I know that Wilhelm got it right
and this is what bonds us together –
not the fear of law or might,
nor a marriage’s life-long tether.

Sex should be open, frequent, free
as it is with bonobos –
we are the smart third chimpanzee,
let’s bring this nightmare to a close.

Clothes are just to keep us warm
or to protect us from the sun –
fig leaves were a metaphor
to explain the ban on having fun.

This was imposed by patriarchs
to control their women, children too,
so they’d know there’d be no backdoor larks
and who their wealth was going to.

The family means the household slaves
of rich men and of their successors –
to make sure that they’d behave
needed this and other measures.

Insecurity works best,
with shame and fear of isolation –
never mind the inner mess
of one’s stiff-lipped, well-bred nation.

Hypocrisy is fine of course
for those in charge of this charade –
just make damn sure the lesser sort
don’t rise and piss on your parade.

Thus puritans and sadists co-evolve
to oversee that sick regime,
while cops and soldiers can resolve
situations more extreme.

Repression is a dangerous thing,
we’ve seen the damage it can cause –
torturing and castrating
and always endless bloody wars.

It hasn’t always been like this
four millenia or so –
we’ve been here half a million years,
so there are other ways to go.

There never was a golden age
or Eden where we might return,
but to escape this stinking cage
means we have got to start to learn ..

.. how to share out equally
what’s required for decent life
and regain our liberty
yet co-exist here without strife.

This is where orgasms fit
into the structure of our world –
releasing tensions that are built
up in our social whirl.

So let’s go out and fuck or wank
without the bullshit about sin
and know there’s no-one else to thank
but the partner who may join in.

rs 4-7.2.16

Wilhelm Reich, psychoanalyst and student of Freud, published ‘The Function of the Orgasm’ in 1927. However wrong he may have been, the questions he raised remain to be answered.