Intro to "Escape from Freedom" by Erich Fromm

First chapter on the way now!

Hey everyone!

I'm about to start reading Erich Fromm's "Escape from Freedom." I first heard about it through the Philosophize This! podcast, where Stephen West did an excellent overview of this book. I was intrigued by what I heard and decided to check out the source material.

Erich Fromm was a 20th century psychologist and philosopher who began his career in the 1920s in Europe, and had to leave Germany in the 1930s.

His thoughts on psychological and social precursors to Fascism are still relevant today, because many of the same conditions and factors that led to the Nazi takeover of the most democratic government in Europe of the time, seem to be in play in the United States a hundred years later. Even though this book was first published in 1941, the psychological and societal themes it describes are eerily similar to our current state of affairs.

I'm going to read from the book in half an hour increments, rather than by chapter as those can be pretty lengthy, and I think half an hour approach will make this book easier to digest. If you want to discuss anything from the readings, please leave a comment on the post.

If you subscribe to the paid podcast I will send you a copy of the book along with a note of heart-felt thanks for supporting my endeavor!