Erich Fromm Interview Excerpt

[Lightemerging]

Amazing amazing! Love him!

[fabrice919]

Amo Erich Fromm e amo il suo libro comprato oggi "avere o essere?". Complimenti. Grande uomo

[07Aristotle]

@alphagammadelta2 Dies ist in Englisch geführt? Was sprichst du?

Sie sind richtig Sigumund Frued und Karl Max nicht hier auftauchen.

[seigneurvoland666]

lmao @ the interviewers crown @ 6:18

[Paseosinperro]

please, im putting spanish subtitles, what he says between 0:06 and 0:12

Thanks

[tdacosta]

@Paseosinperro - I believe the narrator says: "The deuce airs of Switzerland have proved agreeable to bourgeois and revolutionary alike"

[Paseosinperro]

@tdacosta thanks!! for me it was imposible to understand :)

[Paseosinperro]

@tdacosta BTW deuce airs ??? whats that?

[tdacosta]

@Paseosinperro - I meant to write "dulce"... I think maybe he means "the sweet air" as Locarno is a very nice place with clean air and a clean atmosphere. But that's an educated guess.

[tdacosta]

@Paseosinperro - Or maybe he meant to be using the French term "douce" which also means "sweet"

[Paseosinperro]

@tdacosta mmmm...im not sure, may be i can cut this ( perhaps unnecessary) introduction, I have problems to understand that man.

Thanks!

[tdacosta]

@Paseosinperro - no problem - it was a bit of a tongue twister. Thanks for doing Spanish translations. all the best.

[websurfin2010]

@Paseosinperro The douce airs: the gentle airs. Douce: gentle, in French. Los plácidos aires, podrías decir en español.

[classifieds103]

Erich Fromm's ideas were introduced to me by a friend. Even though he was speaking in very generalized, "barely scratching the surface" condensed manner, those ideas still managed to eradicate whatever complacency I had with the current state of my life and society. So I went ahead and borrowed one book, and before i knew it more questions were answering questions, but im getting closer. Thank you Erich Fromm. A genius indeed!

[Underground906]

'Marxism does NOT presuppose an "only one way is right" solution- that's religious thinking and totalitarian psychology.'

Of course it does. The historically antagonized is all always virtuous in Marxism.(it's why feminists support the Burkha as Muslims are todays virtuous victim group). He drew the battle lines. One group virtuous. The other group the enemy. Bloodsuckers. Vampires in his words. No room for nature in his thinking, only nature (a falsehood). It's secular religious mythology.

[Underground906]

it wasn't communism? Because you and othersthink that you can keep shifitng the defintions to fit what you idea of it is.

'' humanist and enlightenment values of Marx and the broader goals of liberty, equality, and fraternity.''

I think Marxism has far broader definitions than the white washed, rose tinted spectacles treatment you've reduced it too. He was hateful, particular towards Jews, Slavs. Captialists "parasites." "Vampires," "bloodsuckers. Heteful, divisive, ideology more like..

[branko1408]

Is it Bryan Magee?

[reziztanze]

...Another one of the Frankfurt School Conspirators out to destroy Western Civilisation.

[mikezephyr]

Not so much to destroy it as to diagnose it's own self-destruction.

Our old pal Nietzsche was on to that well before these guys: the age of nihilism and the last man.

[cpistilli2]

capitalism is evil?....wtf....individualism is very much alive.....i like to think that cannibalism is an example of it in the survival instincts. ...example....if your communist utopia doesn't work out , i will be forced to eat you.....to be or to be eaten.....thats the question.....

[thesparitan]

brillant man

[1Marylu]

I am reading one of his book ( the art of loving ) and enjoying it very much. I think what he is saying is absolutely true. His soul be in peace.

[orbis2009]

He was so popular in my youth. And yet his psychotherapy, like that of the others analysts also, cured precious few. And they had the convenient escape by blaming the repression of their poor patients. It was all a Fraud basically. It attempted to reconcile people with their infidelities (more than merely the sexual ones) in life.

[1schwererziehbar1]

i read "to have or to be" in the german translation at 12.

it had a deep impact on me but only 10 years later would i learn that seizing to identify with possessions was only the beginning.

it's sad to see the comment section flooded with communists. i guess it's the fate of most intellectuals to be reduced to fodder for political ideologies.

