Excellent thoughts, thank you for writing them. I too think a lot about belonging and identity and human flourishing. I believe social connection is essential for flourishing.
Early in your essay, I went on a minor tangent. I thought about one of the main reasons that the MAGA movement took off was because voters rightly didn't discern a difference between the two parties, in terms of how they both were captured by the capitalist patriarchy, and in terms of how corrupt they seemed to be (Bill Clinton being an exemplar of corruption on the left). Neither party promised true social justice in the form of universal healthcare as a right, proper public transit, a total renovation of the income tax acts, and so on. Power remained in the hands of only a few, and neither party seemed willing to change that.
Yeah, I agree on that assessment of American politics. I see this in Montana, where there's no real answering of people's real needs from the Democratic Party candidates (Jon Tester always an exception to that).
Identity and belonging are I think far more relevant than most people think about. People will fight hard for their identity, even if it's something like a job (coal mining, oil drilling) that is making them or their family sick. I think that's true for about anyone, and it's hard to see how things will change if those running for office don't see that!
Hey, I think this is so well done. I was really taken on a walk in my mind (that’s not quite the right word…I was going to write ‘journey’ but, like, everyone everywhere is always on a journey so the image has become more and more diluted) by your articulate setting out of the material and your thoughts, your elaboration of it. Your writing often has the quality of chiming with something I have been thinking about before reading it; here your inclusion of Ijeoma Oluo’s discussion of the importance of how we we live in the context of the world we live in resonated with me a lot (and I loved the inclusion of your grandparents in this aspect of life who have somehow stayed with me since your piece about them).
I find your work incredibly rewarding to read, Antonia. I am so impressed.
Thank you, Nicolas! I really appreciate that, especially as the effect you're describing here is a lot of what I work toward when writing almost anything, but especially something like this. I *do* want to talk people on a walk. And I appreciate the distinction from "journey" -- you're right that that particular image has become somewhat diluted, but also it in some ways implies a beginning and end, whereas what I want is for the mind to find itself open to a wider range of possibilities at the end of our walk. 😌
Hey, yes: I agree with your point about the inherent implication of both beginning and end in a journey; often, it just isn’t like that. Otherwise we’e be stuttering and starting and stoping and ending like all the time with various different ideas, plans, thoughts. It would be exhausting! So, walk really does seem much better.
I have to say, on rereading my original comment, that I hope you didn’t find the words (not the sentiment) of my final line patriarchal. How they could be read slightly makes my teeth itch looking at them now in retrospect! I hope you will know from my work that that isn’t my scene.
It probes into the very heart of the human condition. Reading it conjured up (in my own bizarre form of synthesis) Earnest Becker's "Denial of Death," the writings of René Girard, and Sheldon Solomon's "Terror Management Theory," which is based upon the work of Becker. And I can't wait to read Hoffer's book.
I may come back and write a bit more once I've had the opportunity to reread your essay without five other things pulling on my attention. I will also read your essay in HCN. Thank you so much for sharing.
“Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.”
I haven't heard of any of those books, Ken, and am certain that if you recommend them I will find them enlightening in many ways.
And yes, it can never be said enough. For these movements to work, enemies have to be created. I can't remember if I've written this here before, but it's something I say a lot, that every ideology eventually leads to eugenics: "It would all be fine if only we could get rid of *those* people ..."
Such a timely post. I do believe there is a way out for many who have become ensnared in mass movement thinking. And I certainly don’t have any answers either. But I want to work on enabling myself to become a doorway to anyone I know who may be looking for one.
I have to say to that this idea of boredom being the pathway really rings true. Thank you for sharing this work.
I’ve said it before, Antonia. But I want to say again how much I love your recordings.
I like how you put that, "enabling myself to become a doorway to anyone I know who may be looking for one." I think that's a huge idea, actually. One that so many of us can walk with and figure out how it might work for us (if it works). Reminds me of one of DL Mayfield's interviews a while back on building emotional resilience, too. Keeping in touch with what we're capable of taking on, while seeking to be part of solutions for the world.
And thank you! I'm enjoying doing them more and more. It feels different since I gave up my smartphone and use a voice recorder, but I'm getting used to it.
I don’t know when you made the change in recording equipment. But for what it’s worth, I didn’t notice. The sound quality is still great.
And along with being a door, I think it’s wise to remember too that we’re not often able to make any immediate sweeping changes but more likely to be able to plant seeds or foster good will.
I think this was the second essay using the voice recorder. Thank you!
And absolutely -- seeds. I see a lot of people recently discussing Octavia Butler's mid-1990s speculative fiction book The Parable of the Sower, specifically focusing on the ethos/religion Earthseed she developed in it. It's a terrifying book, but there are also those seeds of something better.
Maybe just semantics but as someone who spends most of his time writing about the need for a mass movement to transform the insanely self destructive elements of today’s economy I’m missing something in this piece…
Although I did enjoy reading it and found it superbly written!
I think I understand what you're saying. The True Believer is almost exclusively about mass movements that cause suffering and destruction. His mention of Gandhi and Lincoln are the only instances of a mass movement that can be for good. I don't think it's that he didn't believe it was possible, but that this was written so soon after World War II and the realities of the Holocaust and so on that he was focused mostly on how Nazism had so much support in Germany.
When I wrote that essay for Aeon about riots, I ended up more in the area of what you're talking about, which I didn't quite expect. Writing about riotous movements that came about because people were fighting against injustice and for something better. We do need a mass movement along the lines of what you're describing. Maybe even in part because mass movements for the opposite are so persistent.
I appreciate your reading and commenting! Good reminder.
#1 though, Give up on reform. I mean, she's right.
I just wrote half an essay on fixing our county comprehensive plan while, as your writing explains so well, the problems are rooted in private ownership of land that was stolen in the first place.
How to get there from here, that's the question. How to create that kind of mass movement today.
I think all we can truly do at each moment is hold in balance the small actions we can take now, with the immensity of the story that got us here. As in, we can't fix it all all at once, but also need to keep in sight the larger narratives and structures and the deeper times they exist in.
Love this essay Nia! The research is in-depth, accurate, and resonant with the current global mass movements in accord with fear and uncertainty. I love how Hoffer attributes hate to “consciousness of our helplessness, inadequacy and cowardice”. That is exactly what it is.
I also love the fact that positive stories like Gandhi and Lincoln were not missed. Though the waves of mass hate and projection of contempt may seem ominously present as we go about the world, I am sure significant positive anti-hate movements using compass of empathy, trust and compassion are also constantly evolving into more applicable frameworks like the leftist french government’s work in France as we speak.
There is much work to be done and there is hope. It’s time we all roll up our sleeves and get on with it. And always so happy to see you acknowledge the spirit, courage, and integrity of your ancestors.💜
Thank you, Swarna! As always, solidarity sisters ...
I always wish he'd spent more time writing about mass movements for *good,* especially in Gandhi's case because there's a tremendous amount to learn there. But maybe he did in some of his other books, which I haven't read.
Reading your comment brings me back to something I think about a lot, which is that movements for good need a lot more joy. And I've seen more of that over the past few years. Defiant joy, we could even call it in some cases. I love seeing it. It's like what some in the climate movement have talked about, that too many activists talk about what people have to give up without also showing how much better *everyone's* quality of life would be. Like walking! A walkable world is healthier for all life, but also a lot more joyful and rewarding!
I think we are rolling up our sleeves and getting on with it, in a way. At least, we're trying, even if the news stories that beat us down try to convince us that we're few and far between. We're not. 🧚🕯️
I agree Nia. There is an innate feeling of joy generated by doing something good specially by organising for a positive change. People need to stop thinking and talking about activism as some kind of martyrdom, we need to agree that we do it because we love the world in that way. Like in your case, you walk because walking is your prayer to mother earth. And of course then there is the collective spirit of doing good with what we choose to do together.
I love how you put it - ‘defiant joy’ - indeed!
We aren’t far away and rare, only if we sit in front of the river and close our eyes and can hear the cicadas and crickets, we will be able to internalize the nature of our interconnectedness. The world is more beautiful and reality more bearable when we slow down and abandon the smart devices 💜
"We do it because we love the world in that way." ❤️🔥
And yes, I believe this 100%: "The world is more beautiful and reality more bearable when we slow down and abandon the smart devices 💜". I feel everything settle down and ease when I let go of everything else and just be with the natural world.
