Coming Together

 

On Pages 90 and 91 of his book, The True Believer, Eric Hoffer writes of how hatred facilitates the coming together of the most heterogeneous elements. It is sad that such a wicked emotion is able to bring people together. Here is what he wrote, and I will respond to it:

 

“                                                              66

 

Common hatred unites the most heterogenous elements. To share a common hatred, with an enemy even, is to infect him with a feeling of kinship, and thus sap his powers of resistance. Hitler used anti-Semitism not only to unify his Germans but also to sap the resoluteness of Jew-hating Poland, Romania, Hungary, and finally even France. He made a similar use of anti-communism.”

 

My response: It may be that it is easier to motivate groups of people to unite by appealing to what they rather, rather than inviting them to love something worthy or noble.