"The man who wants to write a great book, paint a great picture, create an architectural masterpiece, become a great scientist, and knows that never in all eternity will he be able to realize this, his innermost desire, can find no peace in a stable social order--old or new. He sees his life as irrevocably spoiled and the world perpetually out of joint. He feels at home only in a state of chaos."
That quote is from a book in my library by one Eric Hoffer, titled The True Believer, Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements, ISBN 0-06-091612-5, published 1951, 1966, 1989 that is germane to this discussion and I highly recommend it.
It is based on interviews with ex-Nazis, communist veterans of the 1930s and 40s movements, Islamists and others who became fanatics of whatever philosophy, and dissects their thoughts and motivations for joining in mass movements and the behaviors that their beliefs led them to display.
His analysis of the personal and social roots of fanaticism was very perceptive. One of his points is that fanaticism will begin to arise when social and governmental systems are discredited...sound familiar?
Absurd ideas pushed with confidence by a canny leader can resonate with those who feel a lack of trust and belief in the social order and government, have a need to follow and obey, and lead to a need to proselytize those beliefs.
He points out that leaders like Trump don't and can't create the conditions necessary to creating a fanatic movement, but can see when those conditions exist and exploit them.
In his view, a country is ripe for a mass movement when there is widespread boredom (lockdown?), loss of faith in institutions (Trump's de-legitimization of government), a strong desire for change or substitutes...but often the change desired is a return to older ways (The South shall rise again?), and a class of dissatisfied educated people seeking unity and trust in something, and that in such circumstances nearly anything will do if presented consistently, forcefully and with confidence by whoever is disseminating it.
Mass fanatical movements require scapegoats in the form of minorities or economic outsiders, and require the leadership to harp on the differences and dangers of them. Truth has nothing to do with the appeal, especially as the movement grows. Again, sound familiar?
As fanatic movements...like Trump's supporters...begin to coalesce, they develop a credo, a set of common beliefs unrelated to reality that express their fears and desires without regard to how truthful or attainable or practical or illogical they are, fed by a leader whose greatest strength is being blind to self-realities and willing to undermine everything to focus the thought that all good stems from him and him alone. They also develop a need to proselytize, and frequently the proselytization efforts become violent.
It's was a very interesting and informative read when I first read it many years ago.
It is a very chilling read today.
In the article on The Guardian today a writer speaks of the changes coming over her friends who are suddenly subscribing to all manner of debunked conspiracy theories:
When a childhood friend, a stay-at-home mom with a flourishing Pinterest account, sent me a copy of Plandemic – a 26-minute viral video falsely claiming manipulated origins of the coronavirus and the medical dangers of vaccines – I realized that conspiracy sympathizers weren’t as fringe as I thought.
My friend was the third person, along with a work colleague and neighbor who is a doctor, to recently jump into the conspiracy theory abyss. I often dismissed conspiracy adherents as delusional cult members. But this was different. I knew these women. They were bright and led full, busy lives.
All three fit the same profile: college-educated, white women, middle class. All organic, health food advocates with aversions to mandatory child vaccinations. Additionally, in the midst of this pandemic, these women flipped from Democrats to Trump supporters. Historically anti-vaxxers swing far-left politically, but more recently they’ve embraced Trump. He has been promoting anti-vaxxer content for years, and now, as our nation loses its fight against Covid, Trump’s constituents believe that our conspirator in chief understands and cares about their concerns about vaccines.
The book explains the phenomenon reported in this article, why some succumb to palpably absurd beliefs and are exceedingly resistant to logic or contrary proof.
I highly recommend reading it to aid in understanding what is occurring in the US today.