When we lose our individual independence in the corporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom — freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse.

Hoffer argues that mass movements can offer adherents a seductive “freedom” by dissolving personal responsibility into collective identity. When individuals surrender independence to the group, moral restraints weaken: actions that would normally provoke guilt—cruelty, deception, betrayal—can be reframed as loyalty, necessity, or righteousness. The quote highlights a psychological mechanism of fanaticism: anonymity and shared purpose reduce shame and remorse, enabling ordinary people to participate in extraordinary wrongdoing. It also implies a warning about political and ideological crowds: the promise of belonging and certainty can mask an escape from conscience, making violence and bullying feel not only permissible but virtuous.