Fascism is not the act of Hitler or Mussolini, but it is "the expression of the irrational structure of mass man." Reich also says that Marxist economy was not false, it was right for the times and structures it was created in the beginning of XIX Century and further on, as the nations and were developing, expanding and believing in knowledge and scientific studies the world went in different direction and that could correspond to the rapidly changing structures of the nations and philosophies that would respond to particular changes in the societies.In his theories about the layers of the humans mind, Reich mentions that " every natural, social, or libidinous impulse that wants to spring into action from the biologic core has to pass through the layer of secondary perverse drives and it is thereby distorted."
The second layer is an "intermediate character layer, which consists exclusively of cruel, sadistic, lascivious, rapacious, and envious impulses. It represents the Freudian 'unconscious' or 'what is repressed', (...) it represents the sum total of all so-called 'secondary drives'."
"Various political and ideological groupings of human society correspond to the various layers of the structure of the human character" and everything that is genuinely revolutionary , every genuine art and science, steams from man's natural biologic core. And the biologic core is the third layer hidden behind the secondary intermediate character layer, which is the cruel one. And so none of the genuine ideas coming out of this layer can hold attention of masses for long nor could such person stay long as a leader.
In Reich's theory, coming out of philosophy of character layers, fascism is driven by a second layer, its "essence embodies neither the surface [the first layer- reservation, politeness, compassion, responsibility and consciousness] nor the depth [core layer], but by en large the second, intermediate layer of secondary drives."
"This distortion transforms the original social nature of the natural impulses and makes it perverse, thus inhibiting every genuine expression of life."
For Reich, Fascism is only "the organised political expression of the structure that is linked neither to certain races or nations nor certain parties, but is general and international." From his scientific discoveries Reich also came to the conclusion that Fascism is a kind of international phenomena, "which pervades all bodies of human society of all nations, " not only German or Japanese as the general thought was. He compares Fascism to nothing more than an imperialistic interest or simply a prejudice which turns religious concept of suffering into a sadistic murder. A little man (Hitler) studies the big man's behaviour and brings it in a distorted and "grotesque fascism".
The University of Winchester Journalism Course
History and Context of Journalism, part IV
Inspiration & links:
1. The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich - book
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mass_Psychology_of_Fascism
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich
