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 In 1951, when Eric Hoffer's The True Believer was first published, American historians and political scientists were in the grip of the economic interpretation of history. Men were seen as voting or revolting according to the dictates of "the pocketbook nerve", and the Constitution and Civil War was seen as a function of competing economic interests. But Hoffer was ahead of intellectuals in looking deeper for the wellsprings of politics, by linking individual psychology-- what he calls frustration-- to politics. Philosopher Sidney Hook notes Hoffer's thesis in the preface to the 1963 version: "For Hoffer, mass movements-- whether religious, political, or nationalistic, are not abstractions. They crystallize around individual leaders, who are as much as fulfillment of human needs as they are inspirers of human hope. When social conditions are ripe, these men draw to themselves others--their complements-- by virtue of traits of mind which both possess. It is the state of mind of the "true believer", the elect, the initiated, the chosen, the member of the vanguard, doing the work of the Lord or of History or of the Forces of Righteousness. It is a state of mind of a man who is willing to sacrifice himself, if need be to die, for a cause--no matter what the cause. Despite their differences, Hoffer insists, all fanatics are brothers under the skin, and they all play the same role in the psychological structure of belief-systems of mass movements." Thus, the chief differences among men are not to be found in the doctrinal patterns of their beliefs but in the way they hold those beliefs. "Though there are obvious differences between the fanatical Christian, the fanatical Mohammedan, the fanatical nationalist, the fanatical Communist and the fanatical Nazi, it is yet true that the fanaticism which animates them may be viewed and treated as one," Hoffer writes. "The same is true of the force which drives them on to expansion and world dominion. There is a certain uniformity in all types of dedication, of faith, of persuit of power, of unity and of self-sacrifice. There are vast differences in the contents of holy causes and doctrines, but a certain uniformity in factors which make them effective. However different the holy causes people die for, they perhaps die basically for the same thing. "The fanatic is perpetually incomplete and insecure. He cannot generate self-assurance out of his individual resources--out of his rejected self--but finds it only by clinging passionately to whatever support he happens to embrace. He sacrifices his life to prove his worth. "Though they seem at opposite poles, fanatics of all kinds are actually crowded together at one end. It is the fanatic and the moderate who are poles apart and never meet. The fanatics of various hues eye each other with suspicion and are ready to fly at each other's throat. But they are neighbors and almost of one family. They hate each other with the hatred of brothers. They are as far apart and close together as Saul and Paul. And it is easier for a fanatic Communist to be converted to fascism, chauvinism, or Catholicism than to be a sober liberal. "Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves. "The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready is he to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race, or his holy cause. "The burning conviction that we have a holy duty toward others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a passing raft. What looks like giving a hand is often a holding on for dear life. "There is a deep reassurance for the frustrated in witnessing the downfall of the fortunate and the disgrace of the righteous. They see in a general downfall an approach to the brotherhood of all. Chaos, like the grave, is a haven of equality. "Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both." In places, Hoffer may gives the impression that it is only the true believer, the fanatic, who is prepared to give up his life for a cause. In contrast, the moderate, who is not buoyed up by some cosmic faith, appears to be so fearful of pain and death that he cringes before terror and is ever ready to make compromises with evil. Hook, in his preface, does not deny that Hoffer has warrant for this view, but also makes it clear that a man can still remain free and remain loyal to his values. "Those who in the face of totalitarian threats today say that survival at any price is the be-all and the end-all of existence have in effect capitulated to the fanitics who are unafraid to die," Hook writes. "As a morality, this view is contemptible; as a strategy, it is unintelligent. It is morally contemptible because those who endorse it will swallow any infamy in order to live a life unworthy of man. It is unintelligent because the only thing which can restrain fanatics is the fear of failure. Where fanatics have no fear of failure, the likelihood is that in their insanity they will destroy themselves in fanatical war against other fanatics. The gravamen of this analysis, which I believe is not inconsistent with Hoffer's main position, is that moral integrity is not a monopoly of true believers. Those who love life must be prepared to risk life on behalf of the values which make life worth living and worth loving. Those who desire peace with freedom rather than the peace of slavery must be prepared to resist aggression at the cost of their lives. Otherwise, there will be no alternative to the warring absolutisms of true believers until oblivion descends upon the race of man."A Case Study of True Believers
The Jim Jones cult saw 913 people, including 276 children, commit "revolutionary suicide" in 1978.
It was an incident that impressed me at the time, provoking me to write a letter to TIME that was published in the December 25th edition. "Jones saw the handwriting on the wall, and the words spelled nuclear war," I wrote. "So, choosing to march to a different drumbeat, Jones' disciples followed him into the jungle. Their humanistic dream: to build a better world. But, as it turned out, the handwriting was a forgery, the drummer was mad, the humanism bankrupt, and the dream a nightmare."
A recent documentary on the History Channel showed kids and teenagers lining up to take their cyanide-laced Flavor-Aid joy juice. A few resisted Jones' communion of death and were either injected or shot. But the majority were swept into annihilation by a collective death wish.
It is both scary and fascinating to see how organizations can envelope even tough-minded people by its own twisted logic. In the Jones case, there were a few people who protested, most notably, Christine Miller. The transcript of the final moments of those who died is chilling, as it reveals the power of pathological group thinking. In the back-and-forth between Christine Miller and Jones, the balance could have tipped towards life, but the force of the fanaticism of the true believers was too great. So she, along with Jones and almost a thousand others died.
In contemplating the landscape of those who died-- as grotesque as the corpse-littered village they left behind, I'm reminded of Dostoyevsky in
That those who lived in the commune were malnourished, overworked, brainwashed by an increasingly paranoid leader, and consumed with demonstrations of loyality and threats from outside their Eden only partially explains the mind of the fanatic who, as Hoffer points out, embraces chaos. "When the old order begins to crack, he wades in with all his might and recklessness to blow the whole hatred present to high heavens. He glories in the sight of a world coming to a sudden end."
Here is a transcript of Jones exhorting his flock to sip potassium cyanide and potassium chloride mixed with purple juice from Dixie cups and also some of the cast members in this macabre true-life one-act play.
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"Look children, it's just something to put you to rest. Oh, God. (Children crying.) Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, please. Mother, please, please, please. Don't--don't do this. Don't do this. Lay down your life with your child." |
"Well, I don't see it like that. I mean, I feel like that--as long as there's life, there's hope. That's my faith." |
THE CAST
"I don't know what you're talking about, having an individual life." |
"Everybody keep calm and try and keep your children calm." |