The Steady Eye That Studied Tyranny

I do not know how many of our members are aware of who Eric Hoffer was, or what his legacy is, but you will once you read of his legacy as told by Thomas Sowell in this 2003 article-The Legacy of Eric Hoffer

I emphasized the point he makes about people who are fulfilled in their own lives and careers– we would not be doing this if we didn’t see the need to.

It is an amazing story, as was Eric Hoffer ~

“Hoffer said: “The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause.”

People who are fulfilled in their own lives and careers are not the ones attracted to mass movements: “A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding,” Hoffer said. “When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people’s business.”

What Hoffer was describing was the political busybody, the zealot for a cause — the “true believer,” who filled the ranks of ideological movements that created the totalitarian tyrannies of the 20th century. “

Click here to read the article

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements