{"id":49744,"date":"2015-03-04T14:51:09","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T21:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/04\/paranoia-in-american-politics.html"},"modified":"2015-05-12T05:42:57","modified_gmt":"2015-05-12T11:42:57","slug":"paranoia-in-american-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/04\/paranoia-in-american-politics.html","title":{"rendered":"Paranoia in American Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The extremism that we see today is nothing new, and Hofstadter sums it up well here. The difference is that it seems the paranoids have gained enough power in government to make every issue, no matter how small, an existential struggle for survival regarding which only total victory is an acceptable outcome.<\/p>\n

Originally shared by +WIST – Wish I’d Said That<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

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As a member of the avant-garde who is capable of perceiving the conspiracy before it is fully obvious to an as yet unaroused public, the paranoid is a militant leader. He does not see social conflict as something to be mediated and compromised, in the manner of the working politician. Since what is at stake is always a conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, what is necessary is not compromise but the will to fight things out to a finish. Since the enemy is thought of as being totally evil and totally unappeasable, he must be totally eliminated — if not from the world, at least from the theatre of operations to which the paranoid directs his attention. This demand for total triumph leads to the formulation of hopelessly unrealistic goals, and since these goals are not even remotely attainable, failure constantly heightens the paranoid’s sense of frustration. Even partial success leaves him with the same feeling of powerlessness with which he began, and this in turn only strengthens his awareness of the vast and terrifying quality of the enemy he opposes.<\/p>\n

— Richard Hofstadter<\/b> (1916-1970) American historian and intellectual
“The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” Herbert Spencer Lecture, Oxford (Nov 1963)<\/p>\n

More …<\/p>\n

#qotd<\/a> #quote<\/a> #quotation<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\n<\/a>
\nHofstadter, Richard – “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” Herbert Spencer Lecture, Oxford (Nov 1963) | WIST<\/a><\/span>
\nAs a member of the avant-garde who is capable of perceiving the conspiracy before it is fully obvious to an as yet unaroused public, the paranoid is a mili\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The extremism that we see today is nothing new, and Hofstadter sums it up well here. The difference is that it seems the paranoids have gained enough power in government to make every issue, no matter how small, an existential struggle for survival regarding which only total victory is an acceptable outcome. Originally shared by … Continue reading “Paranoia in American Politics”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,381,358],"tags":[430,431,432],"class_list":["post-49744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-conspiracy-nuts","category-poor-citizenship","tag-qotd","tag-quotation","tag-quote"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45682,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/07\/the-model-of-a-modern-political-paranoid.html","url_meta":{"origin":49744,"position":0},"title":"The Model of a Modern Political Paranoid","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 7-Oct-14 3:44pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Quoth one modern representative: \"How can we account for our present situation unless we believe that men high in this government are concerting to deliver us to disaster? This must be the product of a great conspiracy on a scale so immense as to dwarf any previous such venture in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/paranoid-eye-is-watching-you5B15D.jpegimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41912,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/02\/amazing-how-absolute-secrecy-spawns-ignorance-and-conspiracy-theories.html","url_meta":{"origin":49744,"position":1},"title":"Amazing how absolute secrecy spawns ignorance and conspiracy theories","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 2-May-14 1:28pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Who'd've thunk?Reshared post from +Alex ScrivenerUm. You know why those complaining may \"lack knowledge of what is going on in the negotiations\"? Perhaps it's because the USTR -- a part of the Obama White House -- has insisted that the entire negotiations take place in complete secrecy with no transparency\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130790,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/06\/02\/donald-trump-has-figured-out-how-to-protect-his-business-interests.html","url_meta":{"origin":49744,"position":2},"title":"Donald Trump has figured out how to protect his business interests","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 2-Jun-16 11:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"1. Run a crooked business.2. Claim that Mexico is an existential threat to the United States.3. Decry a Mexican-American judge who is involved in court cases against his businesses as having a clear conflict of interest because of his heritage.4. Suggest that if he's elected, he'll put a stop to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41869,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/29\/is-it-time-for-a-geopolitical-divorce-with-israel.html","url_meta":{"origin":49744,"position":3},"title":"Is it time for a geopolitical divorce with Israel?","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 29-Apr-14 10:58pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's not often the case, but I agree with pretty much everything Andrew Sullivan writes here -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. The problem is, there are no pure white hats in the Arab\/Palestinian\/Israeli conflict, and even the lighter-colored hats have gotten pretty dusty and dingy. But it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130223,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/18\/the-obama-muslim-conspiracy-is-really-a-jewish-conspiracy.html","url_meta":{"origin":49744,"position":4},"title":"The Obama Muslim Conspiracy Is Really a Jewish Conspiracy?","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 18-Mar-16 4:34am","format":false,"excerpt":"Silly White Supremacists. Don't they know that Obama is out to advance the World Muslim Hegemony, not the World Jewish Hegemony? Get your Semitic religious straight, White Supremacists!(Though I'll say this: some of the people who scoff at paranoids tallying up what percentage of SCOTUS is Jewish and would the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136937,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/05\/in-denver-we-own-our-conspiracy-theories.html","url_meta":{"origin":49744,"position":5},"title":"In Denver, we OWN our conspiracy theories","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 5-Sep-18 5:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Denver International Airport (DEN) has been the subject of endless conspiracy theories since its construction, from rumors of underground labor camps (or bunkers or dwelling places for lizard people), to swastika-shaped runways, to (for some) bizarre murals, to the clearly evil blue horse sculpture at the entrance (\"Blucifer\" as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/den-conspiracy-posters-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50986,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49744\/revisions\/50986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}