"But I’ve got a lot of influences in my life, including my Russian grandparents, to remind me that self-protection doesn’t have to be one’s only driving force."
I really love that story and the reminder it offers that the human heart can be filled anywhere. A lot of us either live in places we haven't chosen or in places we love but that present other challenges, such as the ruling party. I don't have enough time to comment at length, but it strikes me that one thing a well-rounded education used to teach (and still can) is humility. The more education has become a credentialing system for predetermined ends, the less it invites the healthy forms of doubting that are the best antidote to true belief. The New England Puritans illustrated the rigidity you describe. Mary Rowlandson is a good example of how everything could be attributed to Providence. Good times were signs of God's favor, and hardship was just God testing those he loved.
That is such an interesting and important perspective. I appreciate that. In the first version of this essay, I had a footnote about critical thinking (critical race theory was much in the news at the time) and my own experience of competitive debate in high school, and how important I think that kind of debate is for thinking critically. (Not that it has to be competitive, but I'd love to see it integrated into history and English classes, at least.) I hadn't thought of this until reading your comment, but having to defend a proposition from both sides, and from as many angles as you can think of, does teach a kind of humility as well as critical thinking. It's hard to do that on a regular basis and walk the world thinking you know everything. (Though a lot of debaters were pretty arrogant, so I'll have to think about that more.)
But that deeper humility, yes. It seems integral to compassion and empathy as well. And something that Cherokee elder Stan Rushworth has talked about that I think about a lot, reprioritizing and understanding that as humans in this world we have responsibilities as well as rights.
That's a great phrasing, "the healthy forms of doubting that are the best antidote to true belief."
Thank you for sharing this incredibly important essay again. I read The True Believer many years ago, and it helped me see the signs of these movements.
I am so glad to know you've read it, and not surprised! It's such an important book. My dad urges me to reread it now and then, especially over the last couple of years, seeing as how Russia slid right back into authoritarianism. (He also had me read Spin Dictators. If you don't know that one, it's worth reading, though it's a lot more academic and less engaging. Still, important work in there.)
Hoffer's descriptions (really vivid!) seem to be directed more at the reasons people *become* true believers: the seductive appeal of ideology, groupthink and hatred. But at least in these passages he doesn't speak so much about the emotional bonds of community and solidarity (however warped), and I wonder about those who have never really known any other community or way of life; for whom it's simply the water they swim in. The children of those Montana legislators, people who grew up going to their churches, have lived among those communities for decades....for every bully and hater who grabs onto a mass movement for dear life, I suspect there is another who just inherits it, or passively gets absorbed. Maybe for every fanatic and hater there is someone who pretends to hate and believes because they don't know where else to go, or they want to support their friends and family. So there could be some spit and glue holding together these mass movements, too.
Probably just wishful thinking - but I like to think not everyone has jumped in feet-first.
Oh, yes, that's a great point. No, the bonds of community and solidarity aren't that much part of the book, though I think he refers to them in an oblique way by talking about the attraction of a sense of belonging. That's what all humans want, connection and belonging. And you're right, there are plenty of people who are simply raised within those kinds of groups and already *have* that connection and belonging, like that guy Derek Black who was raised in extreme neo-Nazi circles. It's something that really concerns me about a lot of the evangelical mega-churches where I live. Not all of them preach extremism, but many of them preach forms of bigotry, while at the same time providing a sense of community and connection for those who attend. It is very, very hard to question opinions, judgments, and actions when everyone around you believes in them. That's the kind of thing C Thi Nguyen gets at more directly.
So no, I don't think it's wishful thinking! In many cases the groupthink is already primed.
This is why when people preach about the importance of intellectual courage and the strength to question assumptions, even though strictly speaking they're right I get a little annoyed. Intellectual courage is definitely a real thing, and probably a necessary condition for everything else. But when you're trapped in these communities and tight-knit networks of ideology, in practice it's not just a matter of freeing your mind or having the courage to believe otherwise; you're putting your entire self and familiar world on the line, risking everything dear and familiar to you. Maybe even putting your body on the line, if you go too far. In these situations, the courage to question beliefs and judgments and arrive at your own becomes inseparable from being morally and existentially courageous, period.