[arzoyan]

Capitalism is the wage slavery of immense humanity in a politically manipulated MARKET SYSTEM of artificial scarcity and manipulation to perpetuate the conditions of servitude and exploitation of the working people in the interest of the owning/ruling elite. Capitalism is historically outdated,dangerous destructive ,dehumanising and devaluing all and everything in its insatiable,nomadic rampaging of profit . Capitalism is evil

[guzsaj]

what's that thing on the head of the interviewer?

[medusalvr1968]

thank you for posting this.

[bhumimanusha]

does anybody realize the book 'cosmic consciousness' on the shelf? i think that's an omen

[bhumimanusha]

does anybody realize the book titled cosmic consciousness in his shelf

[wildnites558]

I love all the neo-Marxists here trashing capitalism like it's on it's way out. Keep dreaming and keep reading your neo-Marxist diatribes. You wouldn't have an internet, or a computer or maybe even a house to put a computer in, or property put a house on without Capitalism. All the great modern innovations came from free, unfettered, market-based cultures. Even one of the Canadian premiers recently came here to the US for heart surgery because even he didn't trust the Canadian system.

[gotsymustopha]

@wildnites558

Well wasn't well for him he could pay for it.

Capital is death, labour is life.

[Diosibundo]

@wildnites558

You do realize that we DONT have a free market system, right? Computers and the internet were created by the "bad government" then handed over to corporations.

Were you not paying attention during the 2009 bailouts? The savings and loans bailouts? The Reagan years (Pentagon spending and Fed insured credit spending)?

The "Free Market" you're talking about is just ideology, you shouldn't fall for it.

[wildnites558]

@Diosibundo You do realize your post is so childish it took me a week to stop laughing. The fact is we (right now) have a mixed economy with (right now) the freedom to invest in markets. This evil socialist in the white house is hoping to abolish most or all free trade and have whatever is left completely controled by his big wasteful federal government. He will be stopped cold this November.

[Diosibundo]

@wildnites558

Glad I could make you laugh... for a week even!

Seriously, "socialist in the white house"?.

It's very hard to talk to you guys, this crazy Free Market ideology makes you about as hard to talk to as Scientologists.

[wildnites558]

@Diosibundo Furthermore, all great innovations come from the private, freemarket. The "bad,evil U.S. Army"(DARPA) is actually one of the innovators that created what we know as the internet today. But Leonard Kleinrock was working on "basement projects" in his home and at UCLA to develop the concept of "packet switching" long before he was contacted by "the evil U.S. Army", so was Lawrence Roberts. Innovation starts privately.

[wildnites558]

@Diosibundo Total b.s. that Computers were created by government. Today's PCs and MACs were created by guys working privately with small personal budgets in their garages and basements--- Wozniak and Jobs. Please don't tell silly fibs when their is copius factual information that exists on the internet. You want to see a society completely controlled by government, go see Cuba, where people are "rushed" to Emergency by mule ride

[Diosibundo]

@wildnites558

I HAVE been to Cuba, you dope. It's a society at war operating under a US blockade for no reason for 50 years, that'll fuck up ANY economy.

Computers were developed Waaaaaaaaay before Mac & PC in the PENTAGON and MIT research, then handed over to private industry starting in the 60s.

[thesparitan]

@Diosibundo correct

[Diosibundo]

@thesparitan

Have you read any of Fromm's books? He really is great.

I recommend Escape from Freedom

[kentromols]

!!!

[editoresLyrsa]

Fromm tiene férreos seguidores y encarnizados detractores, pero para conocer mejor su pensamiento, el conejito

Playboy sostuvo un mano a mano en cuanto al placer de vivir se refiere.

Visita la página de Playboy México para leer más sobre éste encuentro

[editoresLyrsa]

Fromm tiene férreos seguidores y encarnizados detractores, pero para conocer mejor su pensamiento, el conejito

Playboy sostuvo un mano a mano en cuanto al placer de vivir se refiere.

Visita la página de Playboy México para leer más sobre éste encuentro

[adamscott]

Because if I am what I have then the more I have the more I am

[adamscott]

I've just started reading To have or to be? As one of his final books, it seems to be a nice culmination of all his ideas and pertinently touching on his key concept of Buddhist related detachment from external desire.

[chaimke7]

I read about his books whilst training for social work in a book by Dr Raynor Funk, there it describes the basis of Frommes ideas was chasidism, from the writings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi a book called Tanya. which can be described as the first Kabalah for the leyman written more than 200 years ago and is the Basis of the 'Chabad' movement. It seems that is where Fromme is coming from and is going too, peace on his soul.

[adamscott]

One of my favourite books is The Art of Being. Notably there is a depiction of Lazarus on the front cover and you realize that the intended result of his book(s) is a spiritual resurrection. Very poignant actually when it ocurred to me.

