Remembering "The True Believer"
I thought now my be a good time, with all that's happening to this country to recall the iconic book written by Eric Hoffer about 70 years ago. It deals with the nature of mass movements, you know kind of like the American left's movement of 2021. Hoffer explained that mass movements are built of deeply flawed individuals with deeply flawed ideas. You know the kind of people that such movements attract - the people who see their lives as irremediably spoiled and they are unable to find success in the world of free enterprise. They think that acting in one's self interest as somehow less moral. I won't go into where they find like minded people.
As Hoffer describes them, these mass movements are angry and gloomy movements, hostile toward well-adjusted, happy and successful individuals. Sound familiar? If not I'll provide some modern examples - antifa and BLM. Hoffer told us that such movements depict the present as mean and miserable and they deliberately try to make it so! As he put it "The prime objective of the ascetic ideal preached by most movements is to breed contempt for the present." There must therefore be tremendous pleasure in wrecking such a free, humane, tolerant and virtuous society as ours.
"By expatiating upon the incurable baseness and vileness of the times, the frustated soften their feeling of failure and isolation. Thus by deprecating the present they aquire a vague sense of equality."
Gee, I thought their fake degrees would make them feel at least equal?
Of Course, Hoffer reminded us that brainwashing and idolatry to the cause are the lifeblood of mass movements. We know where that goes on don't we?
Right now they want to change America.
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Sorry, that I couldn't go in depth with it, but I think you all get the idea.
Eric Hoffer was ahead of his time.
The obama messiah worship of 2007-2008 comes to mind.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l46t_nrySg4&index=15&list=PL74B6ED5344E40173
The right wing fanatics are the ones that hate the present - 'wokeness', 'socialism', 'the Squad', Pelosi, Biden, Hollywood elites, BLM, Democrats, vaccines, masks, demographic change, etc etc.
The right hates the present all over the place.
Oh, you think that our society has already been changed?
Not yet it hasn't!
No, I think that the Trump cult are the "True Believers".
So youv'e told us. I see it a lot differently. You see, people like me are the descendants of the Great Silent Majority. When you scrape away all the groups that blindly vote for democrats, that leaves traditional America (us!) and the elite progressive faction which controls the levers of power, but not middle America. That's still the problem for the left.
... and the groups that blindly vote for Republicans? Nevermind, they're democrats also.
Nixon's, Reagan's or Trump's? I'm guessing Nixon's, he was the 1st of the great liars in your time span.
Kennedy would be the first of the great liars in that time span.
Glad to hear it!
While some long for the way things used to be
"catch a falling star and put it in your pocket!"
A world of inclusiveness, a world where empathy is more important than polity,
It's not working out that way is it? Why are we getting tribalism?
A world that can share the abundance we take for granted in our greed and our incessant need to fulfill some spurious agenda.
Greed?
So opine as you will, but put away the broad brush, as you most certainly do not speak for me.
I wasn't!
There is nothing to like about any of those.
Yep.. all phonies.
Physician heal thyself, and just when was Trumpism not a mass movement? I believe you have firmly planted your foot in your maw and shamelessly dragged Hoffer along into it.
“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” MAGA!
Eric Hoffer