"To Have or to Be? is a 1976 book by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, in which he differentiates between having and being. It was originally published in the World Perspectives book series edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen for Harper & Row publishing firm. Fromm writes that modern society has become materialistic and prefers "having" to "being". He mentions the great promise of unlimited happiness, freedom, material abundance, and domination of nature. These hopes reached their highs when the industrial age began. One could feel that there would be unlimited production and hence unlimited consumption. Human beings aspired to be Gods of earth, but this wasn’t really the case. The great promise failed due to the unachievable aims of life, i.e. maximum pleasure and fulfillment of every desire (radical hedonism), and the egotism, selfishness and greed of people. In the industrial age, the development of this economic system was no longer determined by the question of what is good for man, but rather of what is good for the growth of the system. So, the economic system of society served people in such a way in which only their personal interests were intended to impart. The people having unlimited needs and desires like the Roman emperors, the English and French noblemen were the people who got the most out of it. Society nowadays has completely deviated from its actual path. The materialistic nature of people of "having" has been more developed than "being". Modern industrialization has made great promises, but all these promises are developed to fulfill their interests and increase their possessions. In every mode of life, people should ponder more on the "being" nature and not towards the "having" nature. This is the truth which people deny and thus people of the modern world have completely lost their inner selves. The point of being is more important as everyone is mortal, and thus having of possessions will become useless after their death, because the possessions which are transferred to the life after death, will be what the person actually was inside."

- Erich Fromm 1976 interview with the BBC on To Have or to Be?

Dear Nadine, I trust it may be fine to add some links for reference for those of us who could not be there today. - Web page: Presencing Series 2026 | Leading from the emerging future - .... - Web page: https://www.presencing.org/ - Video: Leading from the emerging future, with Otto Scharmer | Do Better Talks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqB4eTezJ2A .......... ♡ ..........

Dear Nadine and Sarah, I hope you please add the 'url' for these two news sources so that those with computer may access them without a mobile app. Gratefully, Katarina

Community for me is when each person has a chance to contribute including an option to pass and speak at a later time. Sometimes we can speak during a gathering and sometimes in response to a post like this one. Frequent PAUSES can allow for INTEGRATION and REFLECTION so we form a SENSE OF THE WHOLE community, every voice spoken or written. .............. ♡ ..............

@Anand Chaturvedi "value alignment first before anything else: sounds to me a beautiful SPRINGBOARD that naturally leads to and DEVELOPS both RESPECT and TRUST. Thank you. ............. ♡ ..............

Please remind us how to enrol in the classroom for Premium members ♡.

Thank you for the link once again.