[adamscott]

Capitalism is based unconciously on man's mutual hostility

[wda013]

@adamscott

> Capitalism is based unconciously on man's mutual hostility

I'd rather say: (our) (now global+total) capital-fa$c-ism --often quite deliberately!-- nourishes and increases hostility

[bellinivernon]

Exelente !

[BeGoUu1972]

Fromm's great! He's really awesome. I have read him and I really like his books...

[obaidCarkey]

@BeGoUu1972

fuck the fromm and fuck the awesome!

[LuvLuckLife]

@BeGoUu1972 Yes, he gives amazing bundle of ideas worth spreading!

[iankyoko]

I haven't read any book more to the point than 'The Sane Society''. He examines the question 'Are we sane?' His conclusion is no.

[ZurDruid]

un capo.

[andiiee2432]

here are some of fromm books I begun to read him in 1970 and still I do.

Greatness and Limitation of Freud's Thought (1979)

On Disobedience and other essays (1984)

The Art of Being (1993)

The Art of Listening (1994)

On Being Human (1997)

[andiiee2432]

You Shall Be as Gods: a radical interpretation of the Old Testament and its tradition (1966)

The Revolution of Hope, toward a humanized technology (1968)

The Nature of Man (1968)

The Crisis of Psychoanalysis (1970)

Social character in a Mexican village; a sociopsychoanalytic study (Fromm & Maccoby) (1970)

The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (1973)

To Have or to Be? (1976)

[andiiee2432]

Sigmund Freud's mission; an analysis of his personality and influence (1959)

Psychoanalysis and Zen Buddhism (1960)

May Man Prevail? An inquiry into the facts and fictions of foreign policy (1961)

Marx's Concept of Man (1961)

Beyond the Chains of Illusion: my encounter with Marx and Freud (1962)

The Dogma of Christ and Other Essays on Religion, Psychology and Culture (1963)

The Heart of Man, its genius for good and evil (1964)

Socialist Humanism (1965)

[andiiee2432]

here are some of fromm's books. my three favorites: the art of loving, you shall be as gods and fear of freedom.

Escape from Freedom (US), The Fear of Freedom (UK) (1941)

Man for himself, an inquiry into the psychology of ethics (1947)

Psychoanalysis and Religion (1950)

Forgotten language; an introduction to the understanding of dreams, fairy tales, and myths (1951)

The Sane Society (1955)

The Art of Loving (1956)

[Arismeta]

'Not I, not I, but the wind that blows though me! A fine wind is blowing the new direction of time...What is that knocking? What is that knocking at the door in the night? It's somebody wants to do us harm...No, no, it is the three strange angels...admit them...admit them....'

[lapwiz]

I rest my case.

[Rovybrook]

Whoever you talked to got removed from youtube, it seems. Either that, or you've had one hell of a monologue ;D

[lapwiz]

Yes, without the little fascists comments does seem as if I went on a rant. He most likely deleted his account out of shame for posting the usual neo con propaganda regurgitated by the fox channel.

[lapwiz]

when did you immigrate to the US from some eastern-european ex-USSR colony?

You sure are not American, judging by that dialect you're speaking.

I'd say you're Czech, lithuanian maybe Albanian. Anyone referencing the federalist papers has to be a new comer high on the American dream.

Brainwashed there, brainwashed here....

[lapwiz]

Does the tin foilf hat improves the reception on your cell phone?

Try some grammar lessons, you ignorant, crypto fascist slut!

It is obvious who's the cluless peddler of dead ideas here.

PS: Democracy is an utopic idea and freedom in the context you use, has no meaning. You don't even understand the meaning or the necessity of utopic theory.

You lack the academic background to discuss theory. Mike is kicking your ass with pure reason and common sense. Your Gin mill BS only work on drunks.

[lapwiz]

I'm sure you speak from personal experience.

[lapwiz]

And you're "Special".

[lapwiz]

Sure, Canadians and Europeans can really use a lecture on how to run their societies from an angry, anarcho-free-market-zealot like you. Whatta great model you have to offer for polical and economic organization, eh?

Societies like yours will sink with your BALLS, guns and money.

Wait a minute, minutemen, it already did!

PS: What else can you expect from objectivists and Ron Paul sheepos that read Ayn Rand then go around the web smacking eloquent?

Go watch Alex Jones in your bunker!

[reforest4fertility]

wow, this person's not only intelligent, but with it too. Good on you!

