In the early 1970's, I read a book by Erich Fromm, titled "The Sane Society". It's available for free download as a pdf. I'm not sure I recommend it. I certainly don't recommend the 30 to 40 pages of introduction. Those people talk too much.
I've read several reviews of the book. It seems to me the various reviewers and the people who wrote the introduction hadn't really understood the book.
Now, the book was published in 1955. Somehow philosophical works of that era devolved into an excessive navel examination apparently frightened by Freud. The fact of that devolution seems to support his thesis.
His thesis is: There is no observable evidence that our society isn't based on and isn't resulting in insanity. There is no reason to claim, collectively we are sane or have been sane for quite some time.
I think proof of this is, in 1970, when I first read it, his assertions made sense and now some 63 years after publication in the fifties, they continue to be true. He nailed it.
I think there are levels to this. I honestly believe the reason we universally think our relatives are crazy is simply that we know them better than we know others and they know us every bit as well. Believe me, your Aunt Mary and your cousin Johnny think your nuts. Be honest. Don't you really think they're nuts too? All my aunts and cousins are. Have you met them? Banana Whackies.
Look at our entertainments. This is totally out of hand. It has devolved into a cross between head wound theater and the Danse Macabre. I understand that often violence is a necessary component of drama but how does a rational person explain the popularity of "The Walking Dead" and other such things? There simply is no rational explanation. It seems like, over time, we have descended from the theatrical violence of Shakespear thru Poe to Dirty Harry to a societal Zombie Apocalypse.
On a lighter note: I can see the idea behind the dance of Shalome and the idea of the striptease of Sally Rand but how does that explain burlesque as a nationwide phenomenon? How do you explain the continuing nationwide phenomenon of "gentlemen's clubs"? If they don't have any clothes on they are not trying to appeal to gentlemen and if you are there you're not a gentleman. If you're not gonna let me put it in my mouth don't show it to me. Geez!
Fromm goes on and on about war but he can be summed up in his quote of another historian who pointed out that from 1500 BC to 1860 there had been no less than 8,000 peace treaties lasting an average of 2 years. You can call that tragic, bleak, disappointing, whatever but you can't call it sane.
Politics: His discussion of that portrays his fixed location smack dab in the middle of the Cold War. None of it can be described as rational. Beyond basic values, I try not to discuss current politics because I too am stuck in the passions of the moment and my own views which even I think tend to the extreme. However, it is useful to note that we currently seem to have a cross between P T Barnum and Scrooge McDuck as president motivated only by the will to power with no discernable, coherent philosophy. Does that seem reasonable to you?
So, Fromm asserts there is no reason to think we are in a sane society other than we claim it's sane. It seems we are forced to agree. What do we do about that? Well, we can try.
I think you have to differentiate between individuals and society. Seems to me that I am fine on my own for the most part. Maybe even in small groups. But as a society, there is too much of the herd mentality. I watched a documentary about the first Woodstock last night. And I remember how optimistic I was at the time that society might have turned some sort of corner. Now, it is just a dream, a tease, like those " gentlemen's clubs." Well, my final conclusion is to strive for the ideal in my life and actions, to be an example of how I want the world to be. That seems to help me to stay off of the ledge.
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