#245 | Are You a ‘True Believer’? Eric Hoffer’s Provocative Take on the Nature of Mass Movements
Quick SUMMARY:
Douglas Vigliotti explores Eric Hoffer's thought-provoking nonfiction book, "The True Believer." Uncover the secrets of extremism, fanaticism, and mass movements as Douglas unravels Hoffer's life and aphoristic writing style, showcasing the book's timeless relevance and lasting influence on political thought. Discover Hoffer's intriguing insights on hope, the power of collective unity, the role of individual responsibility, and the value of a common enemy in driving mass movements.
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TOPICS COVERED IN the EPISODE:
Introduction to the Podcast (00:09) - Douglas introduces the podcast and the book "The True Believer" by Eric Hoffer.
Background on Eric Hoffer (01:08) - Discussion on Hoffer's life, his journey as a longshoreman, and his writing career.
Overview of "The True Believer" (02:09) - Exploration of the book's themes on extremism, fanaticism, and mass movements.
Thesis of the Book (03:40) - Hoffer's argument that all mass movements share similarities despite their differences.
Controversy and Reception (05:08) - Discussion on the varied reactions to Hoffer's ideas and the book's influence in political circles.
Historical Context (06:21) - How the book relates to historical events like WWII and revolutions.
Takeaways on Hoffer's Writing Style (07:27) - Analysis of Hoffer's aphoristic and provocative writing style.
Importance of Understanding Mass Movements (08:37) - The relevance of Hoffer's insights to contemporary political dynamics.
Key Quotes from Hoffer (09:58) - Sharing impactful quotes that illustrate Hoffer's ideas on hope and mass movements.
The Role of Hatred in Mass Movements (11:20) - Discussion on Hoffer's assertion that hatred is essential for unifying mass movements.
Collective Unity vs. Individual Independence (12:36) - Exploration of Hoffer's views on loyalty within mass movements.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts (13:48) - Douglas wraps up the episode, encouraging listener engagement and promoting his new book.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week I am turning back to a work of nonfiction. It is a big idea book, a social philosophy book, I guess, and it is titled “The True Believer” by Eric Hoffer. It is a shorter book, around 200 pages or so. It originally came out in 1951, but the copy that I have was done by Harper Perennial and it came out in 2010. Of course, before I share any more about the book and the author, I want to remind you that I have a new book out and it is titled “Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story”. If you are a novelist or an aspiring novelist, or someone who is trying to tell a story of any kind in any form, that I think you might get something out of it. And if that is the case, you could find out more information about it at the website AristotleforNovelists.com.
01:08 - All right. So now let me turn back to the author, Eric Hoffer. He's written ten books, all non-fiction and commentary on society and the human condition, but none were more influential than the one I am sharing with you today, “The True Believer”. He has sort of this interesting story, I would say, as a non-intellectual in history most often refers to him because of his own insistence, really as a longshoreman or the longshoreman philosopher, I should say. And his background is slightly ambiguous, which sort of makes him even more interesting as a person, or at least to me. But he's known as a lower-class working man for much of his life, lived on skid row, took odd jobs until eventually landing a gig as a longshoreman in San Francisco. And that's where he started to write. And as I mentioned at the top of this episode, it wasn't until 1951, at the age of 49, did this book I'm sharing with you today came out to the public. It was his debut, and it did receive acclaim.
02:09 - His career is super interesting because it eventually lands him receiving a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983. So starting from the rail yards and ending up at the white House is a pretty interesting journey, I would say, for a writer. So you're probably wondering what exactly his contributions were that were so dramatic or drastic, I should say? And I think that's a good place for us to turn to the book at hand. So really, this book, “The True Believer”, is one that tackles extremism and fanaticism, or more specifically, the morphing, I would say, of the individual into one unit. Or maybe it's just better said with the subtitle of the book, and that is thoughts on the nature of mass movements, but to me, that's what a mass movement is. The morphing of individuals into one cohesive unit. Right. And so his ultimate thesis contends that all mass movements are interchangeable and similar despite their cause, leader, and efforts. So he answers in this book a lot of questions like, Why do people gravitate towards them? Or what kind of people gravitate towards them? What types of things will people do because of them? What types of unifying agents exist for people of these movements? How do they start in general? Where do they end? And the questions just go on and on.
03:40 - It's a really, I would say, thoughtful but definitely opinionated examination of the nature of mass movements. So naturally, like any philosophical work, there is some contention with his ideas and opposing viewpoints. But to me, that's always a strength of the work, not a weakness, because it means that people have a reaction to it. I think that the worst thing for any writer is when someone reads the work and has no reaction to it at all. So, to borrow the words of the great Neil Young, I think it is equally as interesting to hate something as it is to love it. I do think it's worth it to take note of the total reasons why somebody might dislike something, and ultimately, that might not always be based on the ideas or concepts alone. It might be that the person who wrote it is not part of a group, and that is threatening to other groups who feel like what gives this person the credibility to write this. And I think today, because of the exposure to information and the ability for anybody with a lot of passion or interest in a subject matter to learn a lot about it, even if it is outside of the traditional paths.
05:08 - I do think there is some of that natural resistance when you have somebody coming from the outside doing something that typically only and I'm using air quotes insiders are supposed to be able to do naturally, as my own personal opinion. I think it's a silly idea, but that doesn't devalue the viewpoint or the stance that some might have. I totally understand and empathize with it. Having said that, this book has plenty of supporters. It has made the rounds in political circles on both sides of the aisle. So Dwight Eisenhower most famously heralded this book, who is perhaps one of our greatest presidents, someone who led this country after World War Two and served as a general in the Army for many, many years during the war. Most notably. But he perhaps gave it the jolt that it needed to reach widespread acclaim. And then more recently, Hillary Clinton notably recommended it to her campaign staff during her 2016 presidential run. So, as I've said, it has made an impact on both sides of the aisle, and I don't see it as something that is overtly more conservative or liberal.