[lapwiz]

People like you distorted FN to justify genocide.

Now, you distort the Enlightenment to justify American emperialism. No wonder, you take philosophy lessons from Rush Limbaugh and revisionist hisotry from your local unorganized mitlitia men.

tsk.tsk.

[lapwiz]

Sure, like Socrates, right.

Kill all free thinkers, eh?

The only religious fanatics you're for are fundamentalist christians, eh?

Watta douchbag!

[lapwiz]

Okay, McVeigh!

Watch out, the pinko lesbos are coming to getcha!

Watta fucking retard!

[lapwiz]

Lol, angry litle midget.

Fuck you and the federalist papers, you fascist, nazi bastard.

[lapwiz]

Could you curb your uncontrolable urges to display your abysmally low IQ?

Your arrogance is only overshadowed by your enormous ignorance.

[FuckUtube2008]

is eric fromm jewish?

[surfscab]

A very relevant video considering what capitalism without socialism has done to America !

[WiseFlow28]

A great teacher!

[mikezephyr]

"socialism is the ideology of niggers" could only come from an undereducated poor white american that will fight for the rich to stay poor, dumb and powerless.

all you amount to is being a fucking brainless slave impervious to rational debate.

[lapwiz]

His not American. He's an economic refugee from some part of the fomer soviet union. Most likely a sattelite state that was ruled by the Kremlin's psuedo-comunist state.

They're coming in droves to the US in the past few years, the new vanguard of the ultra-con cold war survivors.

[EusebioPharezZerah]

@mikezephyr Not only you make no sense, but you have made everyone stupid by posting your idiotic comment...!!!

[dantean]

@mikezephyr You're better off not squandering emotional and intellectual energy on the two-toothed gas station attendants of this world, angrily making up lists of whose responsible for the fact that they are living in their mom's garage "apartments" and can't seem to get past the $2.50/hour job level in life. I can only guess that the guy you've replied to includes among those responsible for his being a loser: Jews, the Media, some rapper he once heard, etc...

[mikezephyr]

and what, you a defender of the rich and powerful- maintaining your illusions for a comfortable illusions- are strong and not sickly?

[mikezephyr]

recognize that this is not a rational, cogent argument and stooping to insults, ad hominens and crass nationalism betrays you base ignorance.

[mikezephyr]

Fromm is not the proponent of "collective" and "communitarian" ideologies. these terms are purely propagandistic falsehoods found in America that obfuscate the primary concern of all socialists: a healthy society in which the free development of each is the necessary condition for the free development of all.

Fromm is NOT antiquated- the Federalist papers are: they represent the myths of the US ruling class declaring liberty and equality for all as SLAVE OWNERS! Hypocritical and oppresive.

[Tris10]

sigh...(-the cold war is over), sure capitalism/democracy and the social contact can garuuntee "freedom"...but this paves the way for the automaton and conforimty within that system, which is what fromm was getting at...where did he once in this video advocate revolution, or some type of commitarian principles? Not once.

Fomm is interested in social pyschocology.

The cold war ended long ago, so please stop looking at the world through that prisim.

Although i feel this will be hard for you.

[soyuz27]

You think big business (which is what it all becomes because they actually hate competition) really cares about individual liberty? Wow, take a look around you! Agree, 'bolshevik' terror always was dead end, but all theory on this subject is normative as most ppl cannot think this way yet. We either start to grow up or face oblivion. US can think what they want, money now moved to China. Theory is wallpaper only.

[lapwiz]

I'd add that Lenin was a right-wing diversion in the soviet experience. All leftist marxists opposed Lenin in cluding Trotsky up until 1917, when he went along with it. Lenin thought until his death that a socialist proletarian revolution could not take place in Russia, but in the most advanced capitalist sytems of the west, namely Germany. By 1917 the revolution was a complete failure and turned into state run capitalism, despite the propaganda to benefit from the prestige of Marxist thought.

[bluntman007]

Very good point, though not quite correct nor original, and here I mean that Chomsky says the same thing. You repeat the same mistake by saying that Germany was the most advanced capitalist country at that time. U.S. was by far the most advanced country, and closely followed by England (not GB). That is, if you look at the totality and not just the abstract of the capitalist system.

[DasAufbegehren]

mennea,

individualism plus capitalism guarantees terror and sadness.

Collective ideology, for example the ideology of happiness as a lifeaim, can be good and not desastrous.

Fromm ist nicht antiquarisch, sondern erschreckend aktuell. Mehr noch als zu Zeiten des Interviews selbst.

