摘要：The present paper uses the conceptual framework first introduced by Erich Fromm in Escape from Freedom (1941) to draw parallels between how Germans came to embrace authoritarianism and totalitarianism in the 20th Century and how Americans have come to entertain authoritarian remedies in the 21st Century. Erich Fromm’s (1941) seminal conceptualization of negative and positive freedom are relevant today to understand the expansion of the internet and calls for privacy protections and privacy rights. A vicious cycle of negative freedom chasing has emerged in post-Great Recession and post-war America. Alternatively, valuing positive freedom can offer a real and long term solution to external threats to both individual freedom and social order (Fromm, 1941). A global social movement revolving around “privacy rights” has emerged in the 21st Century. It is rapidly becoming a lightning rod for past social movements in the 20th Century.
关键词：Escape from Freedom;Right to privacy;Privacy protections;Democracy;Active agency;Social responsibility;and social movements
