THE MASS PSYCHOLOGY OF FASCISM b (original) (raw)

THE MASS PSYCHOLOGY OF FASCISM

1. IDEOLOGY AS MATERIAL POWER 1 The divergence of ideology and economic situation
2. Economic and ideological structure of German society between 1928 and
3. The problem of mass psychology
4. The social function of sexual suppression
2: AUTHORITARIAN FAMILY IDEOLOGY AND THE MASS PSYCHOLOGY OF FASCISM 1 Fuhrer and mass structure
2. Hitler's origin
3. On the mass psychology of the lower middle classes
4 Family Fixation and nationalistic feeling
5 Nationalistic self-confidence
6 The middle-class adaptation of the industrial workers
3: THE RACE THEORY 1. Its content
2 The objective and subjective functions of ideology
3 Racial purity: blood poisoning, and mysticism
4: THE SYMBOLISM OF THE SWASTIKA 5: THE SEX-ECONOMIC BASIS OF THE AUTHORITARIAN FAMILY 6: ORGANISED MYSTICISM: THE INTERNATIONAL ANTISEXUAL ORGANIZATION 1 The interest in the church
2. The fight against "Kulturbolschewismus"
3. The appeal to mystical feeling
4. The goal of the cultural revolution in the light of the fascist reaction
7: SEX-ECONOMY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST MYSTICISM 1. The three basic elements of religious feeling
2. The anchoring of religion through sexual anxiety
3. Healthy and neurotic self-confidence
8: SOME PROBLEMS OF SEX-POLITICAL PRACTICE 1. Theory and practice
2. The fight against mysticism
3 Sexual happiness versus mysticism
4 The individual eradication of the mystical feeling
5. Objections to sex-economic practice
6. The unpolitical individual
9: THE MASSES AND THE STATE 1. What goes on in the masses of people?
2. The "socialist longing"
3. The "withering away of the state"
4. The program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1919
5. "The introduction of Soviet democracy"
6. The development of the authoritarian state apparatus from rational so inteirelationships
7 The social function of state capitalism
8. The biosocial functions of work. The problem of "voluntary work discipline"
10: WORK DEMOCRACY 1. Give responsibility to vitally necessary work!
2. The biological miscalculation m the human struggle for freedom
3. Work democracy versus politics. The natural social forces for the n of the emotional plague

The suppression of natural sexual gratification leads to various kinds of substitute gratifications. Natural aggression, for example, becomes brutal sadism which then is an essential mass-psychological factor in imperialistic wars. To take another example: the mass-psychological effect of militarism is essentially libidinous. The sexual effect of a uniform and of rhythmically perfect parades, of military exhibitionism in general, are obvious to the average servant girl, even though they may not be obvious to learned political scientists. Political reaction, however, makes conscious use of these sexual interests. Not only does it create peacock-like uniforms for the men, it uses attractive women in its recruiting campaigns. One only has to remember the recruiting posters with texts like this, "If you want to see the world, join the Royal Navy." The far-away world is represented by exotic women. Why are such posters effective? Because our youth, as a result of sexual suppression, is sex-starved.

If one studies the history of sexual suppression one finds that it does not exist in the early stages of culture formation. Therefore, it cannot be the prerequisite of culture. Rather, it appears at a relatively late stage of culture, at the time of the development of authoritarian patriarchy and of class distinctions. At that stage, the sexual interests of all begin to serve the profit interests of a minority. This process has assumed a solid organizational form in the institutions of patriarchal marriage and patriarchal family.
With the suppression of sexuality the emotions undergo a change: a sex-negating religion begins to develop which gradually builds up its own sex-political organization, the church in all its forms, which has no other goal than that of eradicating sexual pleasure. This has its sociological reason in the exploitation of human work which sets in at this stage.

Suppression of the natural sexuality in the child, particularly of its genital sexuality, makes the child apprehensive, shy, obedient, afraid of authority, "good" and "adjusted" in the authoritarian sense; it paralyzes the rebellious forces because any rebellion is laden with anxiety; it produces, by inhibiting sexual curiosity and sexual thinking in the child, a general inhibition of thinking and of critical faculties. In brief, the goal of sexual suppression is that of producing an individual who is adjusted to the authoritarian order and who will submit to it in spite of all misery and degradation. At first, the child has to adjust to the structure of the authoritarian miniature state, the family; this makes it capable of later subordination to the general authoritarian system. The formation of the authoritarian structure takes place through the anchoring of sexual inhibition and sexual anxiety.

the suppression of the gratification of primitive material needs has a result different from that of the suppression of the gratification of the sexual needs. The former incites rebellion. The latter, [26] however�by repressing the sexual needs and by becoming anchored as moralistic defense�paralyzes the rebellion against either kind of suppression. More than that, the inhibition of rebellion itself is unconscious. The conscious mind of the average unpolitical individual does not even show a trace of it. The result of this process is fear of freedom, and a conservative, reactionary mentality. Sexual repression aids political reaction not only through this process which makes the mass individual passive and unpolitical but also by creating in his structure an interest in actively supporting the authoritarian order. The suppression of natural sexual gratification leads to various kinds of substitute gratifications. Natural aggression, for example, becomes brutal sadism which then is an essential mass-psychological factor in imperialistic wars.