I’ve been reading about how mass movements are started, what exactly might inspire otherwise uninvolved people to rise up, to act with energy against what they see to be a real threat to their way of life.

Fear has something to do with it, I guess. The realization of an unthoughtful populace falling behind a demagogue who promises one thing and delivers another.

What these folks want, I suppose, is the re-establishment of a fair and inclusive structure, a pluralistic society threatened by the xenophobic ministrations of a leader whose motivations are at odds with the best interests of the people. Such a man spins a believable narrative promising improvement, thumbing his nose at the established ways, he is one who has little regard for prevailing institutions, one defiant in word and deed.

Usually such an individual emerges in response to the cries of the disenfranchised. Sometimes, though, a talented ambitious man of low moral integrity may insight the masses through coercion and false narrative to rise up against their own best interests, to champion change for the sake of change, fed by the energy of their common opposition to perceived injustices and identification with their chosen leader. They rally for their side to win at all costs, but in so doing threaten in their vehemence the integrity of the institution allowing them the free expression they exercise.

An unsettling scenario, it seems to me.