Creator.”

These reasonings are undoubtedly mystical in nature: nature "regulates" and "strives" "in accordance with reason." Here we are dealing with the logical development of biological metaphysics.

According to Hitler, humanity should be divided into three races: the founders of culture, the bearers of culture and the destroyers of culture. Only the Aryan race can be considered the founder of culture, for it "lay the foundation and erected the walls of the temple of human creations." Asian peoples, such as the Japanese and Chinese, only adopted the Aryan culture, giving it their own form. Therefore, they are carriers of culture. At the same time, the Jewish race can be attributed to the destroyers of culture. The existence of "lower people" is the main condition for the creation of a higher culture. The first culture of mankind relied on the use of inferior races. In ancient times, the vanquished were harnessed to the yoke for plowing, and only later did the horse begin to be used for this purpose. As a winner, the Aryan subjugated the conquered peoples to his will and managed their activities in accordance with the Aryan needs for the implementation of the Aryan tasks. However, as the conquered peoples adopted the languages and customs of the “masters”, the clearly defined boundaries between masters and slaves were erased, the Aryan lost the purity of his blood and “temporary stay in paradise”. Thus, he lost the genius of his culture. Of course, we have not forgotten that Adolf Hitler is the flowering of culture:

“The only reason for the extinction of cultures was the mixing of blood and, as a result, a decrease in the level of development of the race. For people die not as a result of lost wars, but as a result of the weakening of the power of resistance inherent only in pure blood.

"Mein Kampf", p.296

In this case, we will not dwell on the refutation of the main idea of the racial theory of fascism, since it seems obvious both from an objective and methodological point of view. It is based on Darwin's theory of natural selection, some elements of which are as reactionary as Darwin's revolutionary proof of the origin of species from lower organisms. Moreover, behind this idea lies the imperialist goal of the fascist ideology. For if the Aryans are the only founders of culture, then by virtue of their divine destiny they can claim world domination. Indeed, one of Hitler's main claims is the need to expand the borders of the German Empire, especially in the "eastern direction", that is, at the expense of the territory of Soviet Russia. Thus, it is not difficult to see that the glorification of the imperialist war fits perfectly into the framework of fascist ideology.

“The goal that stood before us in the world war, for the achievement of which we waged an inhuman struggle, was the most noble. We fought for the freedom and independence of our people, for a secure piece of bread, for the future and honor of the nation.”

"Mein Kampf", p.177

In this case, we are only interested in the irrational source of the above-mentioned ideology, which, from an objective point of view, corresponds to the aspirations of German imperialism. First of all, the existing contradictions and inconsistencies of racial theory are of interest to us. Proponents of racial theory, who refer to biological law to justify their position, ignore the fact that animal breeding is an artifact. The problem is not whether the cat and dog have an "instinctive aversion" to interbreeding, but whether collies and greyhounds, Germans and Slavs have similar aversions.

The theorists of a racism as old as imperialism itself seek to establish the racial purity of peoples whose intermarriage has gone so far as a result of the expansion of the world economy that racial purity has retained some meaning only for an idiot. We will not dwell here on other ridiculous assertions. For example, it is as if the law of racial limitation reigns in nature, and not the opposite law, the law of promiscuous mating within the same species. In the present study, there can be no question of the reasonable content of the racial theory, which in its constructions proceeds not from facts to estimates, but from estimates to distortion of facts. It is useless to put forward reasonable arguments against a fascist who is narcissistically convinced of the greatest superiority of his Germanic spirit only because he operates with irrational feelings, and not with arguments of reason. Therefore, attempts to prove to the fascist that Negroes and Italians are not "below" the Germans in racial terms are doomed to failure. He feels "higher," that's all. Racial theory can only be refuted by revealing its irrational goals. At the same time, two main goals are distinguished: the expression of certain unconscious and emotional flows that exist in the psyche of a person with a nationalist orientation, and the concealment of certain mental tendencies. Here we will consider only the last goal.