[mikezephyr]

the idea that there is any healthy and genuine sense of "individualism" and individuality in late-capitalism is profoundly wrong.

capitalist mass production engenders mass society, mass alienation, mass insanity.

consumerism, advertisement, industry, urbanization: all of these factors dehumanize and deindividualize. capitalism produces herd-animals: sick and pathological automatons that work, buy, consume, die and not create, live, think.

[classicallady]

mikezephyr BRILLIANT!! Kudos to you

[philosopher2king]

@mikezephyr

Capitalism is the free exchange of goods. It is not an ethical or political system, it is all about choice. You can either buy into it or not. It is not a perfect system but it has proven to be the best one we've come up with.

Case in point: I grew up during the '70s and '80s and always heard famines in India and China, something you don't hear about anymore. What changed that? Freer markets. Capitalism is a buffet; you can use it to feed well or to get fat = choice.

[mikezephyr]

Capitalism sure has ethical and political preassumptions and outlooks- you can't be neutral on owning private property or not: you either believe it is better for human society to have a minority owning class and a majority working one, or not.

you are speaking to the dynamic productivity and efficiency of capitalism, and I can't disagree with you. But it's destructive, alienating, dehumanizing, and deindividualizing elements are the byproducts, and they're bad. Choice? Prefab ideas more like.

[philosopher2king]

@mikezephy

Again, I disagree, Mike. Capitalism doesn't presume a small "owning" class. What it presumes is that those better at it will accumulate more but it works best when there's a well-off middle class. I should say I am in favor of regulation.

As far as dehumanizing and alienating; think communism and harder forms of socialism where many people have more control over your choices. Ask the Russians, Chinese and even Brits.

BTW, nice response to the ignoramus who used the racial slur :)

[mikezephyr]

Ownership is essential to capitalism and private property. Hence, there are groups that own the means of production (factories etc).

Thanks pal, I just feel we're disagreeing about very different words we hold dear.

Look, I'm no fan of the USSR- ain't free to me. Having others control how you live is the problem to be solved.

And check out this article about the realities on class in America:

"The sickening truth about wealth disparity in America" on "Dangerous Minds" website.

[mikezephyr]

The scope and genuineness of the choices for the member of capitalism is in fact limited by the owners of the society: the real decision making powers are concentrated in the hands of a few- not the people. The owning and controlling bodies of the corporate, governmental, military, and media organs of the US, for example, rather than the millions of workers of those said organs, are privy to directing the flow of money, energy, arms, power, and influence. Take what happened with BP, or Iraq.

[mikezephyr]

Americans have the choice of electing their masters who for the next four years act as their position demands,

they have the choice to die from hypertension or lung cancer,

have the choice to sell their labor for 'owner a' or 'owner b'- do you understand?

[philosopher2king]

@mikezephyr

No, I don't. I'm sure people under different economic systems don't die from lung cancer or suffer from hypertension. ; )

Yours is a discourse I've been hearing since I was little and it makes no sense to me because I've lived under several different political and economic systems. I've seen the other side of the coin and it isn't any prettier. In fact, it is uglier.

Cheers!

[philosopher2king]

@mikezephyr

Wordy but I get your point. However, don't mistake capitalism for the corporatism that this country has fallen into. Two very different things and bear in mind, corporate favoritism happens in EVERY type of economy and it is actually harder to eradicate under other types of economic systems. I ought to know.

[philosopher2king]

@mikezephyr

Wordy response but, OK. You are confusing capitalism for the corporatism this country has fallen into. Those are not sins of capitalism but of corruption. bear in mind, corporate favoritism and corruption happens and flourishes under EVERY economic system. In fact, it is easier to eradicate under capitalism because of choice. Hate Gap? Boycott it. Dislike fast food? Don't buy it. Hate big banks? Save in a community bank (or don't bank at all).

[mikezephyr]

The freedom of choice in a capitalist system is to be questioned.

How free is the worker- you and me- if they are forced to enter the workforce- and in turn contribute the wealth of others than ourselves- by pain of poverty, starvation, and death? If you don't sell yourself, you don't pay rent, you don't eat: it's as simple as that. And why is that?

What are the historical and political reasons for this? And more importantly what are the possibilities, and alternatives?

[jruizdemena]

@mikezephyr whats wrong in doing what you want (if you dont hurt anyone)? why the other, the group, is more important than you? as i see is equally important. Is not capitalism, which only means economic freedom (and freedom is good), the problem is what men do with that freedom. So, is a men problm. Is men who is corrupted, not the system. Socialism means to give up freedom based on the idea that men are not capable of being free. Why dont we try to discover why we are unable to be free?

