The 21st century’s most important book was published in 1951.
Its existence passed largely unnoticed until President Eisenhower lauded “The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements” a number of years later.
In “The True Believer,” Eric Hoffer says all mass movements “share certain essential characteristics which give them a family likeness.”
In his examination of fanaticism, Hoffer notes all such movements, “however different in doctrine and aspiration, draw their early adherents from the same types of humanity; they appeal to the same types of mind.”
He pinpoints how escape from individualism is central to any mass movement, whether it’s by Hitler, Luther or St. Paul:
“A rising mass movement attracts and holds a following not by its doctrines and promises but by the refuge it offers from anxieties, barrenness and meaninglessness of an individual existence.”
If you want to fully understand how the world really works, then read “The True Believer.”It’s on the short list of books that most influenced my thinking.
And the most relevant for a world that’s caught fire in our 21st century.