Of particular note is the fact that Hitler refers to "incest" in connection with mixed marriages between Aryans and non-Aryans, while incest is usually understood as sexual relations between relatives. How to explain the presence of such nonsense in the "theory", which is considered the foundation of the new world, the "Third Reich"? If we take into account that in the end the irrational-emotional basis of such a theory owes its existence to certain existential factors, and if we free ourselves from the idea that the discovery of the irrational origins of a worldview that has arisen on a reasonable basis necessitates the transfer of the problem to the sphere of metaphysics, then the way will open to the origins of metaphysics itself. We understand not only the historical conditions in which metaphysical thinking arises, but also its material content. This is evidenced by the results of our study.

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Extensive and painstaking therapeutic research into human character has led me to the conclusion that when evaluating human responses, we are usually dealing with three different layers of the biopsychic structure. As shown in my book Character Analysis, these layers of character structure arise as a result of social development and function independently of each other. The surface level of the personality of the average person is characterized by restraint, politeness, compassion, responsibility, conscientiousness. There would be no social tragedies if this superficial layer of a person's personality was in direct contact with his deep, natural basis. Unfortunately, things are different. The surface layer of personality does not come into contact with the deep biological basis of individuality; he relies on the second, intermediate layer of character, which consists solely of impulses of cruelty, sadism, voluptuousness, greed and envy. This is what Freud called the "unconscious". In the language of sexual energy, the “unconscious” is the totality of all the so-called “secondary drives”.

The biophysics of orgone made it possible to understand the Freudian unconscious, that is, the antisocial, in man as a secondary result of the suppression of primary biological drives. After passing through the second layer of "perversions" and immersion in the biological substratum of a person, the third, deepest layer is always found, which we call the biological base. On this basis, under favorable conditions, a person is usually a sincere, industrious, cooperative, loving and, if sufficiently motivated, rationally hating being. At the same time, it seems absolutely impossible to free the characterological structure of modern man by penetrating into this deepest and most promising layer without first removing the false, social superficial layer. Throw off the mask of upbringing, and you will see not natural sociability, but only a perverted, sadistic layer of character.

As a result of an unfortunate structural arrangement, every natural, social, libidinal impulse, striving for realization on a biological basis, is forced to pass through a layer of secondary perverted drives and thus be subjected to distortion. This distortion transforms and perverts the original social nature of natural impulses, preventing any true expression of life.

Now we will transfer our personality structure to the socio-political sphere.

It is easy to see that the different distributions of society according to political and ideological groups correspond to different layers of the characterological structure. And yet we refuse to acknowledge the error of idealistic philosophy, which insists on the eternal immutability of this structure. After the transformation of the initial biological needs of a person and their inclusion in his characterological structure, under the influence of social conditions and changes, this structure reproduces the social structure of society and its ideology.

After the collapse of the primary worker-democratic form of society, the biological basis of man was left without social representation. Everything "natural" and "sublime" in man, everything that united him with the cosmos, found true expression in great works of art, especially in music and painting. Nevertheless, it still has not had a significant impact on the formation of human society, if by society we mean the society of all people, and not the culture of the small class of the rich.

In the ethical and social ideals of liberalism, we see the protection of the features of the surface layer of character, which is centered on self-control and tolerance. Liberalism of this kind emphasizes the importance of ethics for keeping in obedience the "monster in man", that is, our layer of "secondary drives", the Freudian "unconscious". The natural sociability of the deepest, third layer, is not characteristic of a liberal. He deplores the perversion of the human character and seeks to overcome it with the help of ethical norms, nevertheless, the social upheavals of the 20th century indicate that with this approach he was not able to achieve significant success.

Everything truly revolutionary (genuine art and science) arises on the natural, biological basis of the individual. Not a single true revolutionary, artist and scientist has yet managed to win the favor of the masses and act as their leader; and even if he succeeded, he could not keep their interest in a vital area for any long period of time.

Unlike liberalism and genuine revolution, in the case of fascism, the situation is completely different. In his essence, not the superficial and deep layers are embodied, but, as a rule, the second, intermediate characterological layer of secondary drives.

When I wrote the first draft of this book, fascism was commonly thought of as a "political party" that, like other "social groups", stood for an organized "political idea." According to this assessment, the "fascist party" sought to institutionalize fascism through force and political intrigue.

