Donald Trump is not the sole danger to democracy in the United States.
He’s simply a self-serving, unscrupulous individual who shrewdly capitalized on growing discontent and anger that poisons significant numbers of people in American society. He’s a reflection of an existing reality that threatens to undermine that country’s democratic foundations and unity.
While countless Americans and others find it unbelievable that Trump continues to be widely supported despite his bizarre behaviour and scarcely concealed threats against various groups, nothing he has done would surprise Eric Hoffer.
Eric Hoffer is not a familiar name today. A self-educated prolific American philosopher and longshoreman who died in 1983, he would have had no difficulty in understanding the dangerous reality that Trump represents.
Hoffer spent most of his life studying and explaining the ability of some individuals to suddenly appear on the scene in a particular society or nation and then galvanize large numbers into radical action under their leadership.
To Hoffer, Trump’s sudden rise to political influence would be based not solely on his unique personality and media sophistication, but rather more on existing widespread unhappiness or discontent. He believed that extremists like Trump would not be able to spread their views with success in stable and relatively happy societies.
However, they can survive in societies wracked by serious internal tensions and difficulties, or where groups feel marginalized or alienated. Such groups often want to validate their own existence, even if it means through violence.
Germany’s Hitler or Italy’s Mussolini gained significant followings because of the poor economies and high unemployment in their countries after the First World War.
Such societies engulfed by seemingly never-ending economic problems and social tensions would always be vulnerable to the proverbial man on horseback who, like Trump, maintains that he alone can restore a society or nation to its previous well-being or glory.
Such would-be saviours of a troubled or divided society would conveniently find scapegoats responsible for a nation’s ills and misfortunes, as with Hitler, who identified Jews as responsible for many of Germany’s problems.
Trump chose the existence of more than 10 million illegal Mexicans as responsible for the U.S.’s problems, particularly the loss of manufacturing enterprises with well-paying jobs, many of whose former employees now back Trump.
Such factors can play a role in explaining why members of any society might be vulnerable to the siren call of those preaching radical measures to bring back a nation’s previous glory or sense of well-being. But Hoffer stressed that a key factor in ensuring the appeal of such strongmen or movements is the willingness of their followers to be what he called “true believers.”
In blunt terms, this means that those who desperately want major changes in their society and their lives must commit themselves unquestioningly to a leader like Trump, regardless of whether his policies or actions are questionable, extremist, patently irrational or outright dangerous. There is growing concern that some of Trump’s followers represent a real danger to the U.S. democratic system and the rule of law.
According to Hoffer, this commitment to a leader or a specific belief is often commonly involved in religious movements. In the present time, it’s evident that accepting such commitments remains a powerful force for all religions in one form or another, whether Protestant, Catholic, Jewish or Muslim.
The extremist ISIS movement is an example of the kinds of deadly commitments its members will make, especially the willingness to be suicide bombers.
In Hoffer’s view, the true believer is quite willing to suspend his or her own judgment when committing themselves to a cause, some even prepared to totally ignore reality. For example, despite all the current claims by a number of women that Trump sexually molested them in the past, many of Trump’s supporters, including other women, have stated they simply won’t accept such accusations, even if documented.
Ominously, such “true believers” will never be influenced or intimidated by unwanted realities.
Harry Sterling, a former diplomat, is an Ottawa-based commentator.