[jruizdemena]

@mikezephyr part 2: Having said that i find very interesting this distintion between to have and to be.

I also critizise excess of consumerism, insane advertisement, mass alienation...which is TO LIVE IN THE HAVING MODE. But we have the possibility, and the responsability, to change that in ourselves. Change the system, and restict freedom with that, is not to help us with these problems

[Underground906]

@mikezephyr Ridiculous series of statements. There is just individuality as we a fortunate enough to have it at least here in the West. From that individual freedom stems the ugly aspects of capitalism along with it's many triumpths. How about looking at the world around you properly instead of through a tired ideological lens? You're a communist, and spare me the semantic chicanery, and totally ignore the fact that with all it's problems communist countries as a rule have been/are far worse.

[mikezephyr]

I actually appreciate this, and although I am committed to 'communism', that does not mean I support Stalinism or the Soviet experiment- which in all significant ways, deviates from any attachment to the humanist and enlightenment values of Marx and the broader goals of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Now, I am not giving you chicanery I think- and I can argue in length, as can Fromm and numerous other socialists/communists- when I say the imperial USSR was not, in fact, communist.

[mikezephyr]

The argument is this: it turns out to be that capitalism's "new man" is no different from fascism's or communism's "new man"- all of them are emptied of individuality as all the subjects in those regimes follow the basic fact that in broad areas, the same thing is offered to everybody by the standardized production and consumption of goods- over which we have no individual control over. That's Marx's definition of "alienation" and Nietzsche's "nihilism"- both terms for the modern phenomenon.

[Underground906]

@mikezephyr Thumbed up by mistake. That's not an argument. That's an assertion, or a series of them. To look around you now in this day and age, and see modern society on a par with fascism or communism is simply your perception of the world tied in with a few theories and philosophies. Objectively they are completely wrong of course. They are not equivalent. This kind of black and white thinking is the hall mark of Marx. No inbetween, No nuances. it's for dyed in the romantics. Pure utopianism

[mikezephyr]

Dude, you either provide a counter-argument or not. Childishly voting up or voting down comments is not rational, but a popularity contest.

Your terms "utopianism" and "romanticism" are ad hominen fallacies. Call me what you will, but my argument holds:

go to any mall in any town in North America at this time of the year and you'll understand what I mean.

modern society has disintegrated the individual and has disintegrated the community- this is true in both fascism, communism, capitalism.

[Underground906]

@mikezephyr I meant to press reply but hit the thumbs up. I wanted to point that out so you ddn't think someone thumbed you up and I have to deal with any more arrogance than was necessary. Leftism is rife with that anyway. I'll just point out you'r a zealous ideologue prone to the same absolutism and utopism . For example. ''Modern society has disintegrated a lot of people/communities'' becomes 'modern society has disintegrated the individual /communities.' It's just typical dialectic Marxism

[mikezephyr]

Just because it's typical dialectical Marxism does not make it false. A level of analysis, scientific study, belief, myth can be shared by many people, and still be true.

[Underground906]

@mikezephyr Why don't you step into the real world my friend? Be a real person. Forget your thoroughly debunked ideology. I said it was wrong because what you said was not a factual statement. It was an absolutist, totalitarian one that's ultimately untrue although there is some truth there. Dialectic reasoning (which Marxism philosophy is) always supposes absolute opposition, only 1 is 'right'. It lead to mass slaughter and countless insufferable leftist ideologues. Why do you need a doctrine?

[mikezephyr]

Whatever, I'll inform you with the basics:

Hegelianism and Marxism does NOT presuppose an "only one way is right" solution- that's religious thinking and totalitarian psychology, the opposites of atheist, humanist, and socialist practice.

The basics of dialectics: thesis a); antithesis b); and synthesis c).

a) + b) = c). the contradictions and inadequacies of a certain mode of being produce a higher resolution combining and canceling the previous opposites- & it can go on forever or not.

[Underground906]

@mikezephyr What a cretin. As if you had ever considered the dialectic basis before I made you have to research it. I had a hunch you checked for dictionary definitions (don't ask me why I'd think you were previous uninformed). What do I find? You cherry picked that definition out of the 5-6 available and now you act like you're feeling me in. You could have picked this one ''the dialectical tension or opposition between two interacting forces or elements'' but it didn't fit your case.

