In his book "The True Believer," Eric Hoffer describes his "Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements" and attempts to explain why people join mass movements and how these movements eventually seek to overthrow the government. His philosophy is useful in explaining the rise of not only communism and fascism, but of radical islam. He makes the assertion that virtual all mass movements are interchangeable in their structure and that there are at least three main reasons that people are willing to sacrifice their identity to a mass movement.
Poverty
Obviously, one of the main reason why many people turn to mass movements like communism or fundamentalist religion is poverty. It is not the case, however, that all poor people are likely to join these movements or that one's level of support for a mass movement depends upon how poor one is. On the contrary, the very poor are generally non-political. As Hoffer says, "Where people toil from sunrise to sunset for a bare living, they nurse no grievances and dream no dreams." People who are worried about their next meal are not going to be worried about the finer points of theology or ideology. Therefore, poverty is more often a factor for influencing participation in mass movements when people find themselves newly disadvantaged or find that their conditions are improving, but more slowly than they would like.
Failure
Failure is another important reason why people choose mass movements. As Hoffer notes, Hitler would never have entered politics if he had been successful as an artist. Those who try and fail to be successful in their chosen fields are more likely to turn to mass movements for their sense of accomplishments. This applies to people as well. While the German people anguished over their defeat in World War One, they were especially vulnerable to someone like Hitler who told them what a success they could be together and how they could right the wrongs of the past.
Hope
Ironically, hope is one of the main reasons that people join mass movements and/or rebel against their governments. People who are totally repressed do not attempt to revolt. It is those people who are beginning to see that there is chance for a better life that are likely to rebel. As Hoffer notes, the standard of living and the level of political freedom in Russia rose considerably before the Russian Revolution. The Revolution was not the work of the hopeless. Rather, it was the work of those frustrated at the pace of reform. They were hopeful that they could create a better future by speeding up those reforms.
