"Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself
completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved
person. Love is an act of
faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love."
- Erich Fromm.
I've read this book by Erich Fromm a few times, and listened
to the audio version several times; there is, perhaps, no better
source (or at least in simple and easy to understand language) that better articulates the theory
behind this proposal. I found it at the library recently on tape and
transferred it to the computer in a digital wma format:here it is in three parts,Tape oneTape twoTape threeAnother excellent book related to this communitarian theory by
him is "To Have or
to Be".
Below, an interview I found on you tube with the elder Erich
Fromm.
"The traditional formula "production for
use instead of for
profit" is insufficient because it does not qualify what kind
of use is referred to: healthy or pathological. At this point a most
difficult practical question arises: who is to determine which needs
are healthy and which are pathogenic? Of one thing we can be
certain: to force citizens to consume what the state decides is
best-even if it is the best-is out of the question.
Bureaucratic control that would forcibly block consumption would
only make people all the more consumption hungry. Sane consumption
can take place only if an ever-increasing number of people want to
change their consumption patterns and their lifestyles. And this is
possible only if people are offered a type of consumption that is
more attractive than the one they are used to. This cannot happen
overnight or by decree, but will require a slow educational process,
and in this the government must play an important role."
"One of the gravest objections to the possibilities of overcoming
greed and envy, namely that their strength is inherent in human
nature, loses a good deal of its weight upon further examination. Greed and envy are so strong
not because of their inherent intensity but because of the
difficulty in resisting the public pressure to be a wolf within
wolves. Change the social climate, the values that are
either approved or disapproved, and the change from selfishness to
altruism will lose most of its difficulty."
Also:
"Questioning another’s motive violates one of the most respected
taboos of courtesy—and a very necessary one, inasmuch as courtesy
has the function of minimizing the arousal of aggression." -
Erich Fromm
The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness
"There can be no freedom without the freedom to fail."
- Erich Fromm
"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."
- Erich
Fromm
