"The Poignantly Frustrated" . . .

Over and over I keep coming back to this quote by Eric Hoffer about Mass (fanatical) Movements:

“A rising mass movement attracts and holds a following not by its doctrine and promises but by the refuge it offers from the anxieties, barrenness, and meaninglessness of an individual existence. It cures the poignantly frustrated not by conferring on them an absolute truth or remedying the difficulties and abuses which made their lives miserable, but by freeing them from their ineffectual selves – and it does this by enfolding and absorbing them into a closely knit and exultant corporate whole.” (p. 41)

Although I am still neither a supporter or opponent of OWS, I am still also puzzled by their lack of practicality and their refusal to engage the democratic process as a mechanism of change. In this sense they are significantly different from the Tea Party who doggedly and successfully used existing democratic processes to effect changes they desired by electing candidates who would represent their values and working to defeat candidates who do not. OWS, however, identifies and prides itself on standing outside of the democratic process. In this sense, OWS more fundamentally fits Hoffer's profile of the True Believer and "the poignantly frustrated."

It also earns them the label of "radical" by non-supporters and presents a significant credibility challenge for attracting "mainstream" supporters.

Hmmm....