Archiv des Autors: AndreasPeglau

Über AndreasPeglau

1957 geboren in Berlin/ DDR, Dr. rer. medic., Diplom-Psychologe, Psychologischer Psychotherapeut und Psychoanalytiker in eigener Praxis.

People as puppets? How Marx and Engels suppressed the real psyche in their teaching, Part 5: What is „capital“?/ The animated monster

by Andreas Peglau

 

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What is „capital“?

Marx’s three-volume work of the same name does not provide a definition of the subject referred to in the title, but rather a multitude of sometimes contradictory statements on the subject. [1]
A small selection: Capital is what becomes of a value that is ‚exploited‘ and turns into ’surplus value‘.[2] „Every new capital enters the stage for the first time […] still as money, […] which is to be transformed into capital through certain processes.“[3] „Capital is money, capital is commodity.“[4] In the third volume of Capital, it then states:

„But capital is not a thing, but a specific social relation of production belonging to a specific historical social formation, which is represented by a thing. Capital is not the sum of the material and produced means of production. Capital is the means of production transformed into capital, which in themselves are as little capital as gold and silver are money in themselves. It is the means of production monopolised by a certain section of society, which have become independent of living labour and the conditions under which this labour is performed.“[5]

According to Marx, capital is therefore simultaneously surplus value, money, commodities, products and means of production. But he believes that it is nevertheless „not a thing“ – rather, it is a production relationship, and thus, in his understanding, an extremely comprehensive category that includes raw materials, means of production and human labour, as well as the processes that take place between them and the existing „conditions of activity“.[6] Weiterlesen →

People as puppets? How Marx and Engels suppressed the real psyche in their teaching, Part 6: Strange beings and „social laws of nature“

by Andreas Peglau

 

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Strange beings

In 1843, Marx wrote that „money“ had „deprived the whole world, humanity as well as nature, of its peculiar value,“ „this alien being dominates him, and he worships it.“[1]

In 1844, he attested that labour „produces itself and the worker as a commodity.“[2] In Capital, we then learned that „commodity“ „loves money,“[3] is „a very complicated thing […], full of metaphysical subtleties and theological quirks“ as well as internal communication possibilities. The commodity „canvas,“ for example, reveals „as soon as it comes into contact with another commodity, the skirt,“ „its thoughts in the language familiar only to it, the language of commodities.“[4] We hear that „value“ becomes „the subject [!] of a process, in which it […] changes its own size, […] exploits itself. […] It gives birth to living young or at least lays golden eggs,“ transforming itself into an „automatic subject.“[5]

Marx endowed the relations of production with the same power and vitality as capital by equating the two: „capital is“ a „relation of production belonging to a particular historical formation of society“.[6] He proceeded in the same way with the means of production („Capital is the means of production transformed into capital“)[7] and money: „Every new capital enters the stage for the first time […] still as money.“[8] Weiterlesen →

People as puppets? How Marx and Engels suppressed the real psyche in their teaching, Part 7: Doubtful pre- and review, wishful thinking

by Andreas Peglau

 

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Questionable foresight

Wikipedia tells us that there is no „precise, uniform and conclusive definition of the term“ natural law and that this word is used „in natural sciences and scientific theory to describe the regularity of natural phenomena that is independent of place and time and based on natural constants“. Because of the latter characteristics, natural laws allowed „observable events to be explained and predicted“.[1] However, many of the predictions made by Marx and Engels did not come true, especially with regard to political upheavals. Weiterlesen →

People as puppets? How Marx and Engels suppressed the real psyche in their teaching, Part 8: From Immanuel Kant to child labour

by Andreas Peglau

 

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Manufactured immaturity

In 1784, the 60-year-old philosopher Immanuel Kant published his essay Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment? Kant begins with a bang:

„Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without the guidance of another . This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in a lack of understanding, but in a lack of resolve and courage to use it without the guidance of another. Sapere aude! Have the courage to use your own understanding! is therefore the motto of enlightenment.“[1]

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People as puppets? How Marx and Engels suppressed the real psyche in their teaching, Part 9: Vulgar psychology, half-hearted mitigations and conclusion

by Andreas Peglau

 

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Vulgar psychology

In his 1933 book Massenpsychologie des Faschismus, Wilhelm Reich dealt with „vulgar Marxism“ – which he understood as the opposite of the teachings of Marx and Engels. According to Reich, vulgar Marxists „schematically separated social, mostly economic existence from existence itself,“[1] claimed that ideology and consciousness were „determined solely and directly by economic existence,“[2] and dismissed the study of drives, needs and mental processes as idealistic.

