1. If you don't mind, I have a few things I really have to get off my chest about Richard Hofstadter, the historian.
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7. Aside from his ideology, other thing about Hofstadter was he didn't do much archival research (due to allergies & general poor health). So he relied heavily on secondary literature, which he eloquently synthesized.
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8. Repeatedly, those subsequent historians who did do archival research found that Hofstadter's work was filled with glib & often flat out wrong generalizations.
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9. A few examples. Hofstadter: social darwinism was philosophy of plutocrats. Robert Bannister: there really no coherent philosophy & many political traditions selectively used Darwin.
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10. Hofstadter: Populists were bigoted, rural loons out of touch with modernity. Nugent/Goodwyn & many others: populists no more bigoted than elites they opposed & they had detailed, intelligent response to real problems.
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11.Hofstadter: McCarthyism grew out of populist tradition. Michael Rogin & others; Cold War liberalism prepared groundwork for McCarthyism & McCarthy himself supported by mid-western business elite.
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12. Hofstadter: paranoid flourish on radical fringes of society. American history as a whole: um: how do you explain J. Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon or (post-Hofstadter) Donald Trump.
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13. Let's ponder more the paranoid style theory point: what have been the most destructive conspiracy theories in recent USA history?
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14. J. Edgar Hoover's paranoid war against radicalism & civil rights had elite support from Palmer Raids till Nixon.
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15. Conspiracy theory that North Vietnam was pawn of Red China (and not motivated by nationalism) was held by elites in JFK & LBJ administration & led to war.
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16. Conspiracy theories that led to Iraq War (Axis of Evil, Saddam-AQ connection, WMDs) all fostered by elites.
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17. If you want to see conspiracy theories go read editorial page of Bret Stephens old newspaper Wall Street Journal on climate change or Vince Foster.
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18. Ultimately, the appeal of Hofstadter is that he provides the comforting idea of a sensible center, relegating discontent & error to the margins. That's a false view of history.
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19. One last point: it's interesting how much of centrist punditry still relies not just on Hofstadter but other Cold War liberals (Niebuhr, Trilling). They remain foundational for a elite consensus worldview.
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End of conversation
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