The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 3, 1926, Page 13

~ Psychology of Revolution “All is Arranged” sheinleiesioiad true, that our interpretation is cor- By MICHAEL GOLD. rect, that is, that the philosophy of Communism is justified by its psychol- ogy. We.shall prove that in all bour- geois theories are hidden both the It is arranged a Communist hang at dawn. It is arranged he strangle as the sun rises, when dark mount- ains burst in flame, and birds sing. : Pomp is arranged; church bells will boom, soldiers bugle and FIRST ARTICLE (Introductory) fear of the capitalist before revolu- tion and the distortion of facts in or- der to discredit revolutionary action. We shall commence our task with a brief exposition of the popular psycho- analytic theory of Dr. Freud by A Psycho-Analytic Perversion of Mass Activity. HAT abuse and ridicule are being heaped on the Communist’s head when he speaks of the need of revising the bourgeois culture! Even social- ists—tho they claim Marxian parent- age—poke fun at the “proletarian cul- ture,” forgetting that political econ- omy, sociology, etc., have been already revised from a proletarian view- point. But there still remain other sciences quite untouched by the Com- munists, which also need revision; for instance, the field of social psychol- ogy, a virgin soil for our exploration. Nay, not altogether virgin, for the bourgeois husbandman ploughed and sowed it with venemous herbs which rooted themselves deeply in our “hu- manitarian” soil, One example will illustrate how the bourgeois gavants pollute our cultural sources. In the city of New York re- cently was staged a production under the title of “Goat Song,” a rich sym- bolic play dealing with revolution in an artistic way. The Goat Song by Franz Worfel is a gem (so rare in our days of Abie’s and other roses) pro- lific with ideas, It openly eulogizes social revolution. Tho written sym- bolically, yet the true meaning could be grasped by the average theater- goer, had the reviewers of the capital- ist press not “reviewed” it,—that is revolutionary angle there is no super- fluous or contradictory character in the play. “*Sbut’ sda “doctor Of the New York Evening Sun could not let go such a revolutionary play without “psycho- analyzing’ ‘it. The doctor “psycho- it so that in his “scientific” hands it the embodiment of destruc- mob insanity, delusion and what Tevolutionary phenomenon and unpa- triotic mass action, No modern warfafe can survive without the aid of the doctor. But for purposes of class warfare, instead of the medical doctor, the doctor of psychology is called in and the revolu- tionary “mob” and the radical leader are first “psychologically” examined, and after such scientific analysis they are declared to be fit for either the Dsychopatic ward, asylums for the feeble-minded, or institutions for crim- tnals. Yet, when the layman speaks about psychology he speaks with reverence; first expounding this theory and then showing how it is applied to the social field. This doctrine operates with mys- tical terms of the “subconscious,” “libido” (sexual force) “inferiority and other complexes,” “suppressed wishes” etc., as with scientific discov- eries, facts about which there is no doubt. In truth, there is no more speculative theory, no less scientific doctrine, than this “new psychology,” as its supporters please to name it. Why, then, did it become so popular? Why does the layman take more ‘in- terest in this theory than in any other? The answer is that no other theory contains so much sensational mater- ial as psychoanalysis does. Dr. Freud, its founder, emphasizes the sexual element (“libido”) where others see entirely different causes at work. But the psycho-analyst is such a skillful diviner, that he inter- prets the whole spiritual domain by these suppressed wishes. The whole “subconscious life,” aserts the psycho- analyst, appears in a disguised sym- bolic form (why symbolic and how do they know that it is symbolic they do not tell us). Our dreams are phe- nomena of illegal (“suppressed”) wishes and in the absence of the “censor”—the moral guardian—ihey sneak thru the forbidden border-line of obscurity, These dreams, accord- ing to them, are not chance combina- tions of a wondering mind, but rec- ords of the pastevents symbolically For instance, a long forgotten youth- ful infatuation, about which we our- selves “were not aware,” that is a “suppressed wish,” finds the “censor” after many years of suppression fast asleep. It then crowds thru many such suppressed wishes to the fore of one’s consciousness and results in a dream. (Why this “wish” other they do not know). long forgotten experience no longer appears in its original form, whom we could greet as an old time friend or jeer as our enemy, but it appears ina fantastic, novel