The Mass Psychology of Fascism - Anxiety Depression Self-Help

value of their working power; more, the system of piece-wages was introduced in an accentuated form. All this
was "necessary," but one should have realized that it meant moving toward the direct opposite of the original
goal.
The moralistic authoritarian regulation of work was also expressed in the fact that workers were prevented from
leaving their jobs; workers were obliged, for example, to stay on a job until the end of the Five-year-plan. Since,
during that period, about 40% of Russian industry was in war production, work had to be speeded up
tremendously in order to keep up the production of consumers' goods. To kindle ambition, "evenings of work"
were introduced where contests in various work activities were held. The factories introduced a black blackboard
with the names of the "lazy" workers and a red one with the names of the "good, useful" workers. Nothing is
reported on the effect on morale of these measures. But from all we know about such measures it must be
assumed that the effect on structure formation was disastrous. Those put on the black board must have felt shame,
envy, inferiority feelings and even bitter hatred; those put on the red board could triumph over their competitors,
could feel themselves on top and could live out their brutality. Nevertheless, the loser in such a contest is not
necessarily the "poorer" individual. On the contrary; we may assume that many among the "black" had a freedom
structure, even though neurotic. Conversely, the winner did not necessarily have a freedom structure, for the
characteristics which were stimulated in him are precisely those [259] of the overambitious, pushing fellow, the
informer, in brief, the individual afflicted with the emotional plague.
How little one thought of the fact that the state had to wither away and transfer its functions to the people is seen
in the following poem which was introduced to improve work discipline:
Es braucht der Staat für die Kolchose
zahllose stählerne Agitatoren.
Vom Pazifik bis Minsk, von Wjatka bis Krim
harrt fetter Ackerboden der Traktoren.
Es ruft der Staat!
Voran, voran! Mann für Mann!
Tretet an!
Den Hammer Nacht und Tag
schwingen wir Schlag auf Schlag,
bauen täglich hundertmal
dem Land ein neues Ross aus Stahl. 9
"The state needs"—instead of "we need." This may seem to make no difference to the economist, but for the
alteration of human structure such formulations are of decisive significance.
A striking sign of the dire straits of the work function was the so-called Stakanov movement. Stakanovites were
workers who far exceeded the average production level of a factory. Stakanov had been the first industrial worker
to establish records of work performance. Clearly the basis of Stakanovism was the workers' lack of interest in
their work. This is not the place for criticism: the Soviet Union was forced to increase production rapidly. Since
the working masses failed, it resorted to stimulating ambition by means of work records and sharply graduated
wage scales. But
________
9 The state for its collectives
Needs workers, men of iron.
From the Pacific to Minsk, from Vyatka to the Crimea
Fertile farmland waits the tractor.
The state is calling!
Come, every man! Step forward!
Night and day the hammer swings,
We build each day a hundred times
Horses of steel for our land.