June 10, 2006

Eric Hoffer & hysteric mass movements

Today I read a book , The true believer by Eric Hoffer . It speaks about people , politics faith and causes of bloodshed . For the first time the author has tried to analyse the madness in the form of ideologies that has governed human mind. His analysis ranges from christianity to communism.
Some days back veteran actor of kannada film land , Dr. Rajkumar died . His fans and others took advantage of the situation . The mob was totally uncontrollable. It was a dance of anarchy.
I was wondering whether these fanatics have any logical association with their act? I found a satisfying answer for the mob mentality. However , this phenomenon is not only restricted to a particular walk of life . Film , sports ,politics , religion are not far from this mentality.