On Page 113 of his book, The Passionate State of Mind, Eric Hoffer
has one entry which I quote and then comment on.
Hoffer: “ 200
It is doubtful whether there is such a thing as impulsive or
natural tolerance.”
My response: Once again I am very impressed, astonished,
even flabbergasted at how insightful this original, moral genius is, and how
rich with implications are even a seemingly simple, single sentence like the
one just above.
Hoffer is saying that humans are not naturally or
impulsively tolerant. What does this indicate? It signifies to me that he
thinks humans are born depraved, that they can only be good, kind, rational,
accepting, tolerant and willing to peacefully coexist with those of differing
opinions when so conducting oneself is a learned moral behavior that the
majority of a nation practice, actually practice.
It also indicates that he is a moralist that believed the
moderate, tolerant, civilized, libertarian and classically liberal acceptance
of intellectual independence of others opposing us is the ideal, the behavioral
standard to live by in settling disputes and disagreements. These behaviors
must be taught, learned, and then widely practiced, if there is to be peace and
tolerant across the land.
For humans to be good, they must become good, following an
adopted, artificial moral code. As individualists, individuators and classical
liberals, loving freedom, and mutual tolerance, and that practice peaceful
tolerance and rational, civil dialoguing, humans must allow a range of views differing
from their own, agreeing to peacefully and legally coexist.
Hoffer believes that people are born emotional, passionate, fanatical,
and addicted to false dichotomies. They are born intolerant, tyrannical and
willing to use force and the threat of violence to compel pure conformity in
thought, word, and deed from others to one’s own views.
Because human history is a history of warring amongst rival groups,
tribes, and nations, in which people group-live, live nonindividuated lives,
group-identify and live in accordance with altruist-collectivist morality, people
were allowed to express their wicked tendencies, given cover and moral sanction
by society and its leaders. People, being naturally vicious, cruel, savage,
barbaric and willing to terrorize and use authoritarian government to impel
people to see things, “the proper way”, were allowed to act as bad as they were
without secular or divine sanction, so they just misbehaved consistently and
ignominiously.
Hoffer: “Tolerance requires an effort of thought and
self-control. And acts of kindness, too, are rarely without deliberateness and ‘thoughtfulness’.”
My response: Hoffer does not much believe in random acts of
kindness: who is most capable of consistently acting kind as a learned
behavior? it is the individual being self-interested but being kind to himself,
to the Good Spirits and to others as a planned pattern of behavior and it
works.
Random acts of cruelty and intolerance are easy and
effortless: all we have to do is deny we have a human nature, an animalistic,
bestial nature, that is intolerant, aggressive and unkind, or that we have to
fight this nature, as Dennis Prager exhorts us to do.
When we run in packs, it easy for acts of intolerance and cruelty
to be joyously, eagerly engaged in and indulged, whether it is random or
planned as a long-term pattern of abusing the dissident, the weak, the stranger,
those from a rival group with a different story that they live by.
Hoffer: “Thus it seems that some artificiality, some posing
and pretense, are inseparable from any acts or attitude which involves a
limitation of our appetites and selfishness.”
My response: Because humans are so depraved and savage, and
yet salvageable and redeemable, they must be taught the artificial, unnatural
morality of egoism-individualism so they then can act rational, loving,
nonviolent, tolerant, and civilized. This morality is alien to humans, so it
must be a pose or pretense until, like muscle memory exercises, the natural
human recessive appetite to be individual, kind, and tolerant, becomes natural
or second nature to a morally well-trained adult of good will. This lie or
faked goodness is a role played by humans until it becomes their surface
personality, a genuine good person, a virtuous and holy persona worn over the
beast or savage pullulating and raging within. As the ethical adult learns to
behave, she can limit her appetites for hate and to curb her burning urge to
hurt and attack those different from her, especially if they are militant about
disagreeing with her. She can limit her selfish desire to control, break and
own and direct them only by becoming a civilized individual and human
individualist.
Hoffer: “We ought to beware of people who do not think it is
necessary to pretend they are good and decent.”
My response: How I would translate this sentence in plain,
Mavellonialist English talk would be to note that we are to beware of people
that are unwilling to be hypocritical as a standard—always sought after even if
not always lived up to (the standard of being a well-behaved person of good
will, kind to the self, kind to others, and tolerant of oneself and tolerant of
others frailties and follies too): the hypocrite gives praise to being virtuous,
while often or mostly failing to or refusing to behave, but this hypocrite is
just the average person, a bit more good-behaving than not, but who is underneath
not good or decent at all. When in a group with not socially conditioned
restraints on misbehaving, the group become a mob and its members, of all or
any race, gender and creed, are quite equal in being capable of doing anything,
literally anything to others.
When evil rules the social dispensation openly, when the
hypocritical requirement to pretend to be good and decent is no longer
required, socially rewarded or not without real danger of being punished for
striving to remain good and decent, then people’s fanatical, natural tendency
to be selfish, violent, intolerant, authoritarian and lawless, is openly
expressed, lived and championed by the majority of the people, then it is their
natural, honest, genuine nature being openly, truthfully expressed and worn on
their sleeves. This is not sustainable for society, for the gates of hell are
open and the demonic monsters walk the streets in their millions, these human
beings openly showing their nature and their lived base desires being easily
expressed and socially praised and reinforced.
Hoffer: “Lack of hypocrisy in such things hints at a
capacity for a most depraved ruthlessness.”