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Skeeter46's avatar

no discussion on this subject is complete without a dive into the philosophy of Edward Bernays who, like his uncle Sigmund Freud was a psychologist who created the modern advertising paradigm, the age of consumerism. If you can find it the documentary The Century of The Self is beyond enlightening.

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Gary Ashford's avatar

An under appreciated German philosopher. TY for resurrecting this thinker. He was very influential during my formative years.

“The only truly affluent are those who do not want more than they have.”

“If I am what I have, and if I lose what I have, who then am I?” “Modern man lives under the illusion that he knows 'what he wants,' while he actually wants what he is supposed to want.”

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MIchael Tscheu's avatar

This came to light after the extraordinary tsunami in Southeast Asia.

There was an anthropologist who had being studying a semi-indigenous people there for 15 years.

He shared that they were remarkably content. Turns out that in their language there are no words for “want” or “worry”.

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Jerry Spiegler's avatar

Please mention the four important women who informed and contributed to Fromm's philosophy. I am not certain their intellectual contributions were sufficiently acknowledged. Karen Horney, Frieda Reichmann, Annis Freeman, and Henny Gurland.

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Karen Starr's avatar

Thank you, Jerry! ♥️🙏

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Karen Starr's avatar

Thank you! Fromm is an important voice & his work is so pertinent to these times. As important as Arendt’s in my opinion.

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Bruce Rogers-Vaughn's avatar

Fromm died in 1980, just as neoliberalism began its ascendancy. Now that we are within its grip, his legacy has never been more important. Thanks for this reminder.

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Cathie Campbell's avatar

“automaton conformity”-seemingly functional but devoid of the vital spark of self-authored existence” This article had so many memorable quotes and the journey from automatonic (my word) to self agency apart from robotic conformity is difficult yet enormously fulfilling.

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