Has anyone read "True Believer"?

[cavebat2000]

Its a book concerning "Thoughts on the nature of mass movements." by Eric Hoffer. I havn't heard anyone mention it here but as I continue to read it I find that everything that is happening today, including the public's disregard for facts concerning the invasion of Iraq, has been explained in detail by "True Believer."

I really dont want to go into it more, but If you want to understand why people continue to support Bush just pick the book up from your library or local book store. It's a pretty quick read.

[PurityOfEssence]

1. Wise men write thin books to tell what they know, fools write thick ones

to conceal what they don't.

It's a brilliant book; Hoffer was a true original. On other subjects he'll piss you off, like with his division of American history into the eras "Before Roosevelt" and "After Roosevelt", but he's an important thinker nonetheless.

[bobbieinok]

2. MAJOR BOOK.....on many college reading lists in the 60s

Hoffer was the featured guest at a mid-60s student conference in CA I attended when I was in grad school.

I had read the book as referring to the right; at the conference, Hoffer tended to see it describing the New Left......there were lots of arguments between him and many of the students.

[cavebat2000]

4. I havn't noticed any biases

This book has been very vague in terms of what social movements he is discussing. The mere fact that so much of what he says makes perfect sense in todays world shows me he wasn't just writing a book on leftish mass movements even though he might really believe that.

[bobbieinok]

5. don't really remember, but I think he wrote it thinking of right

movements, but in the context of the 60s he thought students should be aware of the left doing the same thing

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

6. As I recall it, he mainly discussed

fascism and the communist movements, not distiguishing too much between right and left, but focusing on the true believer aspect. The current Republican party resembles both types of movements in different ways, I think. Maybe some of the far left people of the sixties had similar qualities too, I don't know much about that.

[BillZBubb]

10. That's what I remember too.

He made the point that the most vicious Nazi's after a little "rehabilitation" became some of the most vicious enforcers for the communists in East Germany. Many former communists also become fanatical right wing zealots.

The ideology wasn't as important as the fanaticism. The true belief.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

3. I read it and would recommend it too.

He wrote it in 1951, I believe, and was discussing the different totalitarian movements of the time. It's scary how much of it appears to apply today.

[On the Road]

7. Hoffer -- One of My All-Times Faves

Even though he was not a Democrat by any stretch. As a self-made and self-educated man, he tended toward libertarianism. I think he saw the true believer pattern to be more true of the left in those days, which may have been true. But now the sides have been reversed.

One of the reasons the Democrats are in resurgence is that they have been able to evaluate policy and make adjustments, while Republicans have been losing their way and redoubling their efforts.

[The Magistrate]

8. It Is An Excellent Book, Mr. Bat

It has long been a favorite of mine....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[cavebat2000]

9. Damn Straight

:-D