The False Believer

Putting the Woe into Wokeness

Decades ago, before anyone ever dreamed up "Woke" ideology, self-schooled philosopher Eric Hoffer figured this one out in his book The True Believer. Hoffer discussed contemporary mass movements including Nazism but only as illustrative examples of the psychology underlying all such phenomena. His "True Believer" paradigm was a valuable tool for making sense of the "cults" and "New Religions” of the 70s and 80s and is equally illuminating today.