A long time ago I had a high school history and government teacher who probably forever changed the way I think about the power of identity, especially group identity, in affecting human behavior. In my senior year of high school, in the early 1990s, he taught a section on Nazi propaganda that I’m sure these days would be posted to social media in a hot minute, for good or ill; I’ve begun to wonder recently if on some level he hoped through this course to inoculate his students against the kind of groupthink that characterizes movements like Nazism.
Wow, fantastic post today, thanks! I am going to read your Aeon article, as well as the one on echo chambers that you recommend. Very thought provoking and insightful column today.
Great post; thanks for thinking out loud (I found you via Tara Shepersky). It was actually responding to Hoffer's provocation that informed my current direction (work organized around the concept of "belonging"); more here if of interest: https://citizenstout.substack.com/p/we-only-protect-what-we-love
A compelling read. As a an author and researcher in media and politics I found the distinction between epistemic bubbles and echo chambers highly relevant. There is a certain feverish intensity to how echo chambers expand and become sustainable features of public discourse.
I was at the Mitchif Heritage Keepers gathering in Choteau all weekend. This is a celebration of the Métis people in general, but held in Choteau specifically because of the community there that flourished for decades in the nearby Teton Canyon before homesteaders drove them out. Whenever I go to these things, or participate in Little Shell gatherings or activities, or even interact with the Red Nation folks, I'm troubled by the opposite: how DO we build some kind of "mass movement." I know this isn't the point of your piece here but it is what I'm thinking of. Engaging more people to a common cause. Whether that is reaching younger Métis and/or tribal members (I mean, who wants to spend the weekend jig dancing when there are video games that can put you in outer space or wherever) or, on a larger scale, inspiring a mass movement of anti-capitalist, landback warriors? It makes me sad.
May I recommend Adam Serwer's new book The Cruelty Is The Point. As someone who wore out two copies of The True Believer, I think Serwer's essays also gives one much to consider when thinking about mass movements in America today.
I kept a framed copy of this Hoffer aphorism on my work desk for over thirty years: "It is futile to judge a kind deed by it's motive. Kindness can become it's own motive. We are made kind by being kind." As you alluded to in your essay showing kindness may be the answer.
Wow, fantastic post today, thanks! I am going to read your Aeon article, as well as the one on echo chambers that you recommend. Very thought provoking and insightful column today.
Great post; thanks for thinking out loud (I found you via Tara Shepersky). It was actually responding to Hoffer's provocation that informed my current direction (work organized around the concept of "belonging"); more here if of interest: https://citizenstout.substack.com/p/we-only-protect-what-we-love
A compelling read. As a an author and researcher in media and politics I found the distinction between epistemic bubbles and echo chambers highly relevant. There is a certain feverish intensity to how echo chambers expand and become sustainable features of public discourse.
I was at the Mitchif Heritage Keepers gathering in Choteau all weekend. This is a celebration of the Métis people in general, but held in Choteau specifically because of the community there that flourished for decades in the nearby Teton Canyon before homesteaders drove them out. Whenever I go to these things, or participate in Little Shell gatherings or activities, or even interact with the Red Nation folks, I'm troubled by the opposite: how DO we build some kind of "mass movement." I know this isn't the point of your piece here but it is what I'm thinking of. Engaging more people to a common cause. Whether that is reaching younger Métis and/or tribal members (I mean, who wants to spend the weekend jig dancing when there are video games that can put you in outer space or wherever) or, on a larger scale, inspiring a mass movement of anti-capitalist, landback warriors? It makes me sad.
Thank you, Nia.
Talk about a light read for your Monday morning, sheesh!
Thank you! Adding True Believer to my TBR...
We watched a 1981 TV movie called “The Wave” at my middle school. It’s retro! Seems relevant. It’s on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pEUHXxis0Cg
May I recommend Adam Serwer's new book The Cruelty Is The Point. As someone who wore out two copies of The True Believer, I think Serwer's essays also gives one much to consider when thinking about mass movements in America today.
I kept a framed copy of this Hoffer aphorism on my work desk for over thirty years: "It is futile to judge a kind deed by it's motive. Kindness can become it's own motive. We are made kind by being kind." As you alluded to in your essay showing kindness may be the answer.