Erich Fromm's life began and ended in an age of perpetual crisis which threatened the very existence of humanity. This crisis was characterised by existential uncertainty, artificially maintained irrational antagonisms, authoritarian political structures—both claiming to be in accordance with human nature—world wars, the cold war, and a consumer society designed for maximum distraction and mental diminishment, predicated on structural and sometimes direct violence (Adorno, 1991, pp. 107–131).