2. Hofstadter died in 1970, but he remains perhaps the most influential 20th century USA historian among pundits, often cited, as by @BretStephensNYT this morninghttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/opinion/republicans-paranoia-mueller-trump.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fbret-stephens&action=click&contentCollection=opinion®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection …
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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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... and the founding event of the US (the Revolution) was based on a paranoid conspiracy theory about George III.
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They were alemways there: gave us Jim Crow, Father Coughlin, etc.
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This, but also "why do Orange County and other highly educated suburban areas become hotbeds of the New Right."
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Centers of paranoid ideas like water fluoridation was a Communist plot.
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