Mass movements radicalize because masses grasp only simple shared ideas

Evidence

I begin by suggesting that large groups, in comparison with smaller ones, seem to show less radicalism and decisiveness. Yet this statement must be qualified. For, precisely where large masses are activated by political, social, or religious movements, they are ruthlessly radical, and extreme parties overwhelm moderate ones. The reason is that large masses can always be animated and guided only by simple ideas: what is common to many must be accessible even to the lowest and most primitive among them. — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 3106

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Frankfurt School’s analysis of mass/authoritarian movements and to Adorno’s critique of the culture industry’s mass persuasion. — connects to: A leaderless mass movement can outflank its own nominal leaders’ proposals — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 506; Movement followers provide strength but not its ideas. — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 34