I found Escape from Freedom a fascinating read. Fromm examines freedom as a psychological problem occurring in a specific social and historical context. He posits that in the Western movement towards increased political, religious, and economic freedom, the destruction of outward forms of oppression have outpaced people’s psychological and material capacity to be free and independent. As a result, individuals are left feeling alienated and anxious. In order to gain a sense of belonging, they then abdicate their freedom in favor of submission to an external authority.

Fromm’s discussion of history and of the then-contemporary rise of Nazism is quite interesting. Even more interesting and provocative is his discussion of American society and what he calls “automaton conformity.” He raises difficult questions about whether humans can truly be free as long as we feel compelled to accept popular opinion and “common sense” ideas as our own, and our ability to think and act for ourselves is frustrated at so many turns. He ends the book by advocating for non-totalitarian socialism, a solution that seems naively overoptimistic in light of the problems he describes. In fact, I have a difficult time imagining what Fromm's idea of an authentic, internally free individual would be like. Fromm's prescription was a relatively small section of the book, and it did not detract from the rest for me. Overall, while I differ from Fromm’s ideological stance in several respects, many of his ideas here resonated deeply me. I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in the psychological aspects of authoritarianism ( )

Great Fromm, also read "the art of being" and "the art of loving" ( )

A barely comprehensible, and thinnly disguised, justification for tyranny and communism, one built upon fear of trying. Utter, utter nonsense. ( )