The BobboSphere: Don't believe everything you think.

In the wake of the 20th century rise of Nazism, psychologist Eric Fromm wrote a book called Escape from Freedom in which he explored why people choose totalitarianism over freedom. Published in 1941, the book makes this central point:

"The person who gives up his individual self and becomes an automaton, identical with millions of other automatons around him, need not feel alone and anxious any more. But the price he pays, however, is high; it is the loss of his self."

And what does it mean when a person loses their sense of self?

"This loss of identity then makes it still more imperative to conform, it means that one can be sure of oneself only if one lives up to the expectations of others. If we do not live up to this picture, we not only risk disapproval and increased isolation, but we risk losing the identity of our personality, which means jeopardizing sanity."

In short...do what you are told. Go along to get along. Anything else is madness.

Anyone who has spent time at an American workplace meets those walking wounded who shuffle through the workday, their spirits broken and their lives a gray dull routine.

Chicago is famous for its architecture, its storied political crime and corruption and its hapless but loveable Chicago Cubs. Tourists come from around the world to snap pictures from the top of the Sears Tower, marvel at the Impressionists housed in the Art Institute and tremble before Sue the Tyrannosaur at the Field Museum.

Some even ride the Green Line out to Oak Park to enjoy the work of Frank Lloyd Wright (you know, the guy who designed all those leaky roofs).

Not to put down these tourist attractions, which after all do pump some money into Chicago's 21st century de-industrialized economy, but one of my favorite spots in Chicago is---- a feminist bookstore.