Reply #17: It was very appropriate in the past... [View All]

[punpirate]

... since it was written not long after the conclusion of WWII, when Hitler's rise to power was still fresh in mind. That was what sparked Hoffer's curiosity about the subject in general--how could a small group of fanatics take over Germany and plot to wage war on the rest of the world?

We just never expected it could begin to happen here. It's a lot more relevant today because of current events in this country, but the same thing has been going on in the rest of the world all along.

What Hoffer said in 1949 had just as much relevance in Cambodia in 1975, and in Myanmar in the last decade or two, in Iran in 1979, or in Afghanistan in 1992, for example.

Cheers.

Edit for syntax.