This may sound like a weird reference, but when I made the comment above I found myself thinking about Season 5 of Fargo which depicts an extreme example of one of these insular universes. (If you haven't seen it I recommend, it's great! No one does toxic masculinity better than Jon Hamm). Not necessarily the best example, but you do get a sense that a few of those characters are frightened or confused, and secretly want out.
This is right on the nose, and I think part of what C Thi Nguyen gets at, though I've read and heard others talk about it more directly. Even if your physical safety isn't at stake (and it often is), humans are evolved to be connected and social. The threat of disconnection and exclusion hits at a primal level, a threat to survival. (I have a real problem with religious sects that use shunning and exclusion as a way of keeping communities cohesive. It seems cruel, if effective for its goals.)
It's something that frustrates me with progressive people where I live. Progressive/liberal-minded people, as long as social and politics goes, are in a small minority in my area. And yet few of them seem to understand the kinds of information ecosystems most of our neighbors are absorbing. It's a tiring conversation, constantly pointing out that you can't fact-check your way into changing someone's mind when both their social spheres and their information ecosystems exist in close to a differently reality.
I have not seen Fargo though I've heard about it a lot! You know, every time you comment you leave me with a new avenue to watch or read that I always learn from.
Couldn't help mentioning Fargo, I’m such a huge fan! Season 5 is actually a great one to start with (each season is standalone w-totally different plot and cast, so sequence doesn't matter). The very last 18 minute scene from the season finale is in my opinion one of the great scenes in television.
You’re such a fascinating, exceptional writer. This was a great read, and I will be thinking about it for a while. It does seem as if there is nothing new under the sun…
Excellent thoughts, thank you for writing them. I too think a lot about belonging and identity and human flourishing. I believe social connection is essential for flourishing.
Early in your essay, I went on a minor tangent. I thought about one of the main reasons that the MAGA movement took off was because voters rightly didn't discern a difference between the two parties, in terms of how they both were captured by the capitalist patriarchy, and in terms of how corrupt they seemed to be (Bill Clinton being an exemplar of corruption on the left). Neither party promised true social justice in the form of universal healthcare as a right, proper public transit, a total renovation of the income tax acts, and so on. Power remained in the hands of only a few, and neither party seemed willing to change that.
Yeah, I agree on that assessment of American politics. I see this in Montana, where there's no real answering of people's real needs from the Democratic Party candidates (Jon Tester always an exception to that).
Identity and belonging are I think far more relevant than most people think about. People will fight hard for their identity, even if it's something like a job (coal mining, oil drilling) that is making them or their family sick. I think that's true for about anyone, and it's hard to see how things will change if those running for office don't see that!
Thank you for these thoughts! They're important.
Hey, I think this is so well done. I was really taken on a walk in my mind (that’s not quite the right word…I was going to write ‘journey’ but, like, everyone everywhere is always on a journey so the image has become more and more diluted) by your articulate setting out of the material and your thoughts, your elaboration of it. Your writing often has the quality of chiming with something I have been thinking about before reading it; here your inclusion of Ijeoma Oluo’s discussion of the importance of how we we live in the context of the world we live in resonated with me a lot (and I loved the inclusion of your grandparents in this aspect of life who have somehow stayed with me since your piece about them).
I find your work incredibly rewarding to read, Antonia. I am so impressed.
Thank you, Nicolas! I really appreciate that, especially as the effect you're describing here is a lot of what I work toward when writing almost anything, but especially something like this. I *do* want to talk people on a walk. And I appreciate the distinction from "journey" -- you're right that that particular image has become somewhat diluted, but also it in some ways implies a beginning and end, whereas what I want is for the mind to find itself open to a wider range of possibilities at the end of our walk. 😌
Hey, yes: I agree with your point about the inherent implication of both beginning and end in a journey; often, it just isn’t like that. Otherwise we’e be stuttering and starting and stoping and ending like all the time with various different ideas, plans, thoughts. It would be exhausting! So, walk really does seem much better.
I have to say, on rereading my original comment, that I hope you didn’t find the words (not the sentiment) of my final line patriarchal. How they could be read slightly makes my teeth itch looking at them now in retrospect! I hope you will know from my work that that isn’t my scene.
I needed this today. Thank you.
