Hannah Arendt enjoyed her solitude, but she believed that loneliness could make people susceptible to totalitarianism
"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists." --Hannah Arendt
The submersion of an individual’s identity into the mass, into a group identity, is the main thrust of Hoffer’s thesis. He repeatedly makes the point that people do not turn to mass movements because they are inspired or because they are stupid, but because they are bored, searching for a way to exist that allows them to escape an unsatisfactory or... See more
Antonia Malchik • True believers and mass movements
It is also possible to lose oneself in systems of action that demand nothing but faith and allegiance. Fundamentalist religions, mass movements, and extremist political parties also offer opportunities for self-transcendence that millions are eager to accept. They also provide a welcome extension of the boundaries of the self, a feeling that one is
... See moreMihaly Csikszentmihalyi • Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
Communities with low levels of trust engage in what he calls “hunkering” or withdrawing from social life, which, he argued, reduces their ability to engage in collective action to address problems in their communities. But it can have even more dire consequences. In The Origins of Totalitarianism, philosopher Hannah Arendt saw social isolation from... See more