grgr (26): "- - - - tha police!" (n.w.a)

[Lorentzen / Nicklaus]

 "the cops go at busting these proceedings the way they must have handled 
anti-nazi street actions before the war, moving in, mmm ja, with these flexible 
clubs, eyes tuned to the finest possibilities of threat, smelling of leather, of 
the wool-armpit rankness of their own fear, jumping little kids three-on-one, 
shaking down girls, old people, making them take off and shake out even boots 
and underwear, jabbing and battering in with tireless truncheonwork among the 
crying kids and screaming women. beneath the efficiency and glee is nostalgia 
for the old days. the war must have been lean times for crowd control, murder 
and mopery was the best you could do, one suspect at a time. but now, with the 
white market to be protected, here again are whole streets full of bodies eager 
for that erste abreibung, and you can bet the heat are happy with it." (p. 570) 
      
 when the 60s rebellion in germany made its experience with beating cops 
 (-  still very much old school), this perspective was quite popular. 

 here comes a poem by rolf dieter brinkmann, writer, p-head, collage-artist.  
 it's  from "die piloten" [1968], together with the novel "keiner weiß mehr"  
 [1968] & the essay "der film in worten" [1969] the best of his early works 
 (- pure gold are the later "westwärts 1&2" [1975] & "rom, blicke" [1979,  
 posthum]). unfortunately rdb did not come anymore to read gr.   

 
     "l e b w o h l   d r.   w i l h e l m   r e i c h
      
      der berliner polizei gewidmet


      man braucht nur
      genau
      hinzusehen
      dann weiß man bescheid.

      w a r u m  s c h l a g t  i h r  s i e  n i c h t  t o t?

      (ihr könnt sie dann
      ganz ausziehen und mühelos
      ihre beine auseinander-

      biegen, um schnell noch
      den druck loszuwerden
      ehe die lautsprecher wieder 
      zum sammeln rufen).

      w a r u m  s c h l a g t  i h r  s i e  n i c h t  t o t?

      man braucht nur
      genau
      hinzusehen
      dann weiß man bescheid.

      lebwohl dr. wilhelm reich
      bis zum nächsten mal in
      deutschland."     


 in m.o.p.a.t: "farewell dr. wilhelm reich//dedicated to the berlin police// 
 one only needs/to look/accurately/then one knows.//why don't you beat them to 
 death?//(you then can take off their clothes completely and effortlessly bend 
 their legs a-//...part to get rid quickly/of the pressure/before the  
 loudspeakers again/call for assembling.)//why don't you beat them to death?// 
 one only needs to look/accurately/then one knows.//farewell dr. wilhelm  
 reich/til next time in/germany."

 the reference to the great healer does, in the first place, refer to reich's 
 expulsion from germany. being not only a jew but also (back then)a marxist and 
 (back then) a psychoanalyst, he packed his things just in time. about when    
 "charakteranalyse" was for the first time thrown into the flames. recently 
 henry pointed out, that this wasn't the last time.    

 the poem's title and end also refer to reich's writing "the mass psychology of 
 fascism". skimming through the pages i now and then have to smile about the 
 notes i made when i was 20: "reich hat eine falsche auffassung von mystik" 
 (- nevertheless: somehow correct). here comes, as usual in m.o.p.a.t., a  
 passage on militarism and sexual repression (- in the kiepenheuer & witsch 
 edition from 1971 it's pp. 50f.; first edition 1933):

 "the sexual repression (...) creates in the structure of the human being a 
secondary power, an artificial interest, which supports the authoritarian order 
also actively. is namely sexuality through the process of sexual repression 
excluded of the naturally given ways of satisfaction, it walks on the paths of 
substitute satisfactions of various kinds. so, for instance, the natural 
aggression mounts into brutal sadism which builds an essential piece of the mass 
psychological base of that war, that is enacted by some very few out of 
imperialist interests. to give another example: the effect of militarism is, in 
terms of mass psychology, essentially based on a libidinous mechanism: the 
effect of the uniform [- hi frenesi!], the erotically instigating, since 
rhythmically perfected effect of the marches in review, the exhibitionistic 
character of the military attitude are, up to now, practically more clear to a 
house-maid or an average clerk than to our educated politicians. against that 
the political reaction makes consciously use of these sexual interests. it does 
not only create peacock-like equipped uniforms for the men, but lets the 
enlistment be done by attractive women. in the end i like to remind you of the 
advertisings of the belligerent powers, which go about like this: 'if you want 
to come to know foreign countries, then join the the king's navy!' and the 
foreign countries are represented by exotic women. and why are these 
advertisings effectful? because our youth, through the sexual repression, has 
developed a sexual hunger.
as well the sexual morals, obstructing the will to freedom, as also those powers 
come to meet the authoritarian interests get their energy out of the repressed 
sexuality. the basic item in the process of the 'repercussion of ideology to 
the economic base' we now understand better: t h e   s e x u a l
o b s t r u c t i o n    c h a n g e s   t h e   e c o n o m i c a l l y    
s u r p r e s s e d   h u m a n   b e i n g   s t r u c t u r a l l y   i n     
s u ch   a   w a y   t h a t   (s) h e   a c t s,  f e e l s,  a n d 
t h i n k s   a g a i n s t   h i s/h e r   o w n   m a t e r i a l             
i n t e r e s t s." 


 put that dick behind your ear, the police is coming! kfl