However, these accusations could also have been levelled at Marx and Engels in a milder form. They contradicted the idea that ideological processes were solely and directly determined by economics, albeit rarely. Although they viewed social existence in the context of „existence in general,“ they gave undue priority to economic existence. They did not deny the existence of psychological processes, but rather their real significance and momentum. Weiterlesen →

People as puppets? How Marx and Engels suppressed the real psyche in their teaching, Part 10: Alternative ways of thinking

by Andreas Peglau

 

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PART 2:

Alternative ways of thinking –

a suggestion for discussion

 

It is impossible to reconstruct what would have happened if Marx and Engels had set a different course around 1844, if they had taken the psyche into account in an appropriate manner. But I would at least like to run through some of their assumptions and see what happens when I confront them with what I consider to be sufficiently reliable knowledge today.
As I said at the beginning, I assume that we are born with the potential to be social, lovable, capable of love and in need of love, sociable, inquisitive and creative beings. This is not wishful thinking on my part, but has now been scientifically proven many times over.[1]
Perhaps others will pick up my threads and spin them further, in their own way, individually and self-confidently, in the spirit of Max Stirner and Kant’s motto: „Have the courage to use your own understanding!“ Weiterlesen →

About the English translations

Translations

I have translated some of my articles into English with the help of DeepL and I also make most of them available for download as pdf. They can be found in the „English section“.
Even if they are certainly not linguistically perfect and contain some translation errors: I hope to expand the circle of those who use and pass on this information.

„Seems to me the best you can do is your best.“
Jeff Lynn

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7. Oktober 1949: Vor 76 Jahren wurde die Deutsche Demokratische Republik gegründet.

Daran knüpfte sich die Erwartung, ein menschenwürdigeres System aufbauen zu können als den in der BRD beibehaltenen Kapitalismus. Auch wenn dieser Versuch nur zu Teilen erfolgreich war: Es ist dringend notwendig, ihn angemessen – das heißt fair aber kritisch – auszuwerten.
Denn eine solche Auseinandersetzung mit dem „realen Sozialismus“ verschafft uns die Basis, um Alternativen zum Kriegs-, Unterdrückungs- und Verelendungskurs der gegenwärtigen deutschen Regierung zu entwickeln.

Hier einige Beiträge, die zum (nochmaligen) Nachdenken über die DDR einladen:

 

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Heimatlos im eigenen Land

Deutschland feiert den Tag der Deutschen Einheit – doch was bedeutet diese Einheit wirklich? 36 Jahre nach dem Mauerfall ziehen viele eine ernüchternde Bilanz: Versprechen wurden gebrochen, Hoffnungen enttäuscht, ganze Biografien entwertet. Statt eines echten Zusammenwachsens stehen noch immer Vorurteile, wirtschaftliche Unterschiede und politische Gräben zwischen Ost und West.

  • War die Wiedervereinigung ein Erfolg oder ein groß angelegter Ausverkauf?
  • Wie wurden Menschen aus der DDR tatsächlich behandelt?
  • Und warum sind die Folgen bis heute in Politik und Gesellschaft spürbar?

Ein kritischer Blick auf ein Kapitel deutscher Geschichte, das offiziell als Erfolgsgeschichte erzählt wird – doch im Alltag vieler Menschen ganz anders aussieht.

Robert Stein im Gespräch mit Andreas Peglau (62 Minuten) am 7. Oktober 2025, dem 76. Gründungstag der DDR.

Über den Schwachsinn künstlicher „Intelligenz“ – am Beispiel einer Nicht-Auskunft zu Wilhelm Reichs „Massenpsychologie des Faschismus“

von Andreas Peglau

Wilhelm Reich hat 1933 seine „Massenpsychologie des Faschsmus“ auch als Tarnausgabe gestaltet, um sie ins faschistische Deutschland zu schmuggeln, ein damals vielfach angewendetes Verfahren.
Das Ergebnis sah so von außen aus:

Zu Beginn hieß es dort: „Mit starker Hand hat der Nationalsozialismus unter Gottes Führung Materialismus und Bolschewismus, Individualismus und Liberalismus, überhaupt alles undeutsche und unchristliche aus unserm öffentlichen Leben hinweggefegt.“
Sobald man umblätterte, sprang einem freilich ein erstaunlicher Umbruch der Botschaft ins Auge: Weiterlesen →