Freedom and Democracy by Erich Fromm: Summary

Freedom and Democracy - Summary The essay “Freedom and Democracy” is taken from Erich Fromm’s famous work The Fear of Freedom. This essay is about the thought process of the modern world. He begins the essay by stating that individuals feel powerless and alone, anxious and insecure due to the modern industrial systems. The developments instead of making humans feel powerful, leave them with many psychological problems. In this essay, he looks at five major aspects and their impact on the degradation of the human psyche. They are freedom of expression, originality discouraged,  Confusing Issues,  loss of self,  sacrifice. Freedom of Expression Modern humans think proudly that they have their individuality and thus they are uncontrollable by any external authority. Hence they believe that they have complete freedom to express their thoughts and feelings which again guarantees their individuality. Contradictorily in reality societies, in general, discourage emotions. Emotions are viewed as bei…