The True Believer

The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements ISBN 0060505915 was Eric Hoffer's first and most successful book, published in 1951. It discusses the psychological causes of fanaticism.

Related Topics:
Eric Hoffer - 1951 - Psychological - Fanaticism

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The premise of the book is as follows: Mass movements spread by promising a glorious future, and they need people to be willing to sacrifice all for that future, including themselves and others. To do that, they need to devalue the past and present. Therefore, mass movements appeal to the frustrated; people who are dissatisfied with their current state, but are capable of a strong belief in the future and to people who want to escape a flawed self by creating an imaginary self and joining a compact collective whole to escape themselves. Some categories of such people are the poor, the misfits, the creative thwarted in their endeavors, the inordinately selfish, the ambitious facing unlimited opportunities, minorities, the bored, and the sinners. The book also explores the behavior of mass movements once they become established (or leave the "active phase").

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The True Believer spares no one. Communists, Fascists, Nationalists, early Christians, racial agitators are described. Indeed, part of his thesis is that movements are interchangeable and that fanatics will often flip from one movement to another.

Related Topics:
Communists - Fascists - Nationalists - Christians

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With their collapse of a communal framework people can no longer defeat the feelings of insecurity and uncertainty by belonging to a compact whole. If the isolated individual lacks vast opportunities for personal advancement, development of talents, and action (such as those found on a frontier), he will seek substitutes. These substitutes would be pride instead of self-confidence, memeberships in a collective whole like a mass movement, absolute certainty instead of understanding.

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