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"Baby, Light My Fire" have virrually
idolized romanric ]ove. Young people
from somewhere around age
14
ro
20
spend a good ponion of rheir rime
searching for romance.
Picase do nor cake chis for an open
season "por-shor" ar ceen-agers. Tbe
need
ro
find union wirh anorher per–
son is a basic human drive. The poim
being made is char human beings ar a
very cri tica] juncrure in their lives -
when rhey ought to start understand–
ing whar rhe rrue ]ove rhat sarisfies
really is - are derailed inro a psycho–
logical and emocional ditcb.
Our
W
orld
of
Material
"Goodies"
As rhe young adolescenr is making
bis way through che jungle of roman–
ric lovc, he soon sturobles upon an–
orher mazc-like derom. The dewur
says: " lndulge yourself." This detouJ·
rhrusrs rhe individual inro a most cu–
rious world.
Iris che cwenrierh cenrury world of
rhe !ove of "things." For che first
rime in human hisrory, broad seg–
ments of tbe popularion can find ac–
cess to material wealth. We can buy
ro our hearr's content.
We can gulp booze, pokc filter–
tipped cigarettes berween our lips,
dine out in splendor, buy color celevi–
sion sers on extended credit. From aU
chis splendor we receive a momencary
sense of well-being. And for years the
individual may confuse this cempo–
rary feeling wich real fulfillmenr.
Erich Fromm put ic in earthy
cerms: "Man's happiness roday con–
sises in 'having fun' .... The world is
one great objecr for our apperite, a
big apple, a big borde, a big brease;
we are rhe sucklers, rhe erernally ex–
pecranr ones, che hopeful ones - and
che ecernally disappoinced ones."
Thi.B is nora diarribe against physi–
cal enjoymenr or a clarion call for
poverry. There is an expression chat
says, "Money may not buy happiness
- bur
ir
sure helps." To be poor is
nor a virtue. But neither is using che
material world as an Ersarz substirure
for che hunger in our hearcs and minds.
26
A rhird kind of love chat fails ro
satisfy can only be undersrood by
grasping what rhe essence of ]ove
really is. Sirnply pur,
che
essence of
]ove involves union, attachmcnc, ac–
ceprance. le requires one-ness or ar–
ene-mene. The Bible rells us rhat
"two cannor walk rogether unkss
rhey be agreed." Love assumes thar
rwo minds - because ir is wirh rhe
mind rhar we !ove - accepr each
other and hold similar hopes and
dreams.
The absence of chis kind of union
is
separareness, aloneness - being cut
off. Bur no man can be an island and
stand alone. Every man and woman
muse find acceprance and union with
somerhing.
There are, of course, people who
are urrerly alone. Ar leasr, they feel
complerely rejecred and alone -
without !ove. They are defined as rhe
insane.
Ir
is simply irnpossiblc for a human
ro live in a srare of urrer aloneness
and lack of !ove. The mind craves
union wirh someone or something.
This is why false !oves can flourish in
socieries cur off from che love rhar
sarisfies. The man who feels rejecred
and alone is a prime candidare for
such externa] influences.
Anatomy of a
True
Believer
Philosopher Eric Hoffer has made a
life srudy of mass movemenrs and
why people are caughr up in rhem. A
number of years ago, he wrote a
widely acclaimed book
The Trtte Be–
fiever.
In chis book, Hoffer analyzed
che mental makeup of che person
who becomes a rrue belíever of a mass
movemenc.
"The ideal potencial conven,' '
stated Hoffer, ''is che individual who
srands alone." Hoffer conrinued: "A
rising mass movemenr arcracts and
holds a following nor by its doctrine
and promises bur by che refuge it of–
fers from anxiecies, barrenness and
meaninglessness of an individual's
exisrence."
Yet roday, we find meaninglessness
a characteristic of our culture. This
feeling curs us off psychologically and
makes us feel insignificanr. In–
significance becomes a synonym for
aloneness.
In bis book, Hoffer gives examples
of this feeJing. For example, when
facing Scalin's policc, rhe individual
Russian cirizen felt meaningless. He
seemed powerless and alone - in–
significanr - and hence felr unable.
psychologically and physically, ro re–
sise.
WHY WERE YOU BORN?
You can
receive a free copy by writing to our
office nearest you.
But facing che invading Nazi Ger–
man armies, che Russian cirizen saw
himself as parr of a powerful nation.
His aloneness and insignificance evap–
orared. The individual's lite had ac–
quired meaning and purpose. He was
unired wirh all Soviet citizens in rhe
srruggle for Mother Russia. Psycho–
logical union gave power ro his life,
The Russian could identify witb a
power greater than he - a power that
both needed him and gave him sup–
port. This reciprocity - rhis union of
needs and airns - was a kind of !ove
relarionship.
Yer chis kind of bond - this love
for homeland - is not che kind of
love rhar can sarisfy permanenrly. For
PlAIN TRUTH December 1972