In contrast to the above assessment, my medical experience with men and women of various classes, races, nations, religious beliefs, etc., allows me to assert that "fascism" only serves as an organized political expression of the characterological structure of the average person, the existence of which is not limited to certain races, nations and parties, but is universal and international in nature. From the point of view of human character, "fascism" represents the basic, emotional attitude of the "repressed" in man to our authoritarian, machine civilization and its mechanistically mystical understanding of life.

The mechanistically mystical nature of modern man gives rise to fascist parties, and not vice versa.

As a result of erroneous political thinking, even now fascism is regarded as a certain national feature of the Germans and Japanese. All further erroneous interpretations follow from this original erroneous conception.

In contrast to the true desire for freedom, fascism was seen, and is still seen, as the dictatorship of a small reactionary clique. The persistence of this delusion is due to our fear of facing reality, namely, that fascism is an international phenomenon that has penetrated into all public bodies in all countries. This conclusion is fully confirmed by the international events of the last fifteen years.

The experience gained in the field of characterological analysis allowed me to make sure that there is not a single individual whose structure does not contain elements of fascist perception and thinking. As a political movement, fascism differs from other reactionary parties in that the popular masses act as its bearer and champion.

I am fully aware of the enormous responsibility connected with such a statement, and in the interests of this world torn to pieces, I would like the working masses to realize their responsibility for fascism just as clearly.

A distinction must be made between ordinary militarism and fascism. Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm was militaristic, but not fascist.

Since fascism, regardless of the time and place of its appearance, is a movement of the masses, it has all the features and contradictions inherent in the characterological structure of the mass individual. Contrary to popular belief, fascism is not a purely reactionary movement, it is a fusion of rebellious emotions and reactionary social ideas.

Wilhelm REICH

MASS PSYCHOLOGY AND FASCISM

"Love, work and knowledge - these are the sources of our life. They must determine its course."

Wilhelm Reich.

FOREWORD

Extensive and painstaking therapeutic research into human character has led me to the conclusion that when evaluating human responses, we are usually dealing with three different layers of the biopsychic structure. As shown in my book Character Analysis, these layers of character structure arise as a result of social development and function independently of each other. The surface level of the personality of the average person is characterized by restraint, politeness, compassion, responsibility, conscientiousness. There would be no social tragedies if this superficial layer of a person's personality was in direct contact with his deep, natural basis. Unfortunately, things are different. The surface layer of personality does not come into contact with the deep biological basis of individuality; he relies on the second, intermediate layer of character, which consists solely of impulses of cruelty, sadism, voluptuousness, greed and envy. This is what Freud called "the unconscious." In the language of sexual energy, the "unconscious" is the totality of all the so-called "secondary drives".

The biophysics of orgone made it possible to understand the Freudian unconscious, that is, the antisocial, in man as a secondary result of the suppression of primary biological drives. After passing through the second layer of "perversions" and immersion in the human biological substratum, the third, deepest layer is always found, which we call the biological base. On this basis, under favorable conditions, a person is usually a sincere, industrious, cooperative, loving and, if sufficiently motivated, rationally hating being. At the same time, it seems absolutely impossible to free the characterological structure of modern man by penetrating into this deepest and most promising layer without first removing the false, superficial social layer. Throw off the mask of upbringing, and you will see not natural sociability, but only a perverted, sadistic layer of character.

Now we will transfer our personality structure to the socio-political sphere.

Everything truly revolutionary (genuine art and science) arises on the natural, biological basis of the individual. Not a single true revolutionary, artist or scientist has so far succeeded in winning the favor of the masses and acting as their leader; and even if he succeeded, he could not keep their interest in a vital area for any long period of time.

When I was working on the first draft of this book, fascism was commonly thought of as a "political party" that, like other "social groups", stood for an organized "political idea." According to this assessment, the "fascist party" sought to institutionalize fascism through force and political intrigue.

In contrast to the above assessment, my medical experience with men and women of various classes, races, nations, religious beliefs, etc., allows me to assert that "fascism" only serves as an organized political expression of the characterological structure of the average person, the existence of which is not limited to certain races, nations and parties, but is universal and international in nature. From the point of view of human character, "fascism" represents the basic, emotional relation of the "repressed" in man to our authoritarian, machine civilization and its mechanistically mystical understanding of life.

