Erich Fromm

To have or to be?

To Have Or to Be? is one of the seminal books of the second half of the 20th century. Nothing less than a manifesto for a new social and psychological revolution to save our threatened planet, this book is a summary of the penetrating thought of Eric Fromm. His thesis is that two modes of existence struggle for the spirit of humankind: the having mode, which concentrates on material possessions, power, and aggression, and is the basis of the universal evils of greed, envy, and violence; and the being mode, which is based on love, the pleasure of sharing, and in productive activity. To Have Or to Be? is a brilliant program for socioeconomic change.

To Have Or To Be?

Ivaylo Durmonski

I was deeply moved by the book. It’s a rare gift to find such an elaborate explanation of how our current culture operates. Why we live in a sick society. And what we can do to cure our minds of the problems that we impose on ourselves.

To Have or to Be? The Nature of the Psyche by Erich Fromm presents the two forms of existence in the world: having mode and being mode.

The first is a form of living where we focus on physically acquiring things. We identify ourselves, our self-image, with what we have. Naturally, when this happens, we want to get more to feel like we’re more. The problem, however, is that the more we have, the more sadness we bring into our lives because there is always something more available for owning.

The other form of existence – the mode of being – focuses on something “unimaginable” for the Western world – on experiences and expression of your inner talents.

It’s hard to describe the being mode because it’s absent of physical form. It’s a feeling of completeness and satisfaction of what the person is, not what he has. Of course, this will be different for every individual.

Although written back in 1976, the contents of the book are even more true today in our connected society where everyone can see what others have and thus, desire it.

What pleasantly surprised me was that such serious work and topic lacks, fortunately, the use of complicated language on which most similar books rely heavily on. Meaning that even a young reader can get the text without constantly checking for the meaning of words.

The key takeaway:

People who identify themselves with the things they have are empty inside. Or at least they’ve alienated themselves from their true persona. Your main goal in life should be to find and endorse your inner desires.

Read my full summary:
https://durmonski.com/book-summaries/...

To have or to be?

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