[Underground906]

@mikezephyr You do what all people like you do, they look around the world and see it how they want to, not how it is. Marxs was a bad philopsher. Instead of giving a proper thesis/anti-thesis then seeking a synthesis of those 2, he simply called for a overthrow of one over the other. Victim/Opresser. Never deviated beyond that absolutism. It's mythology. You cling to Marxism, because you think it makes you an intellectual. When in fact you can't think for your self and are a complete pratt.

[mikezephyr]

cool story bro!

[classifieds103]

@mikezephyr I'm not a philosopher, nor am i a political theorist (or a pundit in any of those fields), but I find myself taking an Ayn Rand stance against socialism. Yes, modern capitalism perpetuates everything you just said (basically consumerism), but what has/will communism perpetuate(d)? Even Fromm, in the Art of Loving, agrees that these are concepts from which an individual can move freely in so long as they make a distinction between themselves and societal frameworks.

[behaviorizm101]

@classifieds103

Please watch the Fromm interviews by Wallace. Fromm explains socialism to be separate from capitalism at the government level; this is not what socialist nations of today practice. Socialism should not be the money-maker for the government. Socialism does not allow for rich politicians and lawmakers made wealthy by the taxes of the people. Since when did government, whether democratic or any other, become a high-paying occupation? Where has true democracy gone?

[lwoz09]

i just wanted to thank you for posting this interview.. it helped me so much with my research paper on fromm and i feel like i really understood what i was writing about!

thanks again!!

[wahnano]

My choice is to have and to be in the same time cause if you don't have the crowd will smoother you.

Having to be kind of philosophy if you got my grip ;)

[StLennyBruce]

"To Have and To Be published this week!"---awesome video!

Thank You!

[shadowlands1]

Very interesting vid,thank you.I believe the interviewer is Cliff Michelmore.He is still alive,88 years old

[zhxtc]

Was fuer einen grossartigen Meister!

[hebaelshrif]

i want to know how to download this video

[zhxtc]

you may use VideoGet

[0kreshnik]

Everyone should read "Beyond the chains of illusion: My encounter with Marx and Freud" and understand what Marx was talking about, it really clears things up.

[MarxBakuninMe]

I'm reading that right now.  Great stuff so far. It's the first book of his I've read; any suggestions as to what to read next?

[chasteh]

escape from(m) freedom and the art of loving

he applies his philosophy to the type of character that is subordinate or superior to others, that is, the sado-masochistic character (which, for him, is based on a lack of fulfillment in the persons character-which must be made up for by being subordinate to another either romantically, politically, or socially)

[chrisvet1]

problem with his love of marx is it is only attainable by imprisoning the population.

[slh950]

A very underrated figure not just in psychology but academia generally!

Fromm proposed 5 human 'needs'; does anyone reading this know if these needs came before or after Maslow's?

Or if they were arranged sequentally?

[pataphysician66]

I remember people were reading his books in the late 60's- early 70's. He makes perfect sense.

[buzderan]

there is a book behind him (cosimc consciousnes;)

[takeitbutdonttakeit]

Fantastic interview

I am struck by his peace and calm, that you see only on those who are truly enlightened.. he seems to be not only a genius but a very kind man!

[white2green]

[add]Fromm said most people in this world live false lives in this book.

and i guess so.

I wait your comments about my question ↓

[white2green]

Hi, everyone.

i read "Escape from Freedom". it's amazing!

i think he knows the truth of human life.

how do u think ?

& There r some differences between children and adult people.

Children live voluntarily.(For them, it's natural act.)

On the other hand, as growing up, we think what we should do, and can live voluntarily.

My question is whether most people in this world really ignore this fact ??

they live false lives ??

how do u think ?? (i guess so.)

[jncdrama2393]

great interview,

i would just like to say thank you very much for this. I am a high school student, I am 15 years old. I am writing a very interesting essay on codependancy and identity, this video helped me very much and i was acutally able to quote a couple of lines from it. I just wanted to let you know that videos like these are what youtube was really ment for and it is these videos are still helping to inform our youth

[conflagrated]

"perhaps the most lucid mind of the 20th Century."

very well said. i have read several of his books and i love him and his theories and insights. he has truly made me a better person, helped me understand the world better.

[redflags123]

To me Erich Fromm was perhaps the most lucid mind of the 20th Century.

[sbor2020]

Wonderful interview. I love his Fear of Freedom, To Be & To Have and Sane Society. Although a reformist in outlook, compared to revolutionary Wilhelm Reich, Fromm has been a big influence. Like another favourite - A.S. Neill - he is like a wise old sage who sits you down and says "this is how it is ..."