The mechanistically mystical nature of modern man gives rise to fascist parties, and not vice versa.

The experience gained in the field of characterological analysis made me convinced that there is not a single individual whose structure does not contain elements of fascist perception and thinking. As a political movement, fascism differs from other reactionary parties in that the popular masses act as its bearer and champion.

A distinction must be made between ordinary militarism and fascism. Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm was militaristic, but not fascist.

If by revolutionary we mean a reasonable protest against the unbearable conditions of life in human society, a reasonable desire to "get to the root of all things" and change life for the better, then fascism is by no means revolutionary. Of course, he can appear under the guise of revolutionary emotions. However, we call revolutionary not the doctor who treats the disease with the help of irresponsible invectives, but the one who calmly, courageously and scrupulously investigates the causes of the disease and fights against it. Fascist protest always arises where, due to fear of the truth, revolutionary emotion is distorted, taking on an illusory character.

In its purest form, fascism is the totality of all the irrational characterological reactions of an ordinary person. For the dim-witted sociologist, who lacks the courage to recognize the leading role of irrationality in the history of mankind, the fascist racial theory reflects only an imperialist desire, or, to put it mildly, is a "prejudice". This statement is also true for an irresponsible politician-talker. The scale and breadth of the spread of "racial prejudices" indicates that their source is the irrational area of the human character. Racial theory does not stem from fascism. On the contrary, fascism arises on the basis of racial hatred and serves as its politically organized expression. It follows that there is German, Italian, Spanish, Anglo-Saxon, Jewish and Arab fascism. Racial ideology is a purely biopathic expression of the characterological structure of an orgastically impotent personality.

The sadistically perverted character of racial ideology is also manifested in its relation to religion. It is believed that fascism embodies the return to paganism and is the sworn enemy of religion. This is completely false. Fascism is the highest expression of religious mysticism, which takes on a certain social form. Fascism supports the religiosity that results from sexual perversion and transforms the masochistic character of the ancient religion. In short, he takes religion from the "beyond" realm of the philosophy of suffering into the "here" realm of sadistic murder.

The fascist mentality is the mentality of a "little man", enslaved, striving for power and at the same time protesting. It is no coincidence that all fascist dictators come from the reactionary milieu of the "little people." The industrial magnate and the feudal militarist use this social fact for their own purposes after it has been revealed in the context of a general suppression of vital impulses. In the form of fascism, a mechanistic, authoritarian civilization extracts from the repressed "little man" what it has implanted in enslaved humanity for centuries through mysticism, militarism and automatism. This "little man" has thoroughly studied the behavior of the "big man" and therefore reproduces it in a distorted and grotesque form. Fascism is the sergeant of the colossal army of our deeply sick, industrialized civilization. High politics has turned into a farcical performance before the "little man". The little sergeant surpassed the imperialist general in everything: in marching music, in the "goose step" in the ability to command and obey; in the ability to cower in fear of ideas; in diplomacy, strategy and tactics; in the ability to dress and conduct parades; in insignia and honorary awards In all these things, Kaiser Wilhelm looks like a pathetic forger compared to Hitler, the son of a hungry official. By hanging medals all over his chest, the "proletarian" general shows that the "little man" is "nothing worse" than the "real" big general.

Extensive and careful study of the character of the repressed "little man", as well as a close acquaintance with his life behind the scenes, are absolutely necessary for understanding the forces on which fascism relies.

In the revolt of a huge number of offended people against the empty good manners of false liberalism (which should not be confused with genuine liberalism and genuine tolerance), a characterological layer appeared, consisting of secondary drives.

An insane fascist cannot be neutralized if one looks for him, according to existing political circumstances, only in a German or a Japanese, and not both in an American and in a Chinese; if you do not discover it in yourself; if we are not familiar with the social institutions in which they educate him daily.

Fascism can be crushed only if we fight it objectively and practically on the basis of a deep knowledge of life processes. In the field of political intrigue, diplomacy and spectacle, he knows no equal. And yet he must answer the practical questions of life, because he sees everything only in the mirror of ideology or in the form of a national uniform.

