Eric Hoffer chillingly describes the fanatic functionary that goes to ultimate ends to own the mind and soul of every citizen already obedient on the surface to what the mass movement prescribes as conforming behavior.
Such superficial compiance is not enough to satisfy the insatiable desire for control that consumes this functionary. The compliant individual must come to love the oppresor and actually believe that the oppressor is benevolent. They will reach the point where they proclaim to the world and themselves that their oppressors are the sum of all things, always right, always to be obeyed and hail their Big Brother as an annoited messiah.
That a functionary would use terror, punishment and torture, going to such extreme lengths, to own each citizen in body and soul is almost impossible for a sane, rational person to envision. If they were alive, one could interrogate the victims of the Nazi and Communist efforts to extract total submission from victims, and realize that such methods were widely used, and worked. It did happen then, and could well happen again.
No comments:
Post a Comment