"A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business.
"This minding of other people's business expresses itself in gossip, snooping and meddling, and also in feverish interest in communal, national and racial affairs. In running away from ourselves we either fall on our neighbor's shoulder or fly at his throat."
I think it is a matter of balance, whether a person is normally serious about the affairs of state or tends to be somewhat nutty with personal preferences, judgments and mitigations. You can tell how far off course the discourse has become by the shrillness of the dialogue.
The True Believer, Copyright 1951 by Eric Hoffer. Printed in the United States of America. Harper & Row, Publishers.
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