When you happen to hear a fascist leader, of whatever variety, preach about "the honor of the nation" (and not the honor of the individual) or the "salvation of the sacred family and race" (not the society of working humanity), when you see how, bloated out of importance, he shouts out slogans - let him, in front of all the people, calmly and simply ask the following questions:

"What are you doing in practice to feed the people without destroying other peoples? What are you doing as a doctor to fight chronic diseases? What are you doing as an educator to make the child enjoy life? What are you doing as an economist to eradicate poverty? What are you doing as welfare worker to make life easier for mothers with many children? What are you doing as an architect to improve the sanitary conditions of living in living quarters? Stop talking. Give us a direct and specific answer or shut up!"

It follows that international fascism cannot be defeated by political intrigues. It will be defeated by the natural organization of labor, love and knowledge at the international level.

In our society, love and knowledge do not yet define human existence. Indeed, these powerful forces of the positive principle of life are not aware of their globality, their necessity, their enormous significance for society. For this reason, at present, a year after the military victory over party fascism, society is still on the verge of poverty. The fall of our civilization will become inevitable if workers, scientists working in all areas of living (and not dead) knowledge, and persons who give and receive natural love, do not realize as soon as possible their enormous responsibility.

The vital impulse can exist without fascism, and fascism cannot exist without it. Fascism is a vampire that clings to the body of a living being, the desire to kill has been freed, just as love strives for fulfillment in the spring.

How will individual and social freedom, self-regulation of our life and the life of our descendants develop? Peaceful or violent? Nobody knows the answer to this question.

And yet the answer is known to those who understand how life goes on in an animal and a newborn child, to one who understands the meaning of selfless work - regardless of whether he is a mechanic, researcher or artist. Such a person ceases to think in terms that have become widespread in society thanks to the activities of party functionaries. The vital impulse cannot "seize power by force" because it does not know what to do with it. Does this conclusion mean that the vital impulse will always be its victim and martyr? Does this mean that the pseudo-politician will always suck the blood of life? This is a false conclusion.

My job as a doctor is to treat diseases. As a researcher, I must shed light on unknown relationships in nature. Thus, if a political windbag comes along and tries to force me to leave my patients and put my microscope aside, I will not allow myself to be disturbed. I'll just throw him out if he refuses to leave voluntarily. The need to use force against intruders to protect my work with living people does not depend on me and my work, but on the degree of impudence of the intruders. Let us now imagine that all those who are engaged in important, lively work could immediately recognize in the politics of windbags. They would do the same as me. This simplistic example perhaps contains a general answer to the question of how the vital impulse will, sooner or later, be protected from intruders and destroyers.

"Psychology of the masses and fascism" was considered during the years of crisis in Germany from 1930 to 1933. The book was written in 1933; the first edition appeared in September 1933 and the second in April 1934 in Denmark.

Ten years have passed since then. The exposing of the irrational nature of fascist ideology in this book has often received acclaim from all political camps. A large number of copies of this book, sometimes published under a pseudonym, were transported across the German border. The illegal revolutionary movement in Germany gave the book a warm welcome. For many years she served as a source of contact with the German anti-fascist movement.

In 1936, the Nazis banned this book, along with all publications on political psychology. Excerpts from the book were published in France, America, Czechoslovakia, Scandinavia and other countries. It has been analyzed in articles. And only the socialists, with their narrow economic approach, as well as paid party officials who controlled the organs of political power, did not know, and still do not know how to relate to it. In Denmark and Norway, for example, it was vehemently criticized by the leadership of the Communist Party and condemned as "counter-revolutionary". On the other hand, it seems significant that the sex-energetic explanation of the irrational nature of racial theory found understanding among young people from fascist groups with a revolutionary orientation.

In 1942, one of the English correspondents offered to translate the book into English. Thus, I was faced with the task of checking the correctness of the book ten years after it was written. The test result accurately reflects the tremendous changes that have taken place in thinking over the past decade. It was also a test of the validity of sex-energetic sociology and its impact on the social revolutions of our century. I haven't held a book in my hands for a number of years. When I began to make corrections and additions to the book, I was stunned by the errors in reasoning that I made 15 years ago, the fundamental changes that have taken place in thinking during this time, and also by the enormous efforts that it took from science to overcome fascism.

