[Eleutheria5]

An old article by yet another intellectual giant, Mr. Sowell, that I post here only because I just finished reading Hoffer's Ordeal of Change, only the second book that I've read of his, the first being The True Believer.

[SMARTY]

I love Hoffer and I have read him for years.

[Pining_4_TX]

Hoffer missed out on formal schooling. No wonder he turned out to be so well-educated and wise.

[ClearCase_guy]

Truly, for those who have never read his books, Hoffer is a great treasure who should be discovered. His books are short and accessible and filled with great insight.

[Jacquerie]

His opening to Chapter XV:

“Mass movements do not usually rise until the prevailing order has been discredited.”

Only the shell of our thoroughly discredited republic remains. It is time.

[demshateGod]

I read the headline as “The Legacy of Eric Holder” and kept waiting for him to make it in. Great article though. We’re incorporating “The Great Books” style into our kids’ education.

[Portcall24]

“How many people today even know of this remarkable man with no formal schooling, who spent his life in manual labor.”

I was on my way to Vietnam and mentioned how much I respected Eric Hoffer to my dad. The next thing I know all of his books arrived in the mail in Vietnam. Dad had found his phone number and called him to share my admiration and find out where he could buy the books for me. This brings tears to my eyes because my dad worked so hard all his life as a Signal Maintainer for the SP but was a voracious reader.

[Ohioan]

Hoffer's discussion of the psychology of the "true believer," paints a picture quite consistent with the "reasoning" of many of those caught up in the Obama movement. It is not about anything supported by analysis of social problems or conditions--rather more about those who feel inadequate to deal with reality, puffing themselves up with whatever cause is handy.

William Flax

[Eric in the Ozarks]

One of my favorite liberals.

[aquila48]

“Hoffer’s insights may help explain something that many of us have found very puzzling — the offspring of wealthy families spending their lives and their inherited money backing radical movements.”

Ain’t that the truth - history is full of examples from Lenin to Bill Ayres to OWS.

[Prospero]

Don't forget "the Passionate State of Mind."

I keep copies of The True Believer around to pass along to friends, and my own copy of "Ordeal" is getting pretty dog-eared.

I could easily become a True Believer in The True Believer. Imagine if Hoffer's work had been more generally applied following 9-11. The history of the past decade might have been radically different if Islam had been understood in the context of a Hofferian mass movement.

No one had a better fix on why Germany arose under the Nazis than Hoffer.