More Fromm…

Men work together. Thousands Stream into the industrial plants and offices—they come in cars, and subways, in buses, in trains—they work together, according to a rhythm measured by the experts, with methods worked out by experts, not too fast, not too slow, but together; each a part of the whole…. Produce, consume, enjoy together, in step, without asking questions. That is the rhythm of their lives.

What kind of men, then, does our society need? What is the “social character” suited to twentieth-century Capitalism?

It needs men who co-operate smoothly in large groups; want to consume more and more, and whose tastes are standardized and can be easily influenced and anticipated.

It needs men who feel free and independent, not subject to any authority, or principle, or conscience—yet willing to be commanded, to do what is expected, to fit into the social machine without friction. How can man be guided without force, led without leaders, be prompted without any aim—except the one to be on the move, to function, to go ahead…?