ERIC HOFFER 16

Not only is the following thumbnail biography of Eric Hoffer an interesting yarn in itself, but his theories of fanaticism and mass movements are as relevant today as when he wrote them in the 1950’s & 60’s.

Except for the quotes from his books; a quote from a column about Hoffer written in 2003 by Thomas Sowell on the 20th anniversary of his death; and a few facts from the biography of Hoffer written in 1982 by James Thomas Baker from a now out of print book I purchased from the used book market, the rest I have pulled from my memory banks of the interviews and statements made by commentators in the 1960’s & 70’s (It is what happened yesterday that I can’t recall).

Eric Hoffer was a most improbable author. Yes, there have been many of that genre in literary history such as the blind poet Milton, multiple deserter from whaling crews Melville, and the jailbird O. Henry (aka William Porter) to name only a few, yet when his story is told you will realize Hoffer was indeed one of the unlikeliest.

Hoffer was born of German immigrant parents on July 26, 1902 in New York City. At the age of seven he suddenly and mysteriously lost his sight. No definitive medical reason could be found for his condition, nor could the just as sudden and mysterious recovery of his vision at age of 15 be explained. One possible explanation for his loss of sight could be psychological and associated with the death of his mother when Hoffer was seven years old. He lost his sight shortly thereafter. When his father died at the age of 50 Hoffer was obsessed with two things. He was convinced that he would not live past the age of 50 and he lived with dread that he would again lose his sight. For the rest of his life he would sometimes awaken in the middle of the night afraid that he had lost his sight. As it turned out neither of these eventuated, but it certainly was not irrational for him to be concerned.

With practically no formal school education Hoffer left home at the age of 18 on the death of his father. The burial society asked Hoffer what he wanted to do and he replied that he want to live in California. From his father’s estate he was given $300 and a one-way train ticket to Los Angeles. At this point in his life he would rent rooms near a library so as to have ready access to books; especially important to him as he did not know how long his sight would be good enough for him to read. He spent the next ten years on skid row doing odds jobs in the Los Angles area.

In the winter in the 1936 he went to do some placer mining for gold in the mountains near Nevada City, California. The problem was that he thought he might be snowbound for several months and therefore deprived of the opportunity of reading books. He solved that problem by purchasing a book for one dollar from a second hand book store on Market Street in San Francisco. Hoffer was looking for a book with the most number of pages, smallest print (his sight was good at that time), and no pictures. Happily for Hoffer the book turned out to be the Florio translation of Essays by Montaigne.

Possessing a first rate, if yet undereducated, mind Hoffer read and reread that book, resolving to read other classical books in the expectation that if they were of the same caliber, then it would be time well spent. He was not disappointed and as was his omni-bibulous nature he devoured dozens of classics.

He next worked in the vegetable fields, vineyards, and orchards of California. Working along side other migrant laborers he came to realize that some of them were ambitious and talented. It was at this time that the idea of an eventual book germinated in his fecund mind.

In the late 1930’s Hoffer went to San Francisco. He started going to labor halls where day laborers were hired by various crew chiefs. Because the country was in an economic depression, in fact the “Great Depression”, there were more people who wanted jobs than jobs available. Day after day Hoffer went to the labor hall, but in vain as he was never selected. Instead of becoming embittered at the system and perhaps turning into a Socialist or even a Communist, Hoffer used his mind to analyze his predicament. He studied the men who were picked for jobs and discovered a pattern. They sat in certain places, dressed in similar ways, and had the same expressions on their faces. While it is likely their expressions were not of complete disinterest, neither did they appear overly eager. My own experience as a callow youth seeking summer jobs between college terms is that some of these job foremen are sadists who like nothing better than to disappoint expectant job seekers. After he figured this out Hoffer was picked every time.

In early 1942 Hoffer landed a job as a longshoreman on the San Francisco waterfront joining the Longshoreman’s Union. He retired in the early 1960’s. During the longshoreman phase of his life Hoffer met a literary woman named Margaret Johnson. They held long conversations where Ms. Johnson recognized that Hoffer not only had a first rate mind, but that he had many original ideas. At first she urged him to write a book of his thoughts and opinions. Lacking confidence in his writing ability he resisted. Being as recalcitrant and stubborn as Hoffer she began to prod and nag him into getting started in his writing. The result was a book titled The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements first published in 1951. Hoffer said writing did not come easy so he painstakingly crafted each word and sentence. The book was a seminal work on fanaticism and mass movements and propelled Hoffer to the attention of the literary world. It is as relevant today in this era of Islamic extremism as it was during the totalitarianism and radicalism of the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 60’s.