[infowarrior420]

If you loose what you have, your living on the streets and you can't eat. you might not be. Have you ever considered that? If your older 50 try starting over and getting a new job with no possessions. people need to eat, all over the place. Its thinking like this that makes the world what it is. This guy never went a day without a meal. How do you ever expect to break away spiritually if all you are is a slave to a system that creates debt out of nothing.

[rickysouth1]

you sound like a prisoner of fear and have a lack of faith in mankind. what u say his true untill you stop beliving it. what u own will take ownership over you. u become a slave to these things. the question might be can u have and not identify yourself with it as you.

[ogzz00]

I believe you're making a good point; we have to attend to our basic needs, and when they are threatened, our way of being tends to descend to a more basic level of survival in adaptation to our situation.

[ogzz00]

(cont.)

Fromm's point, rephrased by ricky as "what you own will take ownership over you", and your own, which I could write as "what you need but don't own will take ownership over your", both seem realistic. Together, they point to a middle way of attending to our material needs without losing ourselves to them.

[genesimmons1a]

you simply did not get the point. you should read the book he's talking about.

[Catering2]

Actually, Fromm writes the most strongest and honest critic of modern postcapitalism zeitgeist. The webbing of different ideas like from Marx, Freud, Spinoza, Rousseau makes the ideas so unique and powerful. I am strongly influenced and moved by the ideas.

[Catering2]

I've read two years ago, when I was 17 years old, "Anatomy of human destructiveness". It is such a genius analyzing. I think he is underrated, because if people would be aware of him, they must have had changed their attitudes and their whole system of value.

[pocholotime]

I totally agree with poliferboy. i have studied a couple of fromm's books such as

" heart of man " i assure you that this Sr. has really understood life´s enigmas.

pleae do read his books.

[lawlertron]

The first book of any substance I ever read was "To Have or to Be" at the tender age of 12. What a challenge it was for a 12 year old with all of its high level vocabulary and alien ideas. But it has shaped my thinking and been a critical part of my intellectual development hence and I am thankful for it.

Thank you for the video.

[tdacosta]

Absolutely. My pleasure to share. I will try to post the whole interview in the weeks to come.

[sltr1]

This guy is really underrated - why is he not well known?

[jroblee]

I've always thought that he is underrated because he was easy to understand. This trait seems to frighten a majority of the intellectual community: they're afraid they'll lose their identity if clearly stated, well-reasoned ideas are included in the archives. I first was exposed to his work when I was digging through my sister's college books. Time may be good to him.

[pilferboy]

the use of the term "underrated" relies on an idea of rating, status, and comparison to references. expressions of a mind/soul of a person like Fromm cannot be compared to anything else and can never be under or over rated.

[pilferboy]

he is relatively contemporary.

i have much faith that his words will live for a very long time and 100 years from now... students of philosophy will associate him with other contemporary minds of our time along with the group of philosophers that we were introduced to(descartes, nietzsche, camus, confucius, socrates, and countless others).

[pilferboy]

much like the human expression of visual artists, philosophers are rarely appreciated as such during their lives. it's what makes both pursuits SO admirable. the conviction to dedicate one's life to an honest expression that does not rely on any idea of validation.

[pilferboy]

if nothing else... your deep appreciation and connection to Fromm makes it impossible to consider him "underrated". quality does not rely on quantity. love isn't born from some idea that other people feel the same love. the idea that others do not appreciate Fromm or are not easily exposed to him actually makes my connection to him that much more personal.

[adamscott]

I've just read ''The Art of Being'' and I look forward to reading his other works.

[mazyar]

Like all the others, I like to thank you deeply for sharing this short clip. Indeed, what Fromm has to say here is even more relevant to our crisis time.

Thanks again.

[justiceflow]

Before His Time!

[homer30]

I'm soo influenced by this man!!

[lickmynose]

I've read so many of his books and have never had the opportunity of hearing speak. Thank you.

[jodesai]

Thanks for posting this interview it is so important..Dr Fromm was so right about everything do you realize how actual he is... how about his Buddha statue and his cosmic consciousness book in the back . Bravo He must be re read .

[chaimke7]

yes he influenced Bhudists but he was influenced by Chasidim

[Ocadize]

Who is richer? The person that has more or the person that needs less?

[wiljaxon]

Excellent! What Erich Fromm had to say is ever more relevant in our time - especially here in the UK.

Thank you so much for posting this video, this is the first time I have seen the great man speak.

[KAI1097]

Thank You so much for posting!!! Erich Fromm is the Best!!!