The True Believer -- Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

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"Who is the True Believer? According to Eric Hoffer . . . He's the man who, multiplied by thousands, is shaping the world to his image. / He's a guilt-ridden hitchhiker who thumbs a ride on every cause from Christianity to communism. / He's a fanatic, needing a Stalin (or a Christ) to worship and die for. / He's the mortal enemy of things-as-they-are, and he insists on sacrificing himself for a dream impossible to attain. / He is today everywhere on the march." Preface. PART ONE. THE APPEAL OF MASS MOVEMENTS. I. The Desire for Change. II. The Desire for Substitutes. III. The Interchangeability of Mass Movements. PART TWO. THE POTENTlAL CONVERTS. IV. The Role of the Undesirables in Human Affairs. V. The Poor. The New Poor. The Abjectly Poor. The Free Poor. The Creative Poor. The Unified Poor. VI. Misfits. VII. The Inordinately Selfish. VIII. The Ambitious Facing Unlimited Opportunities. IX. Minorities. X. The Bored. XI. The Sinners. PART THREE. UNITED ACTION AND SELF-SACRIFICE. XII. Preface. XIII. Factors Promoting Self-sacrifice. Identification With a Collective Whole. Make-believe. Deprecation of the Present. "Things Which Are Not". Doctrine. Fanaticism. Mass Movements and Armies. XIV. Unifying Agents. Hatred. Imitation. Persuasion and Coercion. Leadership. Action. Suspicion. The Effects of Unification. PART FOUR. BEGINNING AND END. XV. Men of Words. XVI. The Fanatics. XVII. The Practical Men of Action. XVIII. Good and Bad Mass Movements. The Unattractiveness and Sterility of the Active Phase. Some Factors Which Determine the Length of the Active Phase. Useful Mass Movements. Notes.