Fromm first asks the all important question : are we sane as a society? There are many examples of what would appear to be large-scale insanity on society's part; for example, we have a higher wealth in terms of money and material possessions than any society in this history of time. You would think that as a society we would seek out ways to preserve, and even increase, this; yet as a society we decide to get involved in so many wars that we kill off millions of our youngest, fittest citizen. Does this make sense? To be doing so well in one area of society and to be systematically culling the next generations at the same time?
Fromm then observes that war is, by definition, completely futile. As soon as peace is brokered, the enemy we once fought with all of our might is now are friend again, at least politically, although it is difficult for the individuals involved in fighting the wars on the ground to see the issue of our friends and our enemies as anything but a black and white issue, because they have suffered at their hands. Fromm believes that for all the beneficial, benevolent things that society does, it cancels out many of these benefits with the illogical actions taken as well.
But can a society really have a psychological sickness? After all, society is made up of individual people. Surely it is those people who exhibit sickness, not society as a whole? Fromm says the mistake most sociologists make is to assume that most people are similar to each other. They assume shared beliefs, ideologies and emotions, and because they are shared by a large number of people, they must then be valid and centered in truth and fact. This is called Consensual Validation ,but Fromm explains that it has no bearing on whether or not a person, or a society, is sick or sane. If a million people share the same vice, it is still a vice, regardless of the number of people engaging in it. It is an idea that has its roots in Fromm's experiences in his native Germany as the Nazi regime took over power; just because millions of people believed in the mission of exterminating the Jews in the nation, does not give validity or truth to the idea. The fact that millions of people share this view does not make them sane.
Sometimes society is the enabler; the prevailing opinion allows a man to maintain a pattern of behavior that is neither ethical nor right, and it even enables a person to live with a serious mental issue, but this does not in any way mean that they are sane. If he is then unable to live in a way that enables him to indulge in certain behaviors or beliefs then he begins to mentally deteriorate. In cases like this, the man will generally try to reintroduce the circumstances that allow him to indulge his own thought patterns and behaviors. In other words, compelling a person to be what they are not is almost guaranteed to send them spiraling into insanity.
Fromm challenges the reader to imagine a month without our traditional forms of culture and entertainment. No sporting events. No television, movies, newspapers. In effect, all generally utilized forms of relaxation and escape are inaccessible. What would we do for relaxation? How would we escape from the stresses and strains of everyday life? Fromm contends that forcing people to rely on their own devices in this way would send millions towards a nervous breakdown because people have a tendency to rely on outside factors, and society as a whole, to provide the mental relaxation and stimulation that they require in order to maintain a balanced mind.
Fromm dislikes nationalism - a side effect of his Marxist ideology. He does not dislike patriotism, or the love of the country one is from, the desire to represent it in competition or to appreciate its rich and varied history. Nationalism, he believes, is the act of seeing one's own country as superior to another. Love, he contends, that does not include love for humanity in general, is not love at all.
A man's sense of identity is the driving force behind all of his actions. Man also needs a frame of reference within society through which he is able to view himself. If he sees that he has not hit all the checkmarks and has not managed to fulfill his basic needs within this society then he may mentally degenerate. A man needs to develop reason so that he can understand why he wants what he wants, and the effect this will have on society around him. This is also how love works; it is generally the exchange of an emotion between two people who can feel the most positive about what they are receiving back from the other.
Finally Fromm expresses dismay at the suburbanization of society, and the need for everyone to fit into the template that says it is the norm. This leaves the door open for those people who are entirely manipulative to drive society in the way they envision it rather than in the way that is the most beneficial. Having to fit in can be detrimental to one's sense of self, which means that a person many have difficulty maintaining balance in their mental health and may start to unravel, despite on the surface at least being seen to be fitting in with society and having "success".
