Reddit reviews The Paranoid Style in American Politics: And Other Essays
We found 4 Reddit comments about The Paranoid Style in American Politics: And Other Essays. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Used Book in Good Condition
The word 'libertarian' was more or less accidentally usuped by the American right-wing pseudoconservatives, to use Hofstadter's term, who used it to describe their racist, nativist, pro-state movement. It really has nothing to do with the historical usage of the word libertarian, which had before that time always been used to refer exclusively to anti-state, decenralist, anti-authoritarian socialists, of which group anarchism plays a significant role.
>I anticipate that these remarks will not be well received but I'm going to post them anyway.
Good for you! People need to stand up to the hivemind more - /r/politics has gotten way out of hand in this regard - it's just as bad as, if not worse than, Fox News. (gasp) And yeah, this article is complete bullshit. If anyone is interested in a good look at conspiracy theories in American politics, I'd recommend Hofstadter's The Paranoid Style in American Politics As a special bonus, this book also explains why people like Glenn Beck exercise such huge influence.
I await the torrential flood of downvotes with gusto. Newsflash - karma is worthless.
I still have all my books from that class, and it was a decade ago! Keep in mind that many are rather dry because they're from a historical detail standpoint versus something Dan Brown would write (but the professor was just amazing and made it so interesting).
The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies
Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK. We did a bit of critiquing of the author here as well.
Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture. Looks like there's a newer edition that has 9/11, but this one covered conspiracies
The Paranoid Style in American Politics
As far as what I'd recommend, the first two are probably the most engaging, especially the JFK one. I also enjoyed the third one, mostly because it had a little bit about everything, including a conspiracy about Fox Mulder from X-Files and I love that show haha
It's pretty generally accepted in psychology that the origin of conspiracism often correlates with extreme individualism and cognitive biases to maintain it.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-narcissus-in-all-us/200809/paranoia-911-and-the-roots-conspiracy-theories
http://www.jstor.org/pss/3791630
http://www.amazon.com/Paranoid-Style-American-Politics-Essays/dp/0674654617