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Showing posts with the label conformity

What Is Still Relevant in Erich Fromm's Escape From Freedom?

That is my question to Google AI.  Answer: Erich Fromm's  Escape From Freedom  remains highly relevant because it explains how the psychological burden of autonomy leads people to embrace authoritarianism, conformity, and populism. His insights into modern loneliness, the loss of individual identity, and the surrender of free will accurately mirror contemporary societal crises .  The Core Mechanisms of Escape Fromm argued that while modern society gives us "freedom from" traditional constraints, it creates profound isolation and anxiety. To cope with this, individuals try to escape the burden of freedom in three ways that are highly visible today. Authoritarianism:  Submitting to strong leaders or adopting rigid ideologies to regain a sense of security and purpose. Automaton Conformity:  Blending entirely into the crowd or adopting the prevailing beliefs of one's culture to avoid standing out or taking personal responsibility. Destructiveness:  Pr...
English schools: on the footsteps of the French ones? Mr Courtney was referring to a speech in February in which Ms Spielman said: "School leaders must have the right to set school uniform policies in a way that they see fit, in order to promote cohesion." By "cohesion" Ms Spielman means conformity . What we are speaking about hear is the headscarf not the veil. The latter covers the whole face not the first. Banning the headscarf at school is considered
In an excellent interview at the Register.com, the documentary film-maker Adam Curtis identifies the contours of this regime of affective management.  TV now tells you what to feel.
It doesn’t tell you what to think any more. From  EastEnders to reality format shows, you’re on the emotional journey of people – and through the editing, it gently suggests to you what is the agreed form of feeling. “Hugs and Kisses”, I call it.  I nicked that off Mark Ravenhill who wrote a very good piece which said that if you analyse television now it’s a system of guidance – it tells you who is having the Bad Feelings and who is having the Good Feelings. And the person who is having the Bad Feelings is redeemed through a “hugs and kisses” moment at the end. It really is a system not of moral guidance, but of emotional guidance.  Morality has been replaced by feeling. In the ‘empire of the self’ everyone ‘feels the same’ without ever escaping a condition of solipsism. ‘What ...