Class society’s permanence made psychic acceptance as rational as rebellion

Evidence

Violent rebellion, powerless hatred of the ruling class and masochistic self-denial all seemed equally valid forms of behaviour for the poor and oppressed, and each type was psychically rational according to the situation. Fromm was clearly guided by the following logic: the real infantile situation of childhood, which neurotic individuals are fixated on in one form or another, comes to an end at some point. A thorough elimination of the illness was therefore possible, and there was some purpose in helping the patient. Class society, however, which condemned the greater part of its members to be infantile, was a lasting reality against which rebellion was understandable but was in no way more rational than psychic acceptance of it, just as the child’s rebellion against its father was understandable but was in no sense more adapted to reality than respecting and valuing its parents. For this reason, rebellion did not deserve to be supported. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 223

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The argument that in a permanently infantile class society, adaptation is as psychically rational as revolt — and so rebellion need not be supported — is a dense, paradigm-shifting move that quietly undermines the political urgency of critical theory from within.
• XREF: connects to: Authoritarian society collapse widens psychic-structure differences between classes — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 551; Pro-system psychological propositions hold for most societies most of the time — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2268; Mass acceptance of a society does not make it rational or defensible — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 93 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Mass acceptance of a society does not make it rational or defensible #corroborates (0.85) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 93
• Pro-system psychological propositions hold for most societies most of the time #qualifies (0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2268
• Authoritarian society collapse widens psychic-structure differences between classes #contradicts (0.72) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 551