First of all, I could well afford to celebrate a great victory. Over the past time, the analysis of fascist ideology from the standpoint of sexual energy has withstood criticism and its main provisions have been fully confirmed by the events of the last decade. He survived the collapse of the purely economic, vulgar concept of Marxism, with which the Marxist parties in Germany tried to defeat fascism. The fact that, 10 years after the first edition, Mass Psychology and Fascism had to be republished speaks in its favour. None of the Marxist works, the authors of which condemned sexual energy, can claim a new edition.

The revision of the second edition reflects the fundamental changes that have taken place in my thinking.

In 1930 I had no idea of the natural democratic relations between working men and women. Rudimentary sexual-energetic discoveries in the field of personality structure were woven into the intellectual outline of the activities of the Marxist parties. At that time, I was actively involved in the activities of liberal, socialist and Marxist cultural organizations, and therefore, in presenting the ideas of sexual energy, I had to periodically use sociological concepts that were generally accepted in Marxism. And even then, in hard-hitting disputes with various party functionaries, a significant divergence between sex-energetic sociology and vulgar economism was revealed. Since I still believed in the fundamentally scientific nature of the Marxist parties, it was difficult for me to understand why the members of these parties would attack the social consequences of my medical research with sharp criticism at a time when the masses of office workers, industrial workers, small businessmen, students, etc. flocked to sex-energy organizations to gain knowledge about living life. I will never forget the "Red Professor" from Moscow, who was instructed in 1928 to attend one of my lectures in Vienna in order to protect the "party line" from me. Incidentally, this professor declared that "the Oedipus complex is utter nonsense" and that such a thing does not exist at all. Fourteen years later, his Russian comrades were dying under the tanks of Germans enslaved by the Fuhrer.

Of course, one could expect that the parties that proclaimed the struggle for the freedom of mankind would be completely satisfied with the results of my political and psychological activities. As the archives of our institute convincingly testify, the situation was quite different. The more significant were the social consequences of our activities in the field of mass psychology, the more decisive were the countermeasures taken by the party politicians. Back in 1929-30, the Austrian Social Democrats closed the doors of their cultural organizations to the lecturers of our organization. In 1932, despite the vigorous protests of their members, socialist and communist organizations banned the distribution of publications of the series "Publishers for Sexual Politics" (the publisher was in Berlin). I was personally warned that I would be shot as soon as the Marxists came to power in Germany. In the same year, communist organizations in Germany banned doctors who spoke out in defense of sexual energy from their meeting rooms. This decision was also taken against the will of the members of these organizations. I was expelled from both organizations on the grounds that I introduced sexology and showed its influence on the formation of the personality structure. In the period from 1934 to 1937, Communist Party functionaries always warned fascist circles in Europe about the "danger" of sexual energy. This can be proven on the basis of documents. Publications on sexual energy were delayed at the border of Soviet Russia and sent back, as, indeed, were the crowds of refugees who sought to escape German fascism. There is no justification for this.

The above events, which seemed meaningless to me at that time, acquired complete clarity in the process of revising the book "Psychology of the Masses and Fascism". Information from the field of sexual energy and biology was squeezed into the terminology of vulgar Marxism like an elephant into a fox hole. During the revision of my book on youth2 in 1938, I noticed that after eight years all the terms of sexual energy retained their meaning, while all the party slogans that I included in the book became meaningless. This statement is also true for the third edition of The Psychology of the Masses and Fascism.

Generally speaking, it is now clear that fascism is not the work of some Hitler or Mussolini, but an expression of the irrational structure of mass man. It is now more evident than ten years ago that race theory is biological mysticism. In addition, we have much more information that allows us to understand the orgastic drives of man, and therefore we have already begun to intuitively understand that fascist mysticism is an orgastic drive, limited to mystical distortion and suppression of natural sexuality. The positions of sexual energy related to fascism now seem to be more justified than ten years ago.

