Af ter the ter ror ist at tack i n SanBernardino, some people’s minds flew tothe materialistic element of the atrocity —the guns that were used in the killing. Butthe crucial issue, it seems to me, is what youmight call the technology of persuasion— how is it that the Islamic State is ableto radicalize a couple living in Redlands,Calif.? What psychological tools does itpossess that enable it to wield this far-flunginfluence?The best source of wisdom on thisgeneral subject is still “The True Believer,”by Eric Hoffer, which he wrote backin 1951. Hoffer distinguished betweenpract ical organi zat ions and mas smovements. The former, like a companyor a school, offer opportunities for selfadvancement.
The central preoccupationof a mass movement, on the other hand,is self-sacrif ice. The purpose of anorganization like ISIS is to get people tonegate themselves for a larger cause.
Mass movements, he argues, onlyarise in certain conditions, when a oncesturdy social structure is in a state of decayor disintegration. This is a pretty gooddescription of parts of the Arab world. Toa lesser degree it is a good description ofisolated pockets of our own segmenting,individualized society, where some peoplefind themselves totally cut off.
The people who serve mass movementsare not revolting against oppression. Theyare driven primarily by frustration. Theirpersonal ambitions are unfulfilled. Theyhave lost faith in their own abilities torealize their dreams. They sometimes livewith an unrelieved boredom. Freedomaggravates their sense of frustrationbecause they have no one to blame butthemselves for their perceived mediocrity.
Fanatics, the French philosopher ErnestRenan argued, fear liberty more than theyfear persecution.
The succes sf ul mass movementtells such people that the cause of theirfrustration is outside themselves, and thatthe only way to alter their personal situationis to transform the world in some radicalway.
To nur t ur e this sel f- sacr i f icingattitude, the successful mass movementfirst denigrates the present. Its doctrinecelebrates a glorious past and describesa utopian future, but the present is just anuninspiring pit. The golden future begins toseem more vivid and real than the present,and in this way the true believer begins todissociate herself from the everyday factsof her life: Her home, her town, even hernew child. Self-sacrifice is an irrational act,so mass movements get their followers tobelieve that ultimate truth exists in anotherrealm and cannot be derived from livedexperience and direct observation.
Next mass movements denigrate theindividual self. Everything that is uniqueabout an individual is either criticized,forbidden or diminished. The individual’sidentity is defined by the collective groupidentity, and fortified by a cultivated hatredfor other groups.
There’s a lot of self-renunciation goingon here. Ironically the true believer’sfeeling that he is self less can lead toarrogance and merciless cruelty. It can alsobe addictive. If the true believer permittedhimself to lose faith in his creed then allthat self-imposed suffering would havebeen for nothing.
This kind of thinking is fantastical.
“In the practice of mass movements,”Hoffer continues, “make-believe playsperhaps a more enduring role than anyother factor.” The fanatics stage acts ofviolent theatricality, acutely aware oftheir audience. They dress up in militarycostumes. They rent mysterious blackSUVs. Shooting a bunch of unarmedinnocents couldn’t be more pathetic,but they play it with all the theatricaldramaturgy of a Hollywood action movie.
Hoffer summarizes his thought thisway, “For men to plunge headlong intoan under taking of vast change theymust be intensely discontented yet notdestitute, and they must have the feelingthat by the possession of some potentdoctrine, infallible leader or some newtechnique they have access to a source ofirresistible power. They must also have anextravagant conception of the prospectsand potentialities of the future. Finally, theymust be wholly ignorant of the difficultiesinvolved in their vast under taking.
Experience is a handicap.”The big thing that has changed in the past60 odd years is that you don’t actually haveto join a mass movement any more. You canfollow it online and participate remotely.
The cor rect response is st ill thesame, however. First, try to heal thesocial disintegration that is the seedbedof these movements. Second, offerpositive inspiring causes to replace thesuicidal ones. Third, mass movementsare conquered when their charismais destroyed, when they are defeatedmilitarily and humiliated. Then they can nolonger offer hope, inspiration or a plausibleway out for the disaffected.
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DAVID BROOKS>
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