Gesammelte Werke

the propagandistic mechanisms as such. Modern propaganda provides those who are exposed to it with some gratification of its own, vicarious or even spurious though it may be. The renunciation of propaganda would, therefore, require an instinctual renunciation on the part of the masses. This pertains not only to the bathing beauty which is associated with »Your Favorite Soap« but in a more subtle and deeply effective way to political propaganda. The champions of fascist propaganda, in particular, have developed a ritual which, for their adherents, largely takes the place of any clear-cut political program. For the superficial observer the political sphere seems to be predestined to be monopolized by shrewd propagandists: politics are regarded by vast numbers of people as the realm of initiated politicians, if not of grafters and machine bosses. The less the people believe in political integrity, the more easily can they be taken in by politicians who rant against politics. Whereas the truth principle and its inherent rational processes demand a certain intellectual effort which is not likely to attract too many friends, propaganda in general, and fascist propaganda in particular, are thoroughly adapted to the line of the least resistance.
    Unless the truth principle is formulated more concretely, it will remain an unctuous phrase. The task would be two-fold. An approach must be found which does not make the slightest concession to those aberrations from truth which are almost inevitable if communications are adapted to their prospective consumers. At the same time it would have to break through the walls of inertia, resistance, and conditioned mental behavior-patterns. To those who prate about the immaturity of the masses this may seem to be a hopeless endeavor. However, the argument that people have to be taken as they are is only a half-truth; it overlooks the mass potential of autonomy and spontaneity which is very much alive. It is impossible to say whether an approach such as the one postulated here will eventually succeed, and the reason why it has never been attempted on a large scale must be sought in the prevailing system itself. Nevertheless, it is essential that it should be undertaken.
    As a first step, communications would have to be developed which, while adhering to the truth, try to overcome the subjective factors which make truth unacceptable.
The psychological phase of the communication no less than its content should respect the truth principle.
While the irrational element is to be fully considered, it is not to be taken for granted but has to be attacked by enlightenment. Objective, factual reliability should be combined with the effort to promote insight into the irrational dispositions which make it hard for people to judge rationally and autonomously. The truth to be spread by democratic leadership pertains to facts which are clouded by arbitrary distortions and in many cases by the very spirit of our culture. It seeks to foster self-reflection in those whom we want to emancipate from the grip of all-powerful conditioning. This double desideratum seems to be the more justified since there can hardly be any doubt about the existence of an intimate interaction between both factors, the delusions of antidemocratic ideology and the absence of introspection (the latter fact being largely due to defense mechanisms).
    In order to be effective, our approach presupposes a thorough knowledge of both content and nature of the antidemocratic stimuli to which the modern masses are exposed. It requires knowledge of the needs and urges among the masses which make them susceptible to such stimuli. Obviously, the main efforts of democratic leadership should be directed at those points where antidemocratic stimuli and subjective dispositions coincide. Since the problem is so complicated we content ourselves here with the discussion of a limited but highly critical area in which both stimuli and effects are heavily concentrated: that of race hatred in general, and present-day totalitarian anti-Semitism in particular. It has been emphasized that the latter, as far as its political angle is concerned, is less a spontaneous manifestation, a phenomenon
per se,
than the spearhead of antidemocratism. There are few areas in which the manipulative aspect of antidemocratism is as unmistakable as here. At the same time it feeds on age-old traditions and strong emotional sources. Fascist demagogues regularly reach the