If Roger Scruton is right in his book The Uses of Pessimism, then one of the impediments to genuine membership is what he calls “unscrupulous optimism.” This attitude—it’s one of the modes of Hoffer’s True Believing—is based on the belief that “the difficulties and disorders of humankind can be overcome by some large-scale adjustment: it suffices to devise a new arrangement, a new system, and people will be released from their temporary prison into a realm of success.” (Scruton calls it “unscrupulous” because it lacks scruples, hesitations, self-critical inquiry. It runs headlong.)
