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An essay on the true believer

This situates him in a very small minority of writers who write about work. While mass movements are usually some blend of nationalist, political and religious ideas, Hoffer argues there are two important commonalities: Rhetoric, radical skepticism, intellectual posturing, and calisthenics, Hoffer asserted, defeat the essence of philosophical reflection.

The manner in which a mass movement starts out can also have an effect on the duration and mode of termination of the active phase of the movement. This is verified by his limited formal education.

Hoffer took ideas that during his time had already taken on a modish, debased appeal and rooted them to vital life. Under such conditions, what passes muster as thought is merely conditioned groupthink. A self-conscious society, Hoffer contends, creates a devastating loss of innocence. Those who live traditionalist lifestyles tend to be content, but the partially assimilated feel alienated from both their forbearers and the mainstream culture "the orthodox Jew is less frustrated than the emancipated Jew" [4].

This attraction is particularly effective in a society imbued with the idea of progress. By refuting the claims of the latter, Hoffer was able to keep his thought rooted in and dependent on truth, as this informs the life of independent thinkers. The book also explores the behavior of mass movements once they become established as social institutions or leave the "active phase". This book is required reading for anyone trying to make sense of the 20th Century, and, unfortunately, will likely remain pertinent in the 21st. When we see the Reformation, the Puritan, American and French revolutions and many nationalist uprisings terminate, after a relatively short active phase, in a social order marked by increased individual liberty, we are witnessing the realization of moods and examples which characterized the earliest days of the movements.

He seems to use words as if he were ignorant of their true meaning. This has implications for everything: He had instead a profound understanding that reality has very little to do with our utopian claims.

The twentieth century was dominated by thinkers and writers—intellectuals—who romanticized the plight of workers. President Dwight Eisenhower read The True Believer ingave copies to friends, and recommended it to others. In all cases, Hoffer argues, these people feel as if their individual lives are meaningless and worthless.

Hoffer contends that true believers are self-absorbed people. The intellectuals and the young, booted and spurred, feel themselves born to ride us. That a particular belief is morally, or even selfishly, good? Mass movements aggressively promote the use of doctrines that elevate faith over reason and serve as "fact-proof screens between the faithful and the realities of the world".Eric Hoffer's True Believer outlines a model that mass movements follow or need to follow in order to succeed. The Nazi Political Movement in Germany is explained well through the use of this framework. Summary of Eric Hoffer’s, The True Believer September 4, Book Reviews - Politics, Politics - Tyranny John Messerly “ Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents.

This book, The True Believer, is a fantastic window into what makes a mass movement possible. It is also a great window into the minds of the people that join the movement. Hoffer does a great job of breaking down what kind of person it /5(2). There is thus an illiterate air about the most literate true believer. He seems to use words as if he were ignorant of their true meaning. pg. The True Believer – Thoughts on The Nature of Mass Movements “The ideas contained in the essays are persuasive and it’s a fun, well focused read.

” — Simon Moore. -ESSAY: CASCADE COMMENTARY The True Believer (Cascade Policy Institute) -ESSAY: Excerpts from Eric Hoffer's The True Believer with Annotations Regarding the Fitness (Aerobics) Movement (Ken Hutchins, SuperSlow Exercise Guild)Author: Eric Hoffer.

The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements is a social psychology book by American writer Eric Hoffer, in which the author discusses the psychological causes of fanaticism.
