The Mass Psychology of Fascism - Anxiety Depression Self-Help

from the point of view of character structure, airplane construction in itself can have a reactionary as well as a
work-democratic effect. It may serve to create nationalistic chauvinism if used by power-greedy politicians; it
may also serve to transport masses of Germans to Russia, Russians to China or Germany, Americans to Germany
or Italy, Chinese to America or Germany. Then, the German may learn [228] that he is not really so different
from the Russian worker, or the English worker may learn to regard the Indian worker as something else than a
born subject for exploitation.
This illustration shows again that the technical development of a society is not identical with its cultural
development, and that human character structure represents a social force of itself, reactionary or internationally
human, even if the technical base is the same in one or the other case. A purely economistic viewpoint is
catastrophic and must be fought vigorously.
What is necessary is that the working masses learn no longer to be content with illusory gratifications—which
always end up in some sort of fascism—but to consider actual gratification of the vital needs as a matter of
course and to take the responsibility for it.
The social-democratically organized workers of Vienna considered the construction of a subway by the socialdemocratic
community a specifically social-democratic deed. The communistic workers of Moscow considered
the subway built by the communist government of Moscow a specifically communistic achievement, while the
German workers considered the planned Bagdad railway a specifically German deed. These examples show the
plague character of the illusory gratification in political irrationalism. This illusion covers up the simple fact that
a German, Austrian or Russian railway is based on exactly the same, internationally valid work principles. The
workers of different countries do not say: "We are all connected with one another through the principle of our
work and achievement. Let's get together and discuss, say, how we can teach the Chinese workers to apply our
principles." Instead, the German worker is convinced that his railway is better, say, more Wotanistic, than the
Russian railway. Thus it never occurs to him that he might help the Chinese to build one. On the contrary,
hypnotized by his illusory nationalistic gratification, he follows this or that general of the emotional plague who
wants to rob the Chinese of their railway. Thus the political emotional plague creates deadly enmity within the
same class, envy, bragging and irresponsibility. [229] Elimination of illusory gratification and its replacement by
actual gratification of the interest in work and by international cooperation in work are indispensable prerequisites
to the elimination of the totalitarian state in the character structure of the working people. Only when this is
achieved will the working masses be able to develop those forces which are necessary to adapt technic to the
needs of the masses.
Hinoy wrote in Europäische Hefte of November 22, 1934: "The workers (in the Soviet Union) do not feel
themselves the masters of their country, not even the youth among them. The state is the master; but youth
considers this state as their own, and from this stems the patriotism of youth."
Such findings were general and left no doubt that the society of the Soviet Union during the '30s—whether one
approves of it or not—had nothing whatsoever to do with the original program of the Communistic Party which
culminated in the thesis of the abolition of the state. This is an objective statement of fact and not a political
program directed against the Soviet Union. I should like to ask the secret agents of the G.P.U. in Europe and
America to take cognisance of this. Murdering those who make such statements of fact will not change the facts
in the least.
6. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUTHORITARIAN STATE APPARATUS
FROM RATIONAL SOCIAL INTERRELATIONSHIPS
The second world war has again confirmed what had been general knowledge: The political reactionary differs
fundamentally from the true democrat in his attitude toward state power. This attitude permits an objective
evaluation of the social character of the person, no matter to what political party he may belong. According to this
criterion, there are true democrats among the Fascists and true Fascists among the party Democrats. Like the