introduction

Part 1: The Allure of Mass Movements

Chapter 1: The Desire for Change
Chapter 2: The Longing for Self-Denial
Chapter 3 Compatibility of Mass Movements

Part 2 Potential Converts

Chapter 4: The Role of the Dishonorable in Human History
Chapter 5 The Poor
New poor
pauper
The poor who gained freedom
Creative Poor, the poor who stick together
Chapter 6: The Misfits
Chapter 7: The Selfish Person
Chapter 8: An Ambitious Man Faced with Infinite Opportunities
Chapter 9 Minorities
Chapter 10: The Bored Man
Chapter 11: Sinners

Part 3: Unity and Self-Sacrifice

Chapter 12 Preface
Chapter 13: Factors that Promote Self-Sacrifice
The tendency to identify with a group
theatricality
Degrading reality
“What hasn’t come yet”
program
fanaticism
Mass movements and the military
Chapter 14: The Motives of Unity
hatred
imitation
Persuasion and coercion
director
action
doubt
The effect of unity

Part 4: Beginning and End

Chapter 15: Intellectuals
Chapter 16: The Fanatic
Chapter 17: Activists with Their Feet in Reality
Chapter 18: Good Mass Movements and Bad Mass Movements
The poverty of the dynamic mass movement
Several factors determine the duration of the dynamic period.
Beneficial mass movement

main

Dissecting the phenomenon of blind and deaf faith, blind faith!
Aphorisms of a Self-Taught Dockworker

Eric Hoffer, a dockworker in San Francisco in the 1940s, wrote in his spare time while working.
It was an aphorism written during the period when totalitarian systems such as fascism, Nazism, and communism were rising in reaction to the Great Depression.
In 1951, the first book of 'The Self-Taught Dockworker' was published, and he gained great fame through this work.
At the time the book was published, the world was still reeling from the shock of World War II and the reigns of Hitler and Stalin, and the Cold War was just beginning to take hold.
What psychological motivations lie behind the followers of the Nazis and Stalin? Furthermore, why do some abandon their own selves and fanatically devote themselves to groups like the state, church, or political party? Hoffer's provocative analysis traces the psychological factors behind fanaticism and the nature of mass movements.

This book addresses the common characteristics of many mass movements.
Hopper says that all types of devotion and belief, will to power, unity and self-sacrifice have certain uniform properties.
It is clear that fanatic Christians, fanatic Muslims, fanatic nationalists, fanatic communists, and fanatic Nazis are different from each other, but it is argued that they can be categorized as one because of their 'fanaticism'.
The 'mass movement' discussed in this book encompasses not only anti-system resistance movements, but also all movements in which humans form groups and exert a certain level of influence.
It encompasses the early Christian movement, the Reformation, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, Nazism, the modernization of Japan, and the Zionist movement.

Many who participate in nascent mass movements are easily lured by the prospect of their lives changing dramatically in an instant.
The leaders of the mass movement also see through these aspirations of the masses and incite them by telling them that if they overcome the paltry present, a glorious future awaits them.
Those who are drawn to this rosy future are often frustrated people.
Frustrated people who despise their current selves prefer radical changes that completely change their lives.
Because of the psychological state of these frustrated people who yearn for change, says Hoffer, all nascent mass movements tend to appeal to the frustrated.


According to him, the more a person is consumed by self-loathing and the feeling of worthlessness, the easier it is for him to break away from himself and pursue something that seems more perfect and noble.
It is an escape from one's own petty, broken life by pouring one's energy into a noble cause.
A truly frustrated person needs something to which he or she can cling passionately, whether it be religion, a social revolution, or a national movement.
So, according to Hopper, it makes sense for a fanatical communist to turn into a fanatical patriot or fanatical Catholic.
For a blind believer, it doesn't matter what the cause or ideal is.
It depends on how passionately you can cling to it.

So it's not entirely absurd for people to risk their lives for certain beliefs or causes.
A person who is consumed by self-loathing rejects himself and becomes completely integrated into one organization.
He experiences passion and power only when he is in the bosom of a sacred organization such as a church, a state, or a political party.
Therefore, sacrificing one's life for an organization or a cause is a way to prove one's worth.
If the organization must resort to violence to achieve its glorious future, it can become even more ruthless.
Hopper's book, which cleverly traces the process by which an individual becomes a fanatic, transcends time and space and serves as a guide to understanding the psychology of extreme terrorists and suicide bombers.

Living in uncertain times
What does Hopper's voice mean to us?

This book is not simply a book that deals with the theory of mass movements.
It is a psychological book that clearly and concisely analyzes the human mind and behavior, and it is also a book of social philosophy that traces the motivations, psychology, types of participants, and inner selves of people participating in mass movements.
Hopper's insight is particularly brilliant when discussing the military, hatred, persuasion and coercion, intellectuals, and minorities.
In the final chapter, Hopper examines the origins and maturity of mass movements, and argues that for a mass movement to continue properly, three types of people must play different roles at each stage of development.
Intellectuals should lay the foundation for a mass movement, fanatics should realize the mass movement, and practical activists should solidify the mass movement.
Nazism ended in disaster because it was led to maturity by a fanatical leader named Hitler.

Hopper cites Lincoln, Gandhi, and F.
D. He names leaders like Roosevelt and Churchill.
Unlike Hitler, Stalin, Luther, and Calvin, they did not use frustrated souls as material for mass movements.
These “leaders’ confidence comes from their faith in humanity, and the belief that no one can be honorable unless they themselves treat humanity honorably.” Hoffer seems to approach the zealots who spark and lead mass movements in their early (dynamic or active) stages with a kind of disgust, but he emphasizes that mass movements are a factor in awakening and reforming stagnant societies.


Any mass movement, no matter how noble its original purpose, leaves behind harm, whether great or small.
Hopper suggests that it is not good for a dynamism mass movement to be too long, and that a good leader, like Gandhi, should know when to end the dynamism.
The goals of a mass movement do not have to be lofty.
The English ideal of a gentleman's country and the French ideal of a pensionable life for retirees are specific and limited.
Vague goals create opportunities for extremism.

Hopper, who worked as a manual laborer and never stopped reading and writing throughout his life, believed that “ordinary, everyday events make history.”
Hopper was wary of giving up his own individuality and identity and submitting to authority.
He was a man who “trusted his eyes more than his ears.”
Rather than blindly following a set code of conduct, he planned his own life based on his own judgment and experience.
In an uncertain world, more and more people are searching for the 'absolute truth' or 'miracle' that will solve all their problems.
That's why Hopper's voice remains relevant in an age of rapid change.

“If you want to understand the psychology of fanatics and the dynamics that drive nascent mass movements, read this book.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Bright with icy wit and packed with piercingly accurate analysis, The Believers is a powerful, mind-bending book.” —The New York Times

“This book, an original and brilliant exploration of the nature of mass movements, is a valuable contribution to the social thought of our time.” —Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. (historian)

“An excellent book that rigorously examines the phenomenon of political fanaticism.” —The New Yorker

“Hoffer’s work ranks among the most provocative books of our time.” —The Christian Science Monitor