The Mike Wallace Interview: Erich Fromm (1958-05-25) Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst and social critic, talks to Wallace about society, materialism, relationships, government, religion, and happiness.
I am currently doing a masters in philosophy thanks to this man. A true humanist. You can feel his love for humanity in every sentence of every books that he has written.
Rajiv Malhotra on the "U-Turn" Theory: "Westerners appropriate Indic ideas through a process called the U-Turn. In its basic form the U-Turn Theory states that a member of the dominant Western culture first whole-heartedly learns the Indic tradition. He or she, for a variety of reasons, then repackages it and projects the knowledge gained from India from within his/her own culture. The next thing you know is that he/she claims these ideas were always an integral part of Western culture. Some, but not all, also start demonizing the source Indic traditions using a lot of pretexts, such as calling them "world negating" or accusing them of "human rights" abuses." "As an example, Malhotra examined on how Jung appropriated much from Indic thought - including key ideas of collective unconscious, archetypes, and synchronicity. Jung met Sanchi and visited the Ramakrishna Order in Calcutta, from the ideas of whom he built the ideas of the Collective Unconscious, but did the classical U-Turn from Indic thought and later claimed these thoughts as his own original ones. In all, Malhotra has done 50+ case studies of such U-Turns, and each has its own story as to why and how it was done. U-Turns have played an important role in shaping Western ideas, literature and popular culture; yet they are typically ignored in discussions on the history of ideas. The U-Turn Theory also explains that many Indians internalize the Western adaptations of Indian culture and re-import them into India: For instance, Tantric healing is more fashionable as "energy healing" or as reiki; yoga's return to India's Westernized middle class owes a lot to the West's adoption of it; and Western research on cognitive science and neuroscience includes yogis who are mere "subjects." In short: He never gave credit to where his "groundbreaking" findings came from.. Even short: An intellectual thief.
@@humanitywins7159Imagine if philosophers had to introduce their inspiration every time they mentioned an idea. That just would not be possible. More than that, intellectual property, especially in philosophy, doesn't work like copyright does. First, refer to the first thing I mentioned: people like Jung are just so well-read that if they had to talk about their sources, their books would just be long lists of authors and titles. Second, philosophers often achieve the same results in different ways: for example, Spinoza's ethical conclusions are often compared to Buddhism, but I highly doubt that Spinoza knew anything about eastern religions considering the time he was living in. the same thing goes for Stoicism and Buddhism. Even if Jung was inspired by Indic ideas, he had no obligation to credit them; his ideas of the collective unconscious and archetypes are so complicated that he likely drew from hundreds of sources for them anyway, with the Indic ones only being a part. Also, what specific parts of Indic philosophy resemble Jung for you?..
Mmmm, I'm not so sure. He was wrong about our sensitivity to consumerism vs. the threat of nuclear war - the 1960s, cold war, and cuban missile crisis tested that. The 1960s and the Vietnam war also were tantamount to the ability of people to experience counter culture and different ways of living... even within the borders of the U.S. All of this shortly after the bloodiest and most uncertain half-century ever recorded... I'm not sure I would have been open to the idea that socialism was the answer, especially after turning on the TV at night and hearing it on prime time on the one of three channels available. His analysis of socialism is also nice through rose colored glasses, but the reality is that socialism is, without any room for negotiation here PERIOD, the literal use of the state for the purpose of dissolving private property. There is no misapplication of the term here. You use the state to eventually result in a stateless utopia of freedom and community involvement and meaning. You know, Communism. I studied Marx for years in college and still have those texts in addition to Escape From Freedom and The Sane Society, among others. His criticism hits hard and is meaningful and still relevant. His solution is brutally, misguidedly, ignorantly (especially concerning the events to follow shortly after this very interview in the world stage), incorrect... to say the least.
I love the varying demeanor here. The interviewer who is perplexed yet intrigued so responds with aggressive inquisitiveness and Dr. Fromm, so firm and confident in his convictions, remains calm and descriptive and concise the whole time. RESPECT.
Dr. Fromm's keen observational knowledge manifests itself in his level, pointed demeanor. His accurate take on the state of humanity, which rings more true even today, demands our attention and respect.
1) We are afraid to be intimate with people. Superficial friendliness. 2) There is political lethargy. 3) One cannot fall in love. One has to be in love. Loving and the ability to love becomes one of the most important things to life. Love is not easy. Love is postulated as one of the greatest accomplishment. 4) We must make a decision of values. 5) We have separated our intellect and emotion. Our emotional life has become very impoverished.
If you're serious, imma scream, if you're a troll, imma scream even harder. But I guess this means that "this is what a real interview looks like." Ha, Jews 1, you 0, because the burden of proof is on you pal.
I have an extensive library of Dr. Fromm’s books, including very good studies, and his writings etc. are so extensive and especially relevant in today very troubling time. He was a good friend to D. Z. Susuki. Terrific combination.
On another note Mike Wallace is a pretty good interview I wish modern interviews were more like this where questions are answered and the person actually has the time to explain himself and rarely get interrupted.
