Hacker News Reader

Since we are talking books - You could give The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich a read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mass_Psychology_of_Fascism

It was banned and burnt by the Nazi's in the 1930's but significantly it was one of several books of the authors which was burnt by the US Govt. in 1956!

View on HN

Poor Wilhelm Reich.

Whatever you think about the validity of his research, it must have been agonizing for him to watch so much of his work literally go up in flames. It's hard to imagine how such destruction of knowledge could ever be justified.

If you are, or plan to be, in the New England area, I highly recommend visiting 'Orgonon', Reich's former home and current museum in Rangeley, Maine. It's fascinating and tragic.

On a related note, Canettis main work deals with the 20th century phenomenon of the "mass" and its constituents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowds_and_Power

Reply on news.ycombinator.com