NY: Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 1970
(page xiii) Viewed with respect to man’s character, “fascism” is the basic emotional attitude of the suppressed man of our authoritarian machine civilization and its mechanistic-mystical conception of life.
It is the mechanistic-mystical character of modern man that produces fascist parties, and not vice versa.
(xiv) In its pure form, fascism is the sum total of all the irrational reactions of the average human character. To the obtuse sociologists who lack the mettle to recognize the supreme role played by irrationality in the history of man, the fascist racial theory appears to be nothing more than an imperialistic interest, or, more broadly, speaking, a “prejudice.”
(xxiv) There are liberal capitalists and reactionary workers. There are no class distinctions when it comes to character.
(18) The basic traits of the character structures corresponding to a definite historical situation are formed in early childhood, and are far more conservative than the forces of technical production. It results from this that, as time goes on, _the psychic structures lag behind the rapid changes of the social conditions from which they derived, and later come into conflict with the new forms of life._ This is the basic trait of the nature of so-called tradition, i.e., of the contradiction between the old and the new social situation.
(37) This ambivalent attitude toward authority - _rebellion against it, coupled with acceptance and submission_ – is a basic feature of every middle-class structure from the age of puberty to full adulthood and is especially pronounced in individuals stemming from materially restricted circumstances.
(62) From the standpoint of the masses, the nationalistic führer is the personification of the nation. Only insofar as this führer actually personifies the nation in conformity with the national sentiments of the masses does a personal tie to him develop. Insofar as he knows how to arouse emotional family ties in the individuals of the masses, he is also an authoritarian father figure.
(63) Even more essential, however, is the identification of the individuals of the masses with the “führer." The more helpless, the “mass-individual” has become, owing to his upbringing, the more pronounced is his identification with the führer, and the more of the childish need for protection is discussed in the form of a feeling at one with the führer. This inclination to identify is the psychological basis of the national narcissism, i.e., of the self-confidence that individual man derives from the "greatness of the nation.” The reactionary, lower middle-class man perceives himself in the führer, in the authoritarian state. On the basis of this identification, he feels himself to be a defender of the "national heritage,"of this "nation,” which does not prevent him, likewise, on the basis of this identification, from simultaneously despising "the masses” and confronting them as an individual. The righteousness of his material and sexual situation is so overshadowed by the exulting idea of belonging to a master race, and having a brilliant führer that, as time goes on, he ceases to realize how completely he has sunk to a position of insignificant, blind allegiance.
NB: “Narcissism” can be very powerful and combine a narcissistic sociopath with a public prone to their own narcissism opens up a dangerous hall of mirrors where self-regard allows a lot of blood to flow.
(70) Fascism promises the abolition of the classes, that is to say, the abolition of proletarian status, and in this way, it plays upon the social inferiority felt by the manual laborer.
(73) _Disappointment in Social Democracy, accompanied by the contradiction between wretchedness and conservative thinking, must lead to fascism if there are no revolutionary organizations._
NB: “Disappointment in Social Democracy” is constantly with us but has increased under the weight of the “war on terror,” the 2008 financial collapse, and COVID-19, along with our current slide into forever war.
(80) The structure of fascism it characterized by metaphysical thinking, unorthodox faith, obsession with abstract ethical ideals, and belief in the divine predestination of the führer. These basic features are linked with a deeper layer, which is characterized by a strong authoritarian tie to the führer-ideal or the nation.
(106) The notion that sexuality is moral only in the service of procreation, that what lies outside the pale of procreation is immoral, is the most important feature of reactionary sexual politics.
(115) As we have already pointed out, when political reaction is successful with a certain ideological propaganda, this cannot be ascribed solely to befogging. It is our contention that a problem of mass psychology must lie at the root of each instance of its success. Something that we still haven't grasped is going on in the masses, and it is that "something" that enables them to think, and to act against their own vital interests. The question is decisive, for without this attitude on the part of the masses, political reaction would be wholly powerless. It is the willingness of the masses to absorb the these ideas – that we call a dictator's _“soil of mass psychology”_ – that constitutes fascism's strength. Thus, it is imperative to seek a complete understanding of this.
(116) Since mystical contagion is the most important psychological precondition for the assimilation of fascist ideology by the masses, an understanding of the psychological effect of mysticism in general is an indispensible part of an investigation of fascist ideology.
(141) All reactionary types condemn sexual pleasure (not without impunity, however) because it attracts and repulses them at one and the same time. They cannot resolve the contradiction between sexual demands and moralistic inhibitions in themselves.
(185) Insofar as the abortion law causes distress, death, and grief, it is a question of general social politics. Not until, and only when, it is clearly and explicitly understood that people violate the law because they have to _have intercourse even if they don't want to have children_ will the question of abortion become a sex-political question. This has passed unnoticed until now, despite the fact that it is emotionally the _most important_ point of the question. If a reactionary, social politician should take it upon himself to tell the people: “You complain that the abortion law demands so many sacrifices in health and human life! You don't have to _have_ sexual intercourse," then there would be an end to the approach that is concerned solely with population politics. _The question is meaningful only if one clearly, and openly speaks up for the necessity of a satisfactory sex life._
NB: It would be good for those confronting the anti-abortion forces to keep on pointing this out as they move to enforce the Comstock Law, seek to limit or outlaw birth control, and tyrannize over any sexual freedom.
(200-201) Hitler not only established his power from the very beginning with masses of people who were until then, essentially non-political; he also accomplished his last step to victory in March of 1933 in a "legal" manner, by mobilizing, no less than five million non-voters, that is to say, non-political people. The Left parties had made every effort to win over the indifferent masses, without posing the question as to what it means "to be indifferent or non-political."
NB: Something else to worry about come November 2024
(201) To be non-political is not, as one might suppose, evidence of a passive psychic condition, but of a highly active attitude, a _defense_ against the awareness of social responsibility.
(205-206) It would not be farfetched to say that it is in the nature of a politician that he does not learn anything from experience.
(210) It is in the nature of a political party that it does not orient itself in terms of truth, but in terms of illusions, which usually correspond to the irrational structure of the masses.
(214) The word fascism is not a word of abuse any more than the word capitalism is. It is a concept denoting a very definite kind of mass leadership and mass influence: authoritarian, one-party system, hence totalitarian, a system in which power takes priority over objective interests, and facts are distorted for political purposes.
(252) … the fact that slave mentality is deeply rooted in the body itself, has become a second nature, as it were, so that _the masses of people pass on their suppression from generation to generation.
(258) We must never lose sight of the fact that Hitler always built upon the justified hate of masses of people against sham democracy and the parliamentary system - and with great success!
(266) The tendency to see everything in terms of economy is catastrophic. Every effort must be made to correct this tendency.
(300) Illusions always prevent that which they pretend to be from _really_ materializing.
(354-355) It is ridiculous to argue with a murderer about his right to murder, but this ridiculous mistake is made again and again, in dealing with fascists.
(355) Freedom does not have to be achieved – it is spontaneously present in every life function. _It is the elimination of all obstacles to freedom that has to be achieved._