way. This happens with everybody but when the nerves are shattered, the idle and supersti- tious runs to the skillful magician for deciphering the script and he does it by making a story out of it. Who is there to contradict him that the mean- ing is not so? One cannot verify it himself, not even by his past experi- ence, since that experience was “sur- pressed” from the beginning, that is, “consciously” one never beheld - the experience and never will, Of course, this presupposes a hid- den “psyche, ‘soul,” or spiritual en- tity which manages these affairs. As far as this theory has to deal with an anti-materialistic conception, mys- beat drums, shoot volleys. Flags shine in the public square, under the sky, With statesmen, generals and priests at the dark scaffold. State ritual; All is arranged. 2. A lesson: A blow to stun the workers. A city to witness that Communists die like rats. A city to learn workers must be silent. The fat general has arranged it all. _ Divine services and a sacrifice to the All, all is arranged. The Communist sits in his dark cell Dawn will come, The sun rise, the Communist hang. But he is not terrified, he is not crushed; He has laid aside his strong body, said farewell to love and hate And all night his mind chants a grim, The chant of a Communist when it is arranged that he hang under the sky, fat frockcoat God. alone. ~ beautiful chant, The chant of the magnificence of history. 4. history. Good-bye, strong mother who bore me in poverty. I must leave you, I have been ravished by the magnificence of Good-bye dear wife, and little happy son, I loved you well, but I am part of the magnificence of history. Good-bye, my strong body, I loved you, too. But you must burn in the fire of a greater body. History kissed my mouth when I was young. I was chosen, it was arranged. 5. A thousand times our battle was lost. Spartacus was crucified, ere proletarians moaned for days not die. But our battle was not lost. as f rees stood the crosses out of Rome,.. sis d thick, as forest trees s ec o ut eects | and dripped blood The German peasants were mowed down with scythes. The French Communards were stacked like wood in Pere La Chaise. But our battle was not lost. Millions of workers died in the trenches of war, they choked the Ww ground And the battle seemed lost again, and my heart broke, But I beheld Comintern walk the earth with his plow, I saw Comintern weave again the strands of the great, glowing design of world history. And I knew our battle was not lost, And I was dazzled with wonder that the proletaire will yet rule the earth, And I am raptured with the beauty of the magnificence of history, For our battle is never lost, and all, all is arranged. 6. The dawn comes, the Communist is strangled, his chest ceases. Dark city masses witness as the General has arranged. But the air is full of chanting from all over the world. And proletarian eyes see the huge shape of Comintern walking, * walking behind his plow over the stony fields of the world. And proletarian hearts beat hard with the magnificence of history. And the hung Communist is reborn in a thousand proletarian hearts, Yes, all, all is arranged. Serontséilns as sebe' be call one Fy tic elements of “consciousness” or ‘ ] d + is valid in political economy. ti ce ade dae ox aan dae oO Irm course, the question of strikes or revo- we gg we w pass lution will have to be settled on the ed A Poem to the Textile Workers street but the bourgeois theories must be combatted im the pages of our | oG't4y it at the foundation of thelr By Adolf Wolff. press. counter-revolutionary doctrine, show- For this reason we shall first lay|ing that our ideals are such dreams, P yi Bagse gst et Fayed a bare the various theories of revolu-|and both the “crowd” and the leader fal spin. Into tears tionary psychology showing the bour-|are obssessed by delusions. One of Alone you fall, their stuff geois face peeping out from them, and |the quacks is Mr. F. D. Martin, chair- United win! You’ve spun for years, then we will build our own Marxian |man of the Cooper Union Forums, who ‘ foundation for psychology. We will|is a “keen” observer of mass psychol-}| . Hold firm! Close knit! A living wage! have first to clear the ground from the |ogy. It is quite evident that Mr. Like cloth you make. Your just demand, eer er ee. Oe emai aucaertnees A thread a A living wage! break it for our own structure. We | birth “theory,” , ree erie eee emer es |e on a cor rect interpretation of human psychol-| Freud, Dewey, tho they never dwelt pom gar“ guar gd tools Join vo “gory ogy, that the various anti-revolution-| upon this question (to support hisown| . And refuse sare eave ary theories of “pathological” | insignificance), But about Mr, Mar Like slaves or fools, one you state of “imitation,” “theory” next time. - To. United, win!