The Mass Psychology of Fascism

Reich believed that the masses are doomed to enslavement, and that freedom could only be realized if suppression were removed. Much of this suppression is focused around sexuality and the confusion it induces on one's rationality.

One of the questions asked in The Mass Psychology of Fascism, is why do people support and promote groups, which are both harmful and detrimental to themselves? Reich was of the opinion that the roots of harmful authoritarianism lay in the authoritarian family, and that through sexual repression within family life, the masses become submissive and promote "reactionary thinking", which is a fear of freedom.

Where the figure of the father relates family, fuhrer is mirrored through nation. "In their subjective emotional core the notions of homeland and nation are notions of mother and family."
The fuhrer evokes emotional family themes in the masses, and this makes him an authoritarian father figure. He attracts all the emotional attitudes that were meant at one time to be attributed to the father. The masses had need for protection and were allowing the dictator to manage their needs. The more hopeless the people in Nazi Germany became, the greater their connection with the Fuhrer became.

Reich believed that the sexual repression can lead to sadism and is brought about by mysticism and ideology (both of which are prominent features within the Nazi regime). Where the Nazi regime really succeeded was in the way it managed to appeal to the people's sense of duty, which is all a part of mysticism (another correlation with sexual repression). This mysticism is somewhat euphoric and indoctrinating, and the swastika symbol only furthers this sense of unity and primal urges.

Reich attributes much to Freudian sex-oriented psychology and a concept of sex economy. Evidently, sex economy is based on control through sexual repression and suppression. Reich finds a strong link between sexual suppression and economic exploitation.