Eric Hoffer and PM Pashinyan
For most Armenians, especially those who were born and schooled within the educational system of Armenia under Soviet rule or post independence, the name Eric Hoffer does not ring a bell or automatically creates a link to the first masterpiece (1951) he wrote titled: “The True Believer” . American academics in the early 1950s had a hard time deciphering the enigma revolving around the $1000 question: “How can a proletarian who spent several decades in menial blue colour jobs, shape such a masterpiece depicting the inner realities of mass movements, that manage to mobilize people with questionable promises, silence the critical faculties of the individual, and turn him/her into a “Blind True Believer” of a leader masquerading with a self serving agenda, wrapped in the flag of patriotism or any other “ISM”? Many factors played a crucial role in turning the blue collar lo n gshoreman into a literary giant with a unique place in the ranks of the top intellectuals of the 20 th ...