The Past

 

Eric Hoffer, on Pages 70 and 71 of his book, The True Believer, writes of a glorified past, which I quoted and then commented on.

 

Hoffer (H after this): “                  50

 

A glorification of the past can serve as a means to belittle the present. But unless joined with sanguine expectations of the future, an exaggerated view of the past results in an attitude of caution and not in reckless strivings of a mass movement. On the other hand, there is no more potent dwarfing of the present than by viewing it as a mere link between a glorious past and a glorious future. Thus, though a mass movement at first turns its past on the past, it eventually develops a vivid awareness, often specious, of a distant glorious past.  Religious movements go back to the day of creation; social revolutions tell of a golden age when men were free, equal and independent; nationalist movements revive or invent memories of past greatness. This preoccupation with the past stems not only from a desire to demonstrate the legitimacy of the movement and the legitimacy of the old order, but also to show up the present as a mere interlude between past and future.

 

An historical awareness also imparts a sense of continuity. Possessed of a vivid vision of past and future, the true believer sees himself part of something that stretches backward and forward—something eternal. He can let go of the present (and his own life) not only because it is a poor thing, hardly worth hanging on to, but also because it is not the beginning and end of all things. Furthermore, a vivid awareness of past and future robs the present of its reality. It makes the present seem as a section in a procession or a parade. The followers of a mass movement see themselves on the march with drums beating and colors flying. They are participators in a soul-stirring drama played to a vast audience—generations gone and generations yet to come. They are made to feel that they are not their real selves but actors playing a role, and their doings a ‘performance’ rather than the real thing. Dying, too, they see as a gesture, an act of make-believe.”

 

My response: Hoffer the genius is so impressive here, and one wonders how he could understand the mind of the fanatic so well. If we learn nothing else from this entry, it would be advisable for the supercitizen to live in the present, each day, though aware of the past, and where to future is headed or should be headed.

 

The living angel loves life here on earth, and wants it to be morally admirable, creative, pleasing to her deity, and meaningful. If she must give her life for others, or for her country or to preserve justice, she will do so, but not in a mode of theatrical make-believe, but in sober, quiet mood of confidence, that she will give up her life if need be, but that is not what she would just to do if she could honorably avoid so self-sacrificing.