“Escape from Freedom attempts to show, modern man still is anxious and tempted to surrender his freedom to dictators of all kinds, or to lose it by transforming himself into a small cog in the machine, well fed, and well clothed, yet not a free man but an automaton.” –Erich Fromm
These past few months I have been re-reading and re-savoring three books:
‘Lincoln’ by David Herbert Donald, ‘Escape from Freedom’ by Erich Fromm, ‘A Theory of Justice’ by John Rawls. As I was reading and savoring a number of pathways presented themselves to me; as is my wont I wandered down each of them for a bit in order to see what might present itself to me.
One pathway led me to reflect upon and consider the concepts of ‘Justice & Caring.’ Our Founding Fathers and Mothers held a vision of a society that would be more just and caring; we are still struggling with the implications of what this means for us as a nation, a society, a people.
One pathway led me to reflect upon and consider the advantages and disadvantages of a two-party system. Do we remember that in 1855 we had three political parties, perhaps even four if we include the secret party called the ‘No Nothings.’ [NOTE: I am not referring to Schultz, the German guard in ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ who would often utter ‘I know nothing!’]
The three parties: The Democrats (who morphed into conservative, right-of-center, Republicans); the Republicans (who morphed into the left-of-center Democrats); and the Whigs (some of their members joined the ‘moderate’ Democrats and ‘moderate’ Republicans and formed what came to be known as the ‘Party of Lincoln’ – sadly, a party that no longer exists). Lincoln emerged as a ‘Conservative-Progressive’ – he was committed to conserving our Republic and he was committed to moving us forward (think: abolish slavery and heal the nation – a living testament to justice-mercy-caring).
A third pathway led me to reflect upon and consider how the concept of ‘Freedom’ has been and continues to be interpreted in our society and how conservative and progressives (and the radicals among each group) interpret the concept today. Their interpretations continue to be, I believe, one of the major reasons that we have become so divided. How divided?
Consider this one little idea: Our Founding Fathers and Mothers believed, and knew from experience, that Democracy would only survive – and potentially thrive – when nurtured by a tap root of ‘Compromise.’ Today, we are so divided that this major tap root has been re-framed as a major weed and it must, therefore, be rooted out at all costs (and the costs are high indeed).
On the 24th of December I was driving to our family gathering and I began to consider writing about one or more of these pathways. Again, as is my wont and my woe, I knew I wanted to spend time on each pathway and (remember, there is always an ‘and’) I knew I needed one focus (in order to help keep me on a path and not simply wander around the many paths available to me). I chose the path and focus of ‘Freedom.’
Again, Gentle Reader, as is my wont (I do seem to have many ‘wonts’ don’t I), I do not know how many postings I will make; I do believe it will be more than two.
I needed a guiding question. Two days ago the question emerged into my consciousness: ‘Whose Freedom?’
“…the lust for power is not rooted in strength but in weakness. It is the expression of the inability of the individual self to stand alone and live. It is the desperate attempt to gain secondary strength where genuine strength is lacking. The word power has a twofold meaning. One is the possession of power over somebody, the ability to dominate him; the other meaning is the possession of power to do something, to be able, to be potent. The latter meaning has nothing to do with domination; it expresses mastery in the sense of ability.” –Erich Fromm
Searcher-Seeker 