Escape from Freedom

By: Erich Fromm

Narrated by: Anthony Haden Salerno

lf a man cannot stand freedom, he will probably turn fascist. This, in the fewest possible words, is the essential argument in this modem classic, Escape from Freedom. The author, Erich Fromm, is a distinguished psychologist, late of Berlin and Heidelberg, now of New York City.

He applies the psychoanalytical method to the illness of our civilization which expresses itself in an abject submission to dictatorship. It is true that the rise of democracy set men free and brought to an end the authority of the medieval state and the medieval church. But it brought into existence a society where a man feels isolated from his fellows, where relationships in an industrial age are impersonal, where insecurity replaces a sense of belonging.

This sense of isolation may drive an individual to one of various forms of escape. lt may drive a people to seek escape in blind devotion to a leader, in utter submission to an all-powerful state, into a barbarous and sadistic program of aggression against minority groups or neighbor nations.

Few books since the rise of the dictators have thrown such light upon our times. Few books have penetrated so clearly into the causes of fascism and Nazism - and into the inherent qualities of a democracy. In his psychoanalysis of the social scene, the author makes a new contribution to psychology by modifying the basic concepts of Freud in placing a purely biological orientation by a cultural one.

To all who see that democracy today faces its gravest hour, Dr. Fromm illustrates the essential character of the danger and the nature of democracy's responsibility. By its brilliant exposition of the modern social scene Escape from Freedom will help clarify many of today's most perplexing problems.

©1941 Erich Fromm (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Amazing

I don't know what to say. The concepts covered in this book and the questions of freedom truly being what we think it is - or being just another cage but self-imposed... The ideas that we accept everyday as being reality, are they authentically our own or unquestioned assumptions from our respective societies? Can we accept ourselves and others as who we truly are, shadow sides and unreasonable parts included?

Amazing.

Well worth a listen. Fromm as always. wow..

Many insights. Going to listen able thrice to it before giving a real review... Don't take my word for it.. Listen thrice.

10 stars

This book is needed in the US- and the entire world- now more than ever. If you’re looking at this title at all, GET IT. The narrator is a bit monotone and at first that was difficult for me but the content it so rich and full that I came to truly appreciate his consistency and found his tone to be ideal for the subject.

Brilliant and even more relevant today than when it was originally written.

The thorough analysis of the psychological drivers of men’s abdication of freedom (social and emotional isolation) is more relevant today than it was when first written. The advent of social media technologies has only exacerbated the feelings of isolation, which, according to Fromm’s theories, has led to an embrace of fascist authoritarianism in modern American society.

Monotonous Narrator

Fromm is an amazing theorist, but the narrator read the entire book without an ounce of inflection. It was so difficult to listen to, that my mind would wander and I would forget what was going on. I loved the content, but the narrator ruined it. Did he understand what he was saying? I can't be sure.