Never heard of this man before, clicked while from searching for Ovid, It's that feeling I only get once every few years, that there is a new person I've discovered who really gets it. Alan Watts was the big one for me, then successively Jung, Huxley, Charles Eisenstein, Ellul, and a few others I'm forgetting but this man is laying it especially plainly, I love him already, going to read/listen-to his work.
I got Fromm's "Man for Himself" at a thriftstore years ago while I was on a book collecting binge. I only today took a look at it even though it's been sitting in my room for years. I maybe would have never looked at it if I hadn't gotten covid and had to take the day off work. Just a few pages in and it's pushed me to examine different aspects of my life. Amazing how circumstances work out and what influence a few pages of a book can have.
amazing man. true intellectual. deep spiritual and interpersonal insight but willing to get in to it and shake people up a bit to wake them up to reality (assuming anyone is listening).
Yeah, I agree! Podcasts are so dumb! They can't possibly be compared to TV. That's where it's at. And TV is not nearly as good as radio. Man, if only everybody got their interviews from radio, that's when people were really enlightened. But you know when people really had it great?... Newspapers. I don't think you can consider it factual or newsworthy unless you're getting your news printed on a piece of paper.
Actually, if you look into our early newspapers of the 18th or 19h centuries you can see how far media has degraded to useless verbiage. In previous eras you actually had largely raw opinion of the editors and authors. Now it is deliberately distorted for business interests only. Imagine our new President doing as Abraham Lincoln and actually meeting the lowest in our society and caring what they had to say about policy.
One aspect that strikes me in this interview is the keen, penetrating and sometimes hard-hitting quality of Mike Wallace's questioning. Does anyone do this anymore???
+Eric Swolgaard I noticed the same thing - I can't imagine this interview being on the television today. This kind of questions are not being asked nowadays, minus Russia Today maybe (sometimes)
Pretty good. He wasn't asking the questions I would ask but he at least put Fromm on the spot and made him elaborate on the more significant tenets of his ideology.
"his work is to a large extent, meaningless, because he is not related to it. He is increasingly part of a big machinery, social machinery, governed by a big bureaucracy...and I think the American man unconsciously hates his work very often, because he feels trapped by it, imprisoned by it-- because he feels that he is spending most of his energy for something which has no meaning in itself."
Eric Fromm is brillient if you know German check out his lecture Der Moderne Mensch und Seine Zukunft. He is amazing in understanding our current sitution with the global corporations. His comments on religion in relation to America are exstremely insightful.
Thanks so much for posting. Socialism aside, Dr. Fromm's thoughts are just as pertinent to our times as they were 55 years ago. If only such clear-thinking men were still with us and given such a wide audience.
Thanks for posting! To call him a psychoanalyst does him injustice! Just like all the prophets, sages and poets before and will come after him, they are the triumphant, the pinnacle of human evolution manifested to warn and alert us: if we don't change and be meticulously aware, wars and possibly doomsday is inevitable. How many roads must a man walk down?
Erich Fromm's philosophy should be one of the main aims of education. Every single person deserves to have access to his books. Thanks for this interview and for Aldous Huxley's!
"Socialism is exactly the opposite what many, most people mean by socialism. I understand by socialism in which the aim of production is not profit, but the use." -Erich Fromm Making good products! Sounds ironically familiar.
A lot of the great minds and genius writers of that time gave their solution in the form of Socialism, though I am totally against it, in fact that is what has caused all the problems in the world lately, least the majority of them. Least from what I see and believe. I am more of a Anarchist, a local government style of it.
One of the most valuable things about interviews like this is the demonstration that people were once more intelligent and had longer attention spans. Even allowing for the fact that this is an interview with an intelligent man, imagine a conversation like this being televised or going viral on social media today? Absurd right? Note also the lack of quick camera angle changes, the balanced and thoughtful demeanor of the speakers etc.
So you suggest that we go to Dr Erich Fromm and to Karl Marx? Well, er, not exactly. I would be in very good company though... < I love this conclusion. He is so humble and good humoured. I will continue to find joy reading his books and discovering more about him. Such an inspiring and penetrating mind.
I can't take much more of this. Erich Fromm, renowned psychoanalyst and social thinker completely leaves out the condition of Blacks in the US in 1958! He's spot on about alienated labor but I can't go beyond 5.27 I was already 15 years old when this was aired, and i've seen so much history since the 1950's and I've seen so much detritus rise to the top as our country devolves into a corporate state, that I am crushed.
Watched this contemporaneous with the reading of "Escape From Freedom", an excellent book on Sel-actualization and navigating psychological paradoxes on what freedom really means. This is different from the spiritual practice of transcending excessive thinking and analysis, which I think is where contemporary culture tends to lean, rather than on endless psychoanalysis. I'm looking forward to reading more of his work.
The production side has been outsourced. America now employs most of the third world to meet the demands of its ravenous consumption of material goods.
