The True Believer by Eric Hoffer

[MountainLaurel]

Has anyone read this? It's a book from the 1950s about the psychology of mass movements. Though written in the wake of Nazi Germany, the author notes in the first sentences that mass movements can involve good or bad, and specifically mentions in the same phrase fanatical Christians and "Mohammedans."

I wanted to share these passages because I thought he hits the issue dead on, and I was immediately reminded of Christian fundamentalism.

The practical organization offers opportunities for self-advancement, and its appeal is mainly to self-interest. On the other hand, a mass movement, particularly in its active, revivalist phase, appeals not to those intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but to those who crave to be rid of an unwanted self. A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisft the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation . . . .

The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready is he to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause.

A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business.

This minding of other people's business expresses itself in gossip, snooping and meddling, and also in feverish interest in communal, national and racial affairs. In running away from ourselves we either fall on our neighbor's shoulder or fly at his throat.

[eallen]

1. Everyone should read this book.

[On the Road]

2. It's One of My Favorite Books

and I've given it as a gift before.

One of the best things about it is that Eric Hoffer was not a political partisan. He was a union worker (longshoreman), but also something of a libertarian. Eisenhower loved him. He examined all political and religious groups with the same eye -- the comparisons he drew among very different movements were very instructive.

True believers exist in every movement -- it's human nature. If you absorb what Hoffer had to say, it's easier to avoid becoming one yourself. It's always easier to see the symptoms in your opponents than in yourself.

And who writes aphorisms these days? His bon mots are wonderful.

[Broca]

3. The True Believer made a comeback

for a while during the Iran-Contra affair and Ollie North was seen as the "true believer." I think that saved it. I read it years before as a philosophy student, but after the Iran-Contra comeback years it now gets a mention now and then.