Appreciate you, Hannah. 🧡
Antonia! This is a fantastic essay!
It probes into the very heart of the human condition. Reading it conjured up (in my own bizarre form of synthesis) Earnest Becker's "Denial of Death," the writings of René Girard, and Sheldon Solomon's "Terror Management Theory," which is based upon the work of Becker. And I can't wait to read Hoffer's book.
I may come back and write a bit more once I've had the opportunity to reread your essay without five other things pulling on my attention. I will also read your essay in HCN. Thank you so much for sharing.
“Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.”
Indeed.
I haven't heard of any of those books, Ken, and am certain that if you recommend them I will find them enlightening in many ways.
And yes, it can never be said enough. For these movements to work, enemies have to be created. I can't remember if I've written this here before, but it's something I say a lot, that every ideology eventually leads to eugenics: "It would all be fine if only we could get rid of *those* people ..."
Nia, I love this essay so much and will share widely. I’m angry, frustrated, and exhausted as well, but your writing offers seeds of hope. ❤️
I am so glad, Greg. Thank you.
Such a timely post. I do believe there is a way out for many who have become ensnared in mass movement thinking. And I certainly don’t have any answers either. But I want to work on enabling myself to become a doorway to anyone I know who may be looking for one.
I have to say to that this idea of boredom being the pathway really rings true. Thank you for sharing this work.
I’ve said it before, Antonia. But I want to say again how much I love your recordings.
I like how you put that, "enabling myself to become a doorway to anyone I know who may be looking for one." I think that's a huge idea, actually. One that so many of us can walk with and figure out how it might work for us (if it works). Reminds me of one of DL Mayfield's interviews a while back on building emotional resilience, too. Keeping in touch with what we're capable of taking on, while seeking to be part of solutions for the world.
And thank you! I'm enjoying doing them more and more. It feels different since I gave up my smartphone and use a voice recorder, but I'm getting used to it.
I don’t know when you made the change in recording equipment. But for what it’s worth, I didn’t notice. The sound quality is still great.
And along with being a door, I think it’s wise to remember too that we’re not often able to make any immediate sweeping changes but more likely to be able to plant seeds or foster good will.
I think this was the second essay using the voice recorder. Thank you!
And absolutely -- seeds. I see a lot of people recently discussing Octavia Butler's mid-1990s speculative fiction book The Parable of the Sower, specifically focusing on the ethos/religion Earthseed she developed in it. It's a terrifying book, but there are also those seeds of something better.
Thank you for making me think! Other Substack essays make me laugh, make me stress; but to make me think is precious.
Hey, thank you! That is my hope for these kinds of essays. Thinking is fun in any case. 😉
Maybe just semantics but as someone who spends most of his time writing about the need for a mass movement to transform the insanely self destructive elements of today’s economy I’m missing something in this piece…
Although I did enjoy reading it and found it superbly written!
I think I understand what you're saying. The True Believer is almost exclusively about mass movements that cause suffering and destruction. His mention of Gandhi and Lincoln are the only instances of a mass movement that can be for good. I don't think it's that he didn't believe it was possible, but that this was written so soon after World War II and the realities of the Holocaust and so on that he was focused mostly on how Nazism had so much support in Germany.
When I wrote that essay for Aeon about riots, I ended up more in the area of what you're talking about, which I didn't quite expect. Writing about riotous movements that came about because people were fighting against injustice and for something better. We do need a mass movement along the lines of what you're describing. Maybe even in part because mass movements for the opposite are so persistent.
I appreciate your reading and commenting! Good reminder.
Nia, this is so good, and so timely. I love that you linked to ljeoma Oluo's piece. Words to live by.
Than you, John. And yeah, I read Oluo's piece several times and felt my shoulders un-slump with each read.
#1 though, Give up on reform. I mean, she's right.
I just wrote half an essay on fixing our county comprehensive plan while, as your writing explains so well, the problems are rooted in private ownership of land that was stolen in the first place.
How to get there from here, that's the question. How to create that kind of mass movement today.
I think all we can truly do at each moment is hold in balance the small actions we can take now, with the immensity of the story that got us here. As in, we can't fix it all all at once, but also need to keep in sight the larger narratives and structures and the deeper times they exist in.
That feels so true. And even more so today then when I posed the question.