I am slways surprised if I listen to Fromm or Orwell or read their books,and to see that they have already warned the human beings that days to what we are running to if we stay doing what we do!Mean:Totality and Depression!!And both has become not only true,it has become worth than that.We are living in a dangerous time which we can still change if we want!
Very interesting. It is astounding to me that this type of interview was available once upon a time in mainstream media. Remember folks, what this man is espousing is terrifying to the wealthy and privileged who have their boot on the throats of the average worker.
Thank you Mr. fromm for introducing me to Meister Elkhart, Bishop Augustine of Hippo, Bishop Ambrose of Milan and finally to the Lord Jesus Christ. May you rest in peace. I love you from the bottom of my heart. Forever grateful to you.
Is this interview in 1958 or 2014. What he was saying in 1958 is very chilling because it is very relevant in today's society. I wonder what he would say about Twitter and Facebook and young people who spend their free time playing video games and texting and not actually socializing with real people in real time. Today's man in this capitalist society is probably more shallow and lonely and ignorant than man during the 1950's, despite having so much information available at his finger tips. Perhaps Karl Marx was absolutely right. In fact, we should all read Marxism to understand exactly the same issues that Doctor Fromm mentions from a different point of view. It might enlighten modern man to the fact that he/she is nothing more and nothing less than a cog in the machine that makes a minority very rich, and leaves him/her empty and exhausted; chasing his/her tail day in and day out.
Karl Marx is part of the reason why the society is heading in the wrong direction. The "capitalist" society is exactly what Marx was trying to _protect_. Capitalism is _usury_ and Marx was in clear support of usury and in fact ruefully tried to blame the Catholic Church for it. The crisis that is being experience is a crisis of consumption because money is being withheld from the populous and is being transferred to the FIRE sector -- with increasing velocity since the mid-1970's. The attack on production falls within the Marxist rubric of blaming societal problem on the "bourgeoise" (the entrepreneurial class) in order to shift the focus away from the usurers -- the very class that Marx was seeking to cover.
Deadbeat Pennyless Marx was, first and foremost, an *analyst* of capitalism. It's your interpretation that he was its *protector*. A very peculiar interpretation, I might add.
thofou76 First and foremost Marx was a descendant of Talmudic Rabbis and was mentored by the inventor of Communism and Zionism -- Moses Hess. Hess often subbed for Marx and was also known as the "Red Rabbi". Marx "analysis" of "Capitalism" was his greatest _red herring_ in order to confuse the productive sectors of the economy with the financial sectors. Prior to Marx the word "Capitalism" was used only to describe those who operated solely in the finance sectors.
It would be a good idea to reflect on the fact that this conversation was carried on a major television network in May of 1958. Today you couldn't get something this serious even on the so-called "Learning"channel (TLC). The "death" has been a lot slower than Fromm warned about and predicted but it is happening nonetheless. The relatively literate, broad audience assumed by the doyens of TV networks 60 years ago is, alas, no more.
“American people are more concern about carburetor of their car than atomic war that can wipe out 100 millions 😮” wow . What a disastrous situation we are facing today ‼️‼️‼️‼️
I love Erich Fromm and I could just here the Marxist influence in his talk. Great man and very intelligent what he is saying does have resonance with us today.
Now more than ever, we must learn the art of loving since this capitalist society is crumbling before our eyes & we the people are letting the corporate government ruin us mentally and physically.
It is amazing how prescient he was. This conversation, by the way, is democracy in action. As a big fan of Dr. Fromm I agree that we need to go beyond consumerism, greed and instrumentalism.
I find it interesting that what He describes as being something "men" lack in the modern social machinery, has been a privilege in every generation and age. More are able to pursue the ideal he describes than in any other age, but most do not, instead immersing themselves in consumption activities as he rightly is concerned about. I would say that modern suffering comes from the absence of previous ages miseries. Suffering from a lack of control, influence, a say in the workings of the machinery, this again is a modern luxury, born of some detail of knowledge of how some others may live, powers they have, that modern man now knows. I do not believe that men in previous ages suffered mentally from this perceived lack of control of their circumstances as they had no concept of circumstances significantly different than their own. Now we have the comparison of historical and fictional figures that had powers, had control of situations, a rarified group in any age. Great masses of people now regularly have the resources and time to consume such information and can now have the luxury of suffering for what they imagine, they wish for and lack. A sort of toxic imagination, poisoning men and women with powers, positions and authority that masses of humanity simply cannot have, even at the price of their own and general ruin. Every man a Hercules, every woman a Circe. They never were and cannot be. We are collectively power mad, not with power we have but with the power we imagine we might have or further imagine that has been withheld or stolen from us.
I don't understand why anyone would be surprised at 'relevance' - the human condition doesn't change with the passing time and technical advancement. We are still social creatures, we still suffer, we still fear, we still alienate to protect our selves, we still know we will die. Same needs, same issues. Same shit, different millennium. This dude is a STUD. Period.
An time capsule. The interview was done in the time of the Cold War. It is important to understand this in regards to the subject. Remember consume and die isn't You tube apart of the problem? Think about it ?
