Hoffer and the True Believer
Hoffer and the “True Believer”
When president Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer in a nationally televised address in the 1950s, the public must have thought that mentioning the works of the “longshoreman philosopher” in a formal address to the nation was an extremely unexpected action. Surprisingly, Hoffer’s work would be thoroughly studied and regarded as a superior example of advanced sociological and philosophical thought for years to come.
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true believer who is wholly assimilated into a compact collective body is no longer frustrated. He has found a new identity and a new life. He is one of the chosen, bolstered and protected by invincible powers, and destined to inherit the earth. His is a state of mind the very opposite of that of the frustrated individual (Hoffer, 126).
Is being a “true believer” in the midst of a mass movement such a bad thing?
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