Does this mean that Marxist economic theory is fundamentally wrong? I would like to answer this question with an example. Was Pasteur's microscope or Leonardo da Vinci's water pump "wrong"? Marxism is a scientific theory of economics that arose in the social conditions of the beginning and middle of the 19th century. However, the process of social development did not stop and took a completely different form in the 20th century. In this new social process, we find all the essential features that existed in the 19th century, just as we rediscover the basic design of the Pasteur microscope in a modern microscope, or the basic principle of a Leonardo da Vinci pump in a modern water supply system. Yet both Pasteur's microscope and Leonardo da Vinci's pump are now rendered useless. They are obsolete due to completely new processes and functions, corresponding to a completely new concept and technology. The activities of the Marxist parties in Europe have not been successful (and I do not feel malicious joy in saying this) because, on the basis of the concepts of the 19th century, they tried to understand the fascism of the 20th century, which was something completely new. As social organizations, they have lost energy because they have not been able to maintain and develop the essential capabilities inherent in all scientific theories. I do not regret that for many years I took part as a doctor in the activities of Marxist organizations. My knowledge of society is not based on books; in essence, it was acquired through practical participation in the struggle of the masses of the people for a dignified and free life. In fact, my best intuitive discoveries in the field of sexual energy were made on the basis of errors in the thinking of the same populace, i.e., errors that prepared them for the coming of the fascist plague. As a doctor, I understood the workers with their problems in a way that a party politician could not understand them. The party politician saw only the "working class", to whom he sought to "inspire class consciousness." I considered man as a living being who found himself in the grip of the worst of all possible social conditions that he himself created, carried in himself as part of his character and vainly sought to free himself from them. The gap between purely economic and biosociological approaches has become insurmountable. The theory of "class man" was opposed to the irrational nature of the society of living people.

At present, everyone knows how deeply Marxist economic ideas have penetrated the thinking of modern man. Yet individual economists and sociologists are often unaware of the source of their ideas. Such concepts as "class", "profit", "exploitation", "class contradiction", "commodity" and "surplus value" are well-known. Despite this, no party can now be considered the heir and living representative of the scientific wealth of Marxism, when it comes to the real development of sociology, and not about slogans that have lost their original meaning.

In the period from 1937 to 1939, a new sex-energetic concept was developed - "workers' democracy". The third edition of this book includes a presentation of the main features of the new sociological concept. It contains the best, still valid, sociological achievements of Marxism. It takes into account the social changes that have taken place in the concept of "worker" over the past hundred years. I know from my own experience that "the only representatives of the working class", as well as the former and new "leaders of the international proletariat", oppose this extension of the social concept "worker" on the grounds that it is "fascist", "Trotskyist", "counter-revolutionary". "," hostile to the party ", etc. Workers' organizations that expel Negroes from their councils and put Hitlerism into practice cannot be considered the creators of a new free society. Hitlerism, however, is not limited to the Nazi Party or the borders of Germany; it penetrates both into workers' organizations and into liberal and democratic circles. Fascism is not a political party, but a special concept of life, attitude to man, love and work. This is not changed by the fact that the political methods of the pre-war Marxist parties have exhausted themselves and have no future. Just as the concept of sexual energy was lost in psychoanalysis, which was resurrected with the discovery of "orgone", so the concept of the international worker lost its significance in the activities of Marxist parties to be reborn within the framework of sex-energetic sociology. This is due to the fact that the activities of supporters of sexual energy can be realized only within the framework of socially necessary labor, and not within the framework of reactionary-illusory inactivity.

Sexual-energetic sociology arose from the desire to bring Freud's depth psychology into line with Marx's economic theory. Instinctive and socio-economic processes determine a person's life. At the same time, we need to abandon eclectic attempts to arbitrarily combine "instinct" and "economics." Sexual-energetic sociology resolves the contradiction that prompted psychoanalysis to consign the social factor to oblivion, and Marxism - the origin of man from the animal. Elsewhere I noted that psychoanalysis is the mother of sexual energy and sociology its father. However, a child is more than the sum total of its parents. He represents a new, independent being - the seed of the future.

In accordance with the new, sex-energetic, understanding of the concept of "labor", the following changes have been made to the terminology of this book. The terms 'communist', 'socialist', 'class consciousness', etc., were replaced by more concrete sociological and psychological terms such as 'revolutionary' and 'scientific'. They mean "radical revolutionization", "reasonable activity", "comprehension of the essence".