06:21 - And I think that movements, whether they are on either side of the aisle, both share a lot of the components that Eric Hoffer talks about in the book. And I think that's one of the things that makes it a really interesting read, because it's just as applicable today as it was when it first came out in 1951, which, of course, was on the heels of Hitler and Nazi Germany, which I would have to assume was at least partially the influence for thinking about these topics in the way that the author was thinking about them at the time. Although he refers back and draws parallels to the French Revolution and the Bolsheviks and revolutionists in Asia. So it's wide spanning in the analysis, but of course also talks about Nazi Germany as it was the thing that was the most prevalent at the time. All right. So now let me turn to some of my larger takeaways. And the first one is about his style. I would say that it is aphoristic in a way, and it's provocative because it is aphoristic.
07:27 - Some may see this as off-putting or a tough pill to swallow, but for me it's just an extreme plus. But I tend to like terse and concise and memorable in a way you may not. Again, I think that this is another reason why some of these ideas and concepts land with some people, and why some of them may think it's too reductive or what have you. Having said that, you just must understand what the work is, and by its nature, it's going to be opinionated because it's sharing his thoughts on what he thinks mass movements are and all of the variabilities of them. Ultimately, I think this will challenge you and make you consider and think about things, even if you don't ultimately believe they are true. So the second largest takeaway I've already kind of spoiled it because my mouth tends to do that sometimes, and it's just there's a great importance of understanding our present-day politics and more specifically, the mass movements, whether it's MAGA or the radical left that are driving the political parties right now.
08:37 - And, I don't know, I just think anything that can offer more insight into the nature of those movements may open your eyes or mind to some new ideas and perhaps make you think a little bit differently about them. Okay, so I do think you have a pretty good idea what this book is about. So I will wrap this up by sharing just a few quotes, so you have a better understanding of Eric Hoffer's style. And the first one is around the desire for change. And he says that, “No faith is potent unless it is also faith in the future.” I think that this is a really powerful idea, because what he's basically alluding to is that hope of anything is required to unite people, and this is also its selling point, right? So, hope for this altered future is a unifying agent. And it makes this quote really powerful. And he sort of elaborates on that later on when he's talking about the desire for substitutes, which he calls it in the section of the book. And he says, “One of the most Potent attractions of a mass movement is its offering of a substitute for individual hope.”
09:58 - And this leads into this idea of who the best candidates are to be the foundation of a certain movement. And again, I think that you may not agree with what he's saying here. I will say that these are anecdotes that I'm pulling out. And so they sound a lot more reductive than they are when you're reading them in context, because there's a lot surrounding it. But I think it's undeniable that when you believe in something much greater than you, it does take the focus off the individual hope that one might have in their own life. Now, I know that that's a very big idea to grapple with, but I think there is truth on its face, whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. I think that's debatable. Another thing that he says later is, “Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in God, but never without belief in a devil.” And what he means by that is that hatred is needed to unify people, hatred of something. And I think we see this play out in the present day, and we've seen this play out in mass movements of the past as a truism.
11:20 - So I will just share a couple more, and then I will wrap this up, because I have so many quotes from this book. Another one that I have highlighted here is, “When we lose our individual independence in the corporate ness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom—Freedom to hate, bully, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse.” Again, we see this ugliness play out in the present day and whether you like it or not. I do think that there is a lot of truth in it. On that note, he has this other quote where he talks about collective unity, and he says, “Collective unity is not the result of brotherly love of the faithful for each other. The loyalty of the true believer is to the whole—the church, party, nation—and not to his fellow true believer.” And when you think about the depth of something like this, we see these mass movements throw their own people under the bus at every chance they get when they are not in line with the mass movement. And I think before I wrap this up, I did want to just point out one thing that he's pretty insistent about in the book.
12:36 - And that's no matter how vital we think a leader is to any mass movement, the leader cannot cause conditions that make the mass movement possible. And again, to me, I think when you take a wide lens, look, there's just a lot of truth in that idea, and it's one to grapple with, just as all these are, whether you agree with them or not. That's not the point. The point is to read it and have to entertain it and put it into the framework of how you think about any of these things. On that note, I will just conclude with one quote that does not come from this work, but it's an Eric Hoffer quote that I love, and it comes from one of his works called “The Passionate State of Mind”. He says, “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” So I won't beat on that. I'll just let it hang there. And thank you for listening to this episode. If you enjoyed it, I want to remind you to please click the subscribe button on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on or take two seconds and rate the podcast.
13:48 - Doing either of those things helps the podcast immensely and ultimately inspires more men to read. If you want to tell me what you thought about this episode or the podcast more broadly, you could reach out to me in 1 or 2 ways, either on Instagram @DouglasVigliotti. It's the only social media that I have or via my website DouglasVigliotti.com, as I mentioned at the top of this episode, I have a new book out. It is titled “Aristotle for Novelists,” and if you want to find out more information about it, you can visit the website AristotleforNovelists.com all of the links for these will be in the show notes. And last but not least, if you want more information on this podcast specifically, which includes signing up for the monthly newsletter, then all you have to do is head over to the website BooksforMen.org.
