Dragon Teeth

Book Review-THE MASS PSYCHOLOGY OF FASCISM

There are tons of books on the set today that explain the ways that we are exploited, controlled, and oppressed politically and economically. But there seems to be not nearly enough available that explains the nature of our emotional oppression, manipulation and control.

Especially in Babylon, where every body, from Presidents to Prisoners, is hung-up, strung-out, and fucked-over emotionally. Especially in Babylon, where people are turned off from their work, from school, from politics. Especially in Babylon, where people are alienated from each other, where we suffer from emotional imbalances of racism, sexism and National Chauvinism. Especially in Babylon, land of weird sex hang-ups, of roles and games that we play with ourselves and each other. Especially in Babylon, where every god damn body is confused, scared and so alone. Especially in Babylon, where this madness runs amuck. Especially in Babylon. Especially in Babylon, someone should say, "Dig it!" Dig It.

Wilhelm Reich said "Dig it!" He was so together with his "Digs" and his "Its" that his books were burned and he was thrown into prison. Germany? No, not Germany, but right here in the U.S. of A. Dig that!

Economics is the basis of every society. Politics reinforces and reflects the economic system. Culture reinforces and reflects both the economic and political system, and is subordinate to both.

But culture is more than a reflection of an economic and political system. Culture is also a reflection of our collective emotions, our collective feelings of love/hate, sorrow/joy, life/death, sexuality/morality, etc., that collective feeling we get when we hear Janis just steamin'. Or when ya read a killer poem and ya get that feelin' in your chest like you're gonna explode. Or when you see a movie and the pigs get a righteous ass whuppin' at the hands of the people. Or after a super high energy hydrogen bomb fuck, and you and your partner just lay there and laugh and cry at the same time 'cause you're so happy (the shrinks would have something to say about that I bet). This is all part of culture too, our collective world outlook, our collective feelings and emotions, our subjective reality.

But what is important here is that we understand that our feelings and emotions, our world outlook, is being shaped now, and has been shaped from our earliest days. Our feelings about sex, our fathers, mothers, God/religion, the nation, family, all these things shape our emotions, and our emotions, to a large extent, govern how we act, or don't act.

Fascism is the process by which the people oppress themselves. How does fascism come about? How do millions of people allow themselves to be put under the iron heel of a dictator? There are economic reasons for the development of fascism, but here we want to deal with what goes on in peoples' heads that they would choose a straightjacket rather than go naked. The people, in the final analysis, do have the choice.

Reich shows that the repression of our basic sexual urges, our present family structure and religion, are the 3 primary subjective forces that shape our consciousness toward the acceptance of fascism, indeed, the demand for fascism.

"The authoritarian state gains an enormous interest in the authoritarian family: it becomes the factory in which the state's structure and ideology are molded . . . In the figure of the father the authoritarian state has its representative in every family, so that the family becomes its most important instrument of power." -Reich.

In most families the father serves as a dictator, his rule is absolute, unquestioned. As we grow up in this sort of atmosphere we become passive and unable to function unless we are given commands from a higher authority. In both the family and state this authority is strict and protective at the same time. "What this position of the father actually necessitates is the strictest sexual suppression of the women and the children . . . the sons, apart from subservient attitudes toward authority, develop a strong identification with the father, which forms the basis of the emotional dentification with every kind of authority." (The young men want to be fathers/furher, Pun.)

In a patriarchy (father) society children are identified through the father, family lines are traced through the husband. The woman takes the man's name in marriages, etc. Because of this, restrictions are placed on natural sex urges of women and children. Women are not looked on as sexual animals but rather as child producing machinery. Because the family is traced through the man, the wife is hid away, mentally and physically, so that the husband can be positive that he is the father of his children.

"The moral inhibitions of the child's natural sexuality . . . makes the child afraid, shy, fearful of authority, obedient, 'good' and 'docile' in the authoritarian sense of the words. It has a crippling effect on man's (women's, P.P.) rebellious forces because every vital life impulse is now burdened with severe fear." - Reich.

In a matriarchy (mother) society, children are identified through the mother, family lines are traced through the mother. Women are not stunted in their sexual activity and growth because who your father was is not as important as who your mother is. This leads to a more natural and healthy sexual development, and our whole social, political and economic development is more in tune with nature.

"The suppression of one's primitive material needs (food, shelter, etc. Pun) compasses a different result than the suppression of one's sexual needs. The former incites to rebellion, whereas the latter prevents rebellion against both forms of suppression."

Sexual repression results in a lowering of self-confidence, we begin to think of sexual suppression in terms of honor, purity, duty, bravery, and self-control. These emotions are further developed and exploited by the absolute control state, especially in times of war.

When our natural sex drives are twisted and deformed our sexual energy seeks release and satisfaction in perverted ways, in individual sadism for one, but this can be heightened and manipulated into racism, National Chauvinism, imperialistic wars and a fascist state. Dig the Vietnam War and My Lai, dig massive police brutality, dig the brutality that prisoners inflict upon one another in prisons.

So, (hopefully) we see that repression of natural sexual instincts is key to developing the superior father family structure that the authoritarian state needs to survive. There is another institution that effects this anti-sexuality and the family and fascist state organization, Reich calls this third institution "mysticism," I call it religion.

"Every form of mysticism (religion) derives its most active energy and, in part, also its content from this compulsory repression of sexuality."

Religions basic bag is that men and women are naturally wicked and evil (original sin), that things on earth always have been awful and always will be, we shouldn't expect happiness here on earth but look for our just reward in heaven.

The whole family and sex douse is a primary part of religion. A young child might be heard to pray-"Please, Mother Mary Virgin Pure, I sinned, Billy and Sally and I played doctor, ask God the Father not to send me to Hell." God sees everything and knows everything, so don't touch yourself when you go to bed, in fact, don't even think about touching yourself or anybody else. And Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father, who obeyed His Father all the way to the end, he never had a hard on in 33 years. You know what I mean? Again, purity, honor, self-control; "No, No, I can't. I'm saving it for when I get married."

"What religion calls freedom from the outside world really means fantasized substitute gratification (religious ecstasy, Pun) for actual gratification." (physical)

Religion leads us to put all our faith in God, but it also leads us to put our faith in the Leader, or our faith in Daddy. What we need to do is put our faith in ourselves, our faith in each other.

As the weirdness of Babylon increases, as we reap more and more of the rotten fruit of sexual repression, i.e. sadism, war, perversion, confusion, dual personalities, etc., the pressure of the "moralists" increases, they tell us we must strengthen the family, find Christ, strengthen our morals, etc. But it is precisely the family, Christ and morals, that is to say, patriarchy, religion and sexual repression that has led us into the center of this madness.

It's not hard to understand what Nixon is working out of when he salutes Billy Graham as a fine American, or what Agnew means when he says, "The permissiveness of the '60's will not be tolerated in the 70's." In this time of Wage and Price Freezes, of preventive detention and no-knock, of wiretapping and conspiracy trials, in this time of Jesus Freaks and Pat Boon Christian Rallies, of Paul Harvey and Reverend Maclntyre we better check out the "Mass Psychology of Facism."

"Sexually awakened women would mean the complete collapse of the authoritarian ideology."

Power to the Sisters, long live Women's Liberation!

"The objective loosening of the reactionary shackles placed on sexuality cannot under any circumstances be retightened. This is our greatest strength " Power to the Gay People, long live Gay Liberation! Power to the People who identify the enemy and crush it!

-Pun Plamondon
March 12, 1972
U.S. Penitentiary
Leavenworth, Kan.