In his book Hoffer defines the ‘True Believer’ as: “a 20th century fanatic, needing a Hitler or a Castro [or an Osama bin Laden] to worship or die for. He’s the mortal enemy of things-as-they-are, consumed with hatred of self and the ‘accepted’ institutions and people he sees about him [A description of Ward Churchill?].” There have been and doubtless will continue to be myrmidons who follow de jour messianic tin horn fanatics in their confuse quest to find meaning in hopeless and empty lives. The proper resolution is to identify, isolate, and excise these toxic, destructive, often murderous, hate mongering lunatics and their deluded, sycophantic followers.

From the same book Hoffer’s take on achievement vs. alibi is as follows: “There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove our worth anew each day. We have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have an alibi for not achieving anything we are fixed, so to speak, for life. Moreover, when we have an alibi for not writing a book, painting a picture, and so on, we have an alibi for not writing the greatest book and not painting the greatest picture. Small wonder that the effort expended and the punishment endured in obtaining a good alibi often exceed the effort and grief requisite for the attainment of a most marked achievement.” Insight like that is what puts Hoffer in the forefront of American philosophical thought.

In 1967 Hoffer came to the attention of CBS reporter Eric Sevareid who interviewed him on national television. As a result of that interview Hoffer exploded on the national scene doing a series of additional television interviews, all the while writing several more books. President Lyndon Johnson appointed Hoffer to a civil right commission. Hoffer’s philosophy was that every person deserved an equal chance to succeed in life, but not a more than equal chance. He had competed on an equal footing with everyone without any special help from anyone. This put him at odds with the black members of the commission. As recounted by Thomas Sowell in a column written in 2003 on the 20th anniversary of his death, Hoffer said to a black member of the commission who was in a rage in his perception of the treatment of black people, “Mister, it is easy for you to be full of rage. It is not easy to go to work and build something.” After that Hoffer resigned from the commission.

When it came to the rebellious youth of San Francisco in the 1960’s Hoffer approved and encourage them except in one area – he rejected the drug culture declaring that drugs were totally destructive without any redeeming merit. It is too bad some of the youth then and now did not and do not heed him.

In addition to The True Believer, Hoffer wrote The Passionate State of Mind; The Ordeal of Change; The Temper of Our Time; Working and Thinking on the Waterfront; First Things, Last Things; Reflections on the Human Conditions; In Our Time; and Before the Sabbath. The idea for The Ordeal of Change came to Hoffer during his time as a migrant farm laborer in California. Because he and many others farm workers were uneasy and apprehensive over the simple change of going from harvesting one crop to another he realized that was a microcosm of societies under sudden change. In fact he held that, “It is not so much that revolution causes change as it is that change causes revolution.” When change comes too quickly some people become unsettled and react unpredictably and violently.

Another aphorism of Hoffer’s is that the efficiency and dynamism of a society or country can be measured by its record of maintenance. In this Hoffer found favor with the United States, Europe, and especially Israel, but was highly critical of the Middle East and African countries. Such an expressed opinion hardly endeared Hoffer with the politically correct crowd of which he cared not a whit. Hoffer maintained that this country was built by ostensibly ordinary people he described as being “lumpy with talent.” The nobility and elitists in Europe were not the people who settled in this country in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. It was the unsatisfied and generally lower social and economic strata common folk who came to this country in droves and, taking advantage of the country’s opportunities, turned it into the greatest economic, social, and military power in the world.

Hoffer was particularly dismissive of what he called “pseudo-intellectuals“, believing that many of them were ivory tower pin heads who were clueless about what really motivates people and why these motivations make efficient and progressive societies. Likewise he was contemptuous of the putative elitists who worshipped nature in the raw from the inside and seemed to believe that all nature was better left “unspoiled” and therefore unexploited even if done responsibly. Hoffer worked in the natural environment in the fields of California and personally knew the pain and discomfort associated with hard outdoor work. He experienced what “nature in the raw” was really about.

Especially later in his life Hoffer’s eyes were bothered by the bright television camera lights so he essentially stopped doing interviews. He did agree in a telephone call with a young television producer from New York to do one last interview. When she arrived in San Francisco Hoffer told her he had changed his mind and would not do the interview. She accurately sized up the gruff old man and told him, “Listen, at great expense and inconvenience I flew a television crew out here from New York because you said you would do this interview and now you son-of-a-bitch you are going to do it!” And he did. Left unknown is what his response would have been had she meekly begged him to do the interview. I believe he agreed to do it because he admired her spunk and no nonsense directness – a reflection of his own personality.

Hoffer was awarded the Presidential Metal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in 1982. He died in May 1983 having lived to the age of 80 thereby exceeding his early expectation by a full 30 years.