zstein's blog

In his article, Erich Fromm proposes the idea that disobedience is necessary for human progression and evolution. He gives his own interpretation on how stories such as the garden of eden and the greek myth of Prometheus (and more) represent stories of disobedience leading to a positive change in their characters lives. He then speculates that obedience may very well be the end of human civilization.

However, there is a flaw with this view: If the whole world were to disobey their rulers or law, then society would fall apart; the very thing that was created to benefit all of humanity would cease to be. I’m not saying that society doesn’t have its issues and corruptors, and that we should just surrender to injustice. However, what happens when disobedience is no longer necessary? When does disobedience stop being a necessary means to contentment? People will always have differing view points and theories… there needs to be a point where we can respectfully disagree with each others differing views without disrupting other individuals views. I would agree that sometimes disobedience is necessary, but not as often as Fromm implies.