Editing Eric Hoffer (section)

==Books and opinions==

===''The True Believer''===
{{main article|The True Believer}}
Hoffer came to public attention with the 1951 publication of his first book, ''The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements'', which consists of a preface and 125 sections, which are divided into 18 chapters. Hoffer analyzes the phenomenon of "mass movements," a general term that he applies to revolutionary parties, nationalistic movements, and religious movements. He summarizes his thesis in §113:  "A movement is pioneered by men of words, materialized by fanatics and consolidated by men of actions."<ref>Eric Hoffer, ''The True Believer'' (New York: Harper & Row/Perennial Library, 1966), p. 134.</ref>

Hoffer argues that [[fanaticism|fanatical]] and extremist cultural movements, whether religious, social, or national, arise when large numbers of frustrated people, believing their own individual lives to be worthless or spoiled, join a movement demanding radical change. But the real attraction for this population is an escape from the self, not a realization of individual hopes:  "A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation."<ref>Eric Hoffer, ''The True Believer'' (New York: Harper & Row/Perennial Library, 1966), p. 21.</ref>

Hoffer consequently argues that the appeal of mass movements is interchangeable: in the Germany of the 1920s and the 1930s, for example, the [[Communists]] and [[National Socialists]] were ostensibly enemies, but sometimes enlisted each other's members, since they competed for the same kind of marginalized, angry, frustrated people.  For the "true believer," Hoffer argues that particular beliefs are less important than escaping from the burden of the autonomous self.

Harvard historian [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]] said of ''The True Believer'':  "This brilliant and original inquiry into the nature of mass movements is a genuine contribution to our social thought."<ref>Eric Hoffer, ''The True Believer'' (Harper & Row/Perennial Library, 1966), back cover.</ref>

===Later works===
Subsequent to the publication of ''The True Believer'' (1951), Eric Hoffer touched upon Asia and American interventionism in several of his essays. In "The Awakening of Asia" (1954), published in ''The Reporter'' and later his book ''The Ordeal of Change'' (1963), Hoffer discusses the reasons for unrest on the continent. In particular, he argues that the root cause of social discontent in Asia was not government corruption, "communist agitation," or the legacy of European colonial "oppression and exploitation," but rather that a "craving for pride" was the central problem in Asia, suggesting a problem that could not be relieved through typical American intervention.<ref name="reporter">{{cite journal|title='The Awakening of Asia', by Eric Hoffer|journal=The Reporter|date= June 22, 1954|pages=16–17}}</ref>

During the [[Vietnam War]], despite his objections to the antiwar movement and acceptance of the notion that the war was somehow necessary to prevent a [[third world war]], Hoffer remained skeptical concerning American interventionism, specifically the intelligence with which the war was being conducted in Southeast Asia. After the United States became more involved in the war, Hoffer wished to avoid defeat in Vietnam because of his fear that such a defeat would transform American society for ill, opening the door to those who would preach a [[stab-in-the-back myth]] and allow for the rise of an American version of Hitler.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Eric Hoffer; an American odyssey|author=Tomkins, C.|date=1968|publisher=Dutton |url=https://archive.org/details/erichofferameric00tomk|url-access=registration|access-date=27 October 2014|isbn=0-8057-7359-2}}</ref>

In ''The Temper of Our Time'' (1967), Hoffer implies that the United States as a rule should avoid interventions in the first place: "the better part of statesmanship might be to know clearly and precisely what not to do, and leave action to the improvisation of chance." In fact, Hoffer indicates that "it might be wise to wait for enemies to defeat themselves," as they might fall upon each other with the United States out of the picture. The view was somewhat borne out with the [[Cambodian-Vietnamese War]] and [[Chinese-Vietnamese War]] of the late 1970s.