Erich Fromm Interview Excerpt 4

Erich Fromm discusses different things, including the Having and being modes of orientation.

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People & Blogs

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• Erich
• Fromm
• psychology
• philosophy
• identity

[subscriber77]

What a great shame that it's spiritual cripples like Bush and not great human beings like Fromm that are elected to positions of power. Is there something in the constitution of people of the latter kind that keeps them from striving for power? Or is it their very philosophy that prohibits it?

[GoodMarilynManson]

Genius ... this and one of my heroes

[adamscott]

@modfather1965 Thanks I was trying to find who the author of that book is. 

[ismokereefer]

Fromm is brilliantly honest

[lukosius1221]

He is extremely clever, just very thoughtful, which I amdire a lot. And I am not saying that without having really listened and realized what he said. I hear a lot of people who use all the same words, and yet hardly say anything substantial, worth saying that would be significantly actual and important, but then there are somebody who go straight to the point and so deep and really grasp the essence of what really matters. And Erich is one of them. A great great man, agree with him a lot.

[modfather1965]

Notice the book just to the left of Fromm's head: "Cosmic Consciousness," by Richard Maurice Bucke. Fromm was a genius, a visionary, one who had made substantial progress toward enlightenment. Apparently, he valued Bucke's insights. Bucke's book is one man's account of what is possible when human beings transcend the boundaries which are so ubiquitously in place, keeping us separate from one another and thus so prone to objectification.

[kurtilein3]

@subscriber77

check out the global elders :) they seem to be the people you would like to see in positions of power, and now that they have formed this group as soon as people start listening to them they might become powerful. but the word influence would be more accurate i think, its a power of persuasion. the way this group is set up is also similar to an idea fromm mentioned earlier in the interview, they nominate new members.

[Diosibundo]

@subscriber77

Kind of.... but we have a system that self selects for people like Bush and Limbaugh and rejects people like Fromm. I think the entire system is kind of Soul Killing and crippling. It takes a great deal of effort to be self aware and decent in a system that trains you to care only about yourself.

[mach3tiger]

@subscriber77 if hitler could con the world into believeing that his intellegence is prodigious; well people are very stupid. they think theres nothing more natural than the having mode. it'd be futile.

[kamranii]

Television produced such programs? What went wrong? Perhaps I should read more Fromm to find out about the answer!

[adamscott]

Merry Christmas, let's learn to be rather then carry on with having