Love this essay Nia! The research is in-depth, accurate, and resonant with the current global mass movements in accord with fear and uncertainty. I love how Hoffer attributes hate to “consciousness of our helplessness, inadequacy and cowardice”. That is exactly what it is.
I also love the fact that positive stories like Gandhi and Lincoln were not missed. Though the waves of mass hate and projection of contempt may seem ominously present as we go about the world, I am sure significant positive anti-hate movements using compass of empathy, trust and compassion are also constantly evolving into more applicable frameworks like the leftist french government’s work in France as we speak.
There is much work to be done and there is hope. It’s time we all roll up our sleeves and get on with it. And always so happy to see you acknowledge the spirit, courage, and integrity of your ancestors.💜
Thank you, Swarna! As always, solidarity sisters ...
I always wish he'd spent more time writing about mass movements for *good,* especially in Gandhi's case because there's a tremendous amount to learn there. But maybe he did in some of his other books, which I haven't read.
Reading your comment brings me back to something I think about a lot, which is that movements for good need a lot more joy. And I've seen more of that over the past few years. Defiant joy, we could even call it in some cases. I love seeing it. It's like what some in the climate movement have talked about, that too many activists talk about what people have to give up without also showing how much better *everyone's* quality of life would be. Like walking! A walkable world is healthier for all life, but also a lot more joyful and rewarding!
I think we are rolling up our sleeves and getting on with it, in a way. At least, we're trying, even if the news stories that beat us down try to convince us that we're few and far between. We're not. 🧚🕯️
I agree Nia. There is an innate feeling of joy generated by doing something good specially by organising for a positive change. People need to stop thinking and talking about activism as some kind of martyrdom, we need to agree that we do it because we love the world in that way. Like in your case, you walk because walking is your prayer to mother earth. And of course then there is the collective spirit of doing good with what we choose to do together.
I love how you put it - ‘defiant joy’ - indeed!
We aren’t far away and rare, only if we sit in front of the river and close our eyes and can hear the cicadas and crickets, we will be able to internalize the nature of our interconnectedness. The world is more beautiful and reality more bearable when we slow down and abandon the smart devices 💜
"We do it because we love the world in that way." ❤️🔥
And yes, I believe this 100%: "The world is more beautiful and reality more bearable when we slow down and abandon the smart devices 💜". I feel everything settle down and ease when I let go of everything else and just be with the natural world.
💜💜💜
"But I’ve got a lot of influences in my life, including my Russian grandparents, to remind me that self-protection doesn’t have to be one’s only driving force."
I really love that story and the reminder it offers that the human heart can be filled anywhere. A lot of us either live in places we haven't chosen or in places we love but that present other challenges, such as the ruling party. I don't have enough time to comment at length, but it strikes me that one thing a well-rounded education used to teach (and still can) is humility. The more education has become a credentialing system for predetermined ends, the less it invites the healthy forms of doubting that are the best antidote to true belief. The New England Puritans illustrated the rigidity you describe. Mary Rowlandson is a good example of how everything could be attributed to Providence. Good times were signs of God's favor, and hardship was just God testing those he loved.
That is such an interesting and important perspective. I appreciate that. In the first version of this essay, I had a footnote about critical thinking (critical race theory was much in the news at the time) and my own experience of competitive debate in high school, and how important I think that kind of debate is for thinking critically. (Not that it has to be competitive, but I'd love to see it integrated into history and English classes, at least.) I hadn't thought of this until reading your comment, but having to defend a proposition from both sides, and from as many angles as you can think of, does teach a kind of humility as well as critical thinking. It's hard to do that on a regular basis and walk the world thinking you know everything. (Though a lot of debaters were pretty arrogant, so I'll have to think about that more.)
But that deeper humility, yes. It seems integral to compassion and empathy as well. And something that Cherokee elder Stan Rushworth has talked about that I think about a lot, reprioritizing and understanding that as humans in this world we have responsibilities as well as rights.
That's a great phrasing, "the healthy forms of doubting that are the best antidote to true belief."
Learn Em' Antonia!
Haha, thank you! It's a communal effort. 😉
Thank you for sharing this incredibly important essay again. I read The True Believer many years ago, and it helped me see the signs of these movements.
