3 ms·
https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/ https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-am... The Paranoid Style
by justanotheranon 6y ago
https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/ https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-am...
The Paranoid Style in American Politics 1964.
American politics has always been this way. It's simplistic to blame it all on Faux News, or the Civil War or a vague over generalized "racism." The paranoid style even predates the American Revolutionary War. You can draw a straight line from the anti-Mason and anti-Catholic populist movements from the 1800's to QAnon amd Antifa today. It's the exact same narrative, paranoid about vast and powerdul malevolent conspiracies being run by a cabal of the most powerful. The coup plotters names and methods of attack may change, but the structural narrative remains the same.
The Paranoid style it's in our blood, it's a unique trait that defines us as Americans. Therefore I don't knock it and I hope we never lose it.