MLK and Erich Fromm Dear

MLK and Erich Fromm

Dear Mr. Fromm

I am writing to you as a reader of your "Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral

Problem." Being a critical thinker who constantly questions the status quo, I found the arguments in your document extremely interesting and insightful. Indeed, many of your insights regarding disobedience and freedom are manifest in works created by other moral philosophers such as Martin Luther King. I would therefore like to consider some of Mr. King's ideas as set forth in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" as they relate to your ideas. Many of Mr. King's thoughts appear to directly parallel your own and also mine as an observer, thinker, and participant in the world and its events.

Firstly, I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of disobedience as it has manifested itself since the beginning of time. Indeed, the obedience/disobedience dichotomy as manifest in organized religious institutions to this day. Religious leaders in many cases wield their power by means of obedience. As you say, it is very difficult for "organization man" to disobey, one of the reasons being the idea that all disobedience is "sin." This idea is imprinted since childhood, and therefore very difficult to move beyond.

However, it as both you and Mr. King point out: it is only through disobedience that freedom can be achieved. I find the non-violent way in which Mr. King advocates disobedience extremely interesting; this correlates well with the specific type of disobedience you appear to advocate: disobedience with the purpose of evolution. As Mr. King says:

have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth."

This growth manifests concomitant with freedom. In Mr. King's case, this projected freedom takes the specific form of freedom of one race from oppression by another. Furthermore, I also agree with both your and Mr. King's distinction between just and unjust laws. Mr. King makes the distinction by applying humanitarian rules: All laws that do not guarantee the principles of freedom and equality for all, are unjust. Any law that promotes the oppression of one individual by another is unjust and should be disobeyed. This parallels your idea of conscience as opposed to unjust laws. In the case of injustice, the truly free human being follows his or her conscience instead of the status quo.

However, I also agree with your assessment regarding the majority of humanity, including those in power: "...while we are living technically in the Atomic Age, the majority of men -- including most of those who are in power -- still live emotionally in the Stone Age."

This is manifest in Mr. King's and many other political struggles throughout the world. One could however derive some encouragement from the fact that there are those like Mr. King and yourself who understand that disobedience in some cases is inevitable and essential. The one aspect of your letter that I find it difficult to agree with, however, is your assertion that "There is the possibility, or even the probability, that the human race will destroy civilization and even all life upon earth within the next five to ten years."