The True Believer

...

Has anybody else read this book?

wat

The book is about mass movements, and how they attract people who are frustrated (people who dislike their lives and themselves and want to replace their identity with a movement and dedicate their lives to revolution). He claims that almost all mass movements thrive by making people frustrated and keeping them frustrated, and the most effective, persistent mass movements are those which are extremely effective at frustrating people and extremely ineffective at accomplishing any goals. Organizations which do accomplish goals lose their reason to exist.

The most durable mass movements are those with insurmountable enemies, utopian promises, and assurances that the world is intolerable should the movement fail.

Sounds like the alt-right and their affection for rage porn.

The first point is very much true, people do seek out answers when frustrated.
I get how you arrive at such a conclusion though, especially when mass movements have actually gotten shit done.

So basically it's another cowardly apology for the status quo because nothing can ever possibly change for the better amirite

The argument is that the most enduring mass movements do not solve any problems but make people frustrated.

Movements which have concrete goals accomplish things and then wither away or endure as mere frustration machines.


For the most part yeah

Pretty much. It's insinuated that people trying to change the status quo are just losers that are unable to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

It'd be an interesting take if he didn't bash those movements as much as it sounds like he does.

He bashes movements which have no practical solutions to the problems they represent or concrete ways to achieve goals.

This guy is Jordan Peterson tier psychological pseudo science, jesus christ

Dragging psychoanalysis/psychology in general into politics is fucking stupid sophistry.

So it's like everything Holla Forums says about every movement that isn't Holla Forums approved?


That's some proper materialism.

being in my basement screaming at the void < doing meaningless activism with like-minded people

I've read it. Upon retrospect it is very bad, mostly serving to apologize for the activities of the very powerful. It represents a considerable volume of post-war writings that lump disparate groups together.

t. the board that unironically listens to psychoanalysts

lol

Peterson talks about renowned crackpot Jung's archetypes nonsense, doesn't he?

Though I guess it's funny that in current year anyone takes Freud's bullshit seriously

yes, pretty much

I don't think you can misinterpret a crackpot, user

well some people actually take peterson serious, so yeah

yep, its very much of its time. It's basically systemic societal problems don't real, centrism is the only logical political position because wanting to solve problems is a byproduct of childish frustration.

This is so fucking >>>>>>>>>>>frustrating.
Hes clearly read a whole lot and he still believes cultural marxism is real.

How do these people exist

The man makes money spouting complete bullshit. It's a professional academic's dream.

Yeah he's more an entertainer than a philosopher in a professional sense.

Peterson pretends he's railing against the academic establishment when he's really a shining example of it.