opinion by Donald R. Torrence, contributor
Eric Fromm in his book, The Sane Society, traces the development ofcapitalism and a belief system that perpetuates exploitive activities.Fromm found that our socio-economic system distorted reality andfostered what he referred to as a "pathology of normalcy." Humankind'strue nature is distorted and the innate proclivity to love, to fostercommunity, and to cooperated with others is perverted by an ethos thatsanctifies individualism, acquisitiveness, and competition. This newworld order alienates us from ourselves, from others, and from nature.The policies of our oil-soaked president and his cohorts, in theirefforts to silence dissent regarding their war aims, have manufactureda fear of a "terrorist threat" and a war atmosphere in which anycriticism of foreign policy is seen as treasonous. In their manicobsession with control of the world's oil supply and their assertionof US dominance, the Bush administration has pushed an agenda that isharmful to the interests of humankind and beneficial to the interestsof elites. Truth is butchered and lies promulgated in order tonormalize the unthinkable, to create Fromm's pathology of normalcy.
Traditions of love and tolerance are negated by the simplistic dualityof good vs evil and by threats against those who refuse to acceptBush's new world order of free trade and privatization. There has beenlittle public outcry against the 500,000 children who have died as aresult of sanctions in Iraq. The public has by-and-large notquestioned the incarceration of over two million citizens in ourprisons. There is no general call for justice when we are told thatthe net worth of the world's 358 billionaires roughly equals thecombined annual income of the worlds 2.5 billion poorest people. Thereis little organized opposition to our use of chemical warfare inColombia. Criticism was muted when right wing extremists recommendedthat we allow torture to be used against designated enemies of thestate.
We must strive to transcend the madness and reassert our commonhumanity. We must join together to create a reality that reflects ourloving, giving, nurturing selves. We must acknowledge our mutual rightto the basics of life--food, water, shelter, healthcare, and education.We must not give in to a sense of powerlessness, but rather we mustfight like hell and confront the forces that are bent on privatizingall economic sectors and ultimately transforming all humankindinto commodities to be bought and sold.
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