This takes into account the growing revolutionization not of the communist and socialist parties, but (in contrast to them) of many groups and social classes that do not adjoin any party. In other words, the desire of many apolitical groups and classes to establish a fundamentally new, rational social system is taken into account. As a result of the struggle against the fascist plague, society became involved in the process of huge international revolutionary changes. This phenomenon was reflected in our public consciousness and was noted even by the old bourgeois politicians. The words "proletarian" and "proletarian" were coined over a hundred years ago to refer to a deceived class of society that was doomed to mass impoverishment. Of course, such social groups still exist, but the adult grandchildren of the 19th century proletarians have become highly skilled industrial workers who are aware of their skill, indispensability and responsibility. "Class consciousness" was replaced by "consciousness of one's mastery" and "social responsibility".

In 19th-century Marxism, the use of the term "class consciousness" was limited to manual laborers. Persons in other necessary professions, without which society could not function, were labeled "intellectuals" and "petty bourgeoisie." They were opposed to the "proletariat of physical labor." This schematic and now unacceptable comparison played a very significant role in the victory of fascism in Germany. The concept of "class consciousness" is not only excessively narrow, it does not correspond at all to the structure of the class of manual laborers. Therefore, the terms "industrial work" and "proletariat" were replaced by "vital labor" and "working". These two terms apply to all persons who perform important work for the life of society. Along with industrial workers, doctors, teachers, technicians, laboratory assistants, writers, public figures, farmers, scientists, etc., should be included among such persons. , and the red variety.

Thanks to ignorance of mass psychology, Marxist sociology contrasted the "bourgeoisie" with the "proletariat." From the point of view of psychology, such an opposition must be recognized as incorrect. The characterological structure is not limited to capitalists, it exists among workers of all professions. There are liberal capitalists and reactionary workers. Characterological analysis does not recognize the existence of class differences. Therefore, the purely economic concepts of "bourgeoisie" and "proletariat" were replaced by the concepts of "reactionary" and "revolutionary" or "free-thinking", which do not refer to a person's belonging to a particular social class, but to his character. These changes were imposed on us by the fascist fiends.

Dialectical materialism, outlined in Engels' Anti-Dühring, developed into energetic functionalism. This development was made possible by the discovery of biological energy, or "orgone" (1936-38). Sociology and psychology thus acquired a strong biological basis. Such a development was bound to have an impact on our thinking. The expansion of the scope of our knowledge causes changes in old concepts; new concepts take the place of concepts that have lost their force. The Marxist term "consciousness" is replaced by "dynamic structure", "need" by "orgone instinctive processes", "tradition" - to "biological and characterological rigidity", etc.

Owing to the irrational nature of man, the common concept of "private enterprise" in vulgar Marxism has been completely misinterpreted in the sense that the socialist development of society precludes any form of private ownership. Naturally, such an interpretation was widely used by political reaction for its own purposes. It seems quite obvious that social development and individual freedom have nothing to do with the so-called abolition of private property. The Marxist concept of private property does not apply to trousers, shirts, typewriters, toilet paper, books, beds, savings, houses, real estate, etc. This concept was used exclusively in connection with private ownership of social means of production, i.e. such means of production that determine the development of society as a whole. Such means of production include: railways, waterworks, power plants, coal mines, etc. The "socialization of the means of production" became a stumbling block because it was interpreted in accordance with the ideology of the expropriated persons as "deprivation of the right of private ownership" of chickens, shirts, books, houses, etc. During the last century, the nationalization of social means of production began to encroach on the area of private ownership of such means of production. To one degree or another, this process affected all capitalist countries.

Since the personality structure of the worker and his ability to perceive freedom were so crushed that he could not adapt to the rapid pace of development of social organizations, the "state" carried out Chapter I. IDEOLOGY AS A MATERIAL FORCE

In the years before

Wilhelm Reich

Mass psychology and fascism

"Love, work and knowledge -

these are the sources of our life.

They have to determine its course."

Wilhelm Reich

Foreword

Now we will transfer our personality structure to the socio-political sphere.

The mechanistically mystical nature of modern man gives rise to fascist parties, and not vice versa.

A distinction must be made between ordinary militarism and fascism. Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm was militaristic, but not fascist.

Psychology of the masses and fascism summary. Reich Wilhelm. Psychology of the masses and fascism. Chapter xi Significance of essential labor

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