“Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility…to be free from freedom.”
– The True Believers
For the fourth night, Minneapolis suffered some of the worst looting and acts of arson the city has ever seen. This criminal behavior followed the unlawful death of George Floyd, at the hands of a Minneapolis Police Officer. While the underlying reason for their anger is certainly justified and understandable, their ensuing actions are not. Yet, this is not simply a case of black America rising up to take back its power, it is just the latest spectacle in the cult of progressive liberalism.
The ultimate goal of a mass movement is to infect its followers with a common disease and then make the movement the cure. The aggrieved seek power in numbers while commiserating in their common fate. Their perceived absence of opportunity makes individual freedom and initiative a burden. When discontent with one’s circumstances is turned into resentment, common hatred is encouraged by creating a shared adversary. In Saul Alinsky’s 1971 book, “Rules for Radicals”, Alinsky writes, “Men will act when they are convinced that their cause is 100 percent on the side of the angels and that the opposition is 100 percent on the side of the devils”. This divide-and-conquer tactic breeds hatred and distrust toward one’s enemies while converting fanatics into martyrs.
The desire for unity requires the death of individuality in favor of the group. Individual will, purpose, and opinion must be squelched to reach their end. Eliminating competition in favor of the safety of a group, allows them never to be measured against another to reveal their inferiority. Then by supporting a collectivist mindset, they are free of sole responsibility. Anyone vulnerable to a mentality of victimhood is a prime target for membership. A well-crafted movement can provide all that is needed: agitation, a mission, and a free ride to the promised land.
In the 1950s, preacher Jim Jones created his own movement, The People’s Temple. A self-described Marxist Communist, Jones chose God as the common enemy to unify his congregants and religion as a cover for his collectivist agenda. After learning of an exposé that would reveal physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in the church, Jones moved the group to Guyana to a place called Jonestown, a socialist paradise, named after himself. In 1978, after killing a US representative who was investigating human rights abuses within the cult, Jones convinced his followers to literally “drink the Kool-Aid”, spiked with cyanide, as a revolutionary exit from earth. Over 900 accepted, including 300 children.
In Eric Hoffer’s 1951 book, “The True Believers”, Hoffer looks at the phenomenon of mass movements and the ideologues they produce. He describes a true believer as “the man of fanatical faith who is ready to sacrifice his life for a holy cause”. Hoffer then illustrates how you can take a disaffected individual and create a zealot for any number of causes.
In psychology, True Believer Syndrome, is a belief without a rational foundation. It is a condition of being so emotionally attached to a particular truth, that it will not be abandoned even when it has been thoroughly disproved. Anti-police activists continue to chant the slogan, “Hands up, don’t shoot”, even though its truthfulness has been thoroughly disproved. Will they believe the lies, or will they believe your own eyes? To the true believer, it’s always the lie.
And so, it is. As the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct went up in smoke, a neighboring restaurant also felt the heat and sustained excessive damage. When the owner of the building saw the destruction, he cried out, “Let my building burn!” A true believer to the end.
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