I am so glad to know you've read it, and not surprised! It's such an important book. My dad urges me to reread it now and then, especially over the last couple of years, seeing as how Russia slid right back into authoritarianism. (He also had me read Spin Dictators. If you don't know that one, it's worth reading, though it's a lot more academic and less engaging. Still, important work in there.)
New subscriber here! And this essay certainly makes me glad I subscribed.
Welcome, and thank you!
Hoffer's descriptions (really vivid!) seem to be directed more at the reasons people *become* true believers: the seductive appeal of ideology, groupthink and hatred. But at least in these passages he doesn't speak so much about the emotional bonds of community and solidarity (however warped), and I wonder about those who have never really known any other community or way of life; for whom it's simply the water they swim in. The children of those Montana legislators, people who grew up going to their churches, have lived among those communities for decades....for every bully and hater who grabs onto a mass movement for dear life, I suspect there is another who just inherits it, or passively gets absorbed. Maybe for every fanatic and hater there is someone who pretends to hate and believes because they don't know where else to go, or they want to support their friends and family. So there could be some spit and glue holding together these mass movements, too.
Probably just wishful thinking - but I like to think not everyone has jumped in feet-first.
Keep up the great work!
Oh, yes, that's a great point. No, the bonds of community and solidarity aren't that much part of the book, though I think he refers to them in an oblique way by talking about the attraction of a sense of belonging. That's what all humans want, connection and belonging. And you're right, there are plenty of people who are simply raised within those kinds of groups and already *have* that connection and belonging, like that guy Derek Black who was raised in extreme neo-Nazi circles. It's something that really concerns me about a lot of the evangelical mega-churches where I live. Not all of them preach extremism, but many of them preach forms of bigotry, while at the same time providing a sense of community and connection for those who attend. It is very, very hard to question opinions, judgments, and actions when everyone around you believes in them. That's the kind of thing C Thi Nguyen gets at more directly.
So no, I don't think it's wishful thinking! In many cases the groupthink is already primed.
This is why when people preach about the importance of intellectual courage and the strength to question assumptions, even though strictly speaking they're right I get a little annoyed. Intellectual courage is definitely a real thing, and probably a necessary condition for everything else. But when you're trapped in these communities and tight-knit networks of ideology, in practice it's not just a matter of freeing your mind or having the courage to believe otherwise; you're putting your entire self and familiar world on the line, risking everything dear and familiar to you. Maybe even putting your body on the line, if you go too far. In these situations, the courage to question beliefs and judgments and arrive at your own becomes inseparable from being morally and existentially courageous, period.
This may sound like a weird reference, but when I made the comment above I found myself thinking about Season 5 of Fargo which depicts an extreme example of one of these insular universes. (If you haven't seen it I recommend, it's great! No one does toxic masculinity better than Jon Hamm). Not necessarily the best example, but you do get a sense that a few of those characters are frightened or confused, and secretly want out.
This is right on the nose, and I think part of what C Thi Nguyen gets at, though I've read and heard others talk about it more directly. Even if your physical safety isn't at stake (and it often is), humans are evolved to be connected and social. The threat of disconnection and exclusion hits at a primal level, a threat to survival. (I have a real problem with religious sects that use shunning and exclusion as a way of keeping communities cohesive. It seems cruel, if effective for its goals.)
It's something that frustrates me with progressive people where I live. Progressive/liberal-minded people, as long as social and politics goes, are in a small minority in my area. And yet few of them seem to understand the kinds of information ecosystems most of our neighbors are absorbing. It's a tiring conversation, constantly pointing out that you can't fact-check your way into changing someone's mind when both their social spheres and their information ecosystems exist in close to a differently reality.
I have not seen Fargo though I've heard about it a lot! You know, every time you comment you leave me with a new avenue to watch or read that I always learn from.
Couldn't help mentioning Fargo, I’m such a huge fan! Season 5 is actually a great one to start with (each season is standalone w-totally different plot and cast, so sequence doesn't matter). The very last 18 minute scene from the season finale is in my opinion one of the great scenes in television.
I'm sold!
You’re such a fascinating, exceptional writer. This was a great read, and I will be thinking about it for a while. It does seem as if there is nothing new under the sun…
That means so much to me, Elizabeth. Thank you.