Customer Reviews

The End of Economic Man: The Origins of Totalitarianism

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I've been a fan of Druckers for many years but did not get around to reading his first book until very recently.

This is not the usual Drucker fare, though fellow readers will recognize his reach and style. In this book Peter Drucker attempts nothing less than to explain what Totalitarianism (particularly Facism and Nazism) are about. And I think he largely succeeds.

But the subject is 60 years ago, so why buy it now? Because the book also explains much of what is going on today. The alienation many of us feel, the deadening effects of globalization on our economic and inner lives is echoed in this book. Why do Palestinians blow themselves up and Austrians and Frenchmen vote for Haider and Le Pen?

Because capitalism fails to satisfy identity and equality needs. Not just income equality but status equality. Many of Drucker's later books attempt to solve some of capitalism's legitimacy and equality deficiencies, but globalism has rolled back much of the progress which has been made.

This book was published in 1939 by a person who was in Germany when Hitler took over. This is the fourth book I have read by Peter F. Drucker and is the most difficult to understand; but if you studied philosophy in college, you should like it. The causes of totalitarianism are complex, and he deals with them in great detail. He also compares and contrasts Fascism and Communism. (They are more similar than I had assumed.) Even though he does not discuss Islamic extremism, this book also gave me insight on what going on in that movement.

When you read The Man Who Shocked the World: The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram and Drucker's earlies writings like this one - both ignored by every single one of the USA Washington and UK London regimes, one has to wonder what the world would now have been like, if both Drucker and Milgram had been taken seriously.

The future of the managerial cadre is poised on the brink and Blanckenberg & Blanckenberg teach both Drucker and Milgram in all our training seminars at One Big Idea Consulting Limited NZ. At the same time we introduce managers to Karl Popper reminding them that Popper shaped his thinking in New Zealand before settling in London Bounds of Freedom: Popper, Liberty and Ecological Rationality (Series in the Philosophy of Karl R. Popper and Critical Rationalism, 16) (Series in the Philosophy of Ka)

Managerial success is much more than how to make a quick buck
in a fast-moving global era. Drucker, Milgram and Popper were aware of this.

The first book in English written by Peter Drucker. This paperback reprint includes a new preface written by the author. As it was published more than sixty years ago, some of the contents are unavoidably outdated. Being a collector of Drucker's works, I heartily welcome this reprint.

I appreciate the orderly fashion in which the information is presented. It is refreshing to have a tremendous amount of information organized in such a way that you can tackle it according to your priorities.