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Richard Hofstadter

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The Paranoid Style in American Politics: An Essay: from The Paranoid Style in American Politics (Kindle Single) (A Vintage Short) Kindle Edition

by Richard Hofstadter (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 161 ratings

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A Vintage Shorts Selection

A timely reissue of acclaimed historian Richard Hofstadter’s authoritative and unforgettable essay. First published in 1964 and no less relevant half a century later, The Paranoid Style in American Politics scrutinizes the conditions that gave rise to the extreme right of the 1950s and the 1960s, and presages the ascendancy of the Tea Party movement and, now, Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Fringe groups can and do both influence and derail American politics, and Hofstadter remains indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understand why paranoia, a persistent psychic phenomenon with an outsize role in American public life, refuses to abate.

An ebook short.

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39
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EN
English
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Vintage
Publication date

2016
October 4
File size

7.9 MB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01KW9AWY2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage (October 4, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 4, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 8126 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 39 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #304,214 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #8 in One-Hour Politics & Social Sciences Short Reads
- #22 in Kindle Singles: History
- #35 in Kindle Singles: Politics & Social Sciences

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4.5 161 ratings

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Cassiodorus

Timely

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2022

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Insights into the minds of the American Taliban - the folks who really do see the need for a Department of Virtue and Public Morality.

3 people found this helpful

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Lucas

Timeless

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2021

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Recommended, not only to understand past movements, but to understand current paranoid minded political movements, mostly right wingers (like the followers of the q conspiracy/hoax/joke)

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Written in the 60's, Applicable to Today

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2018

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This long form essay was written in 1964, after the assassination of JFK, but was speaking about the history of a paranoid style of political rhetoric that has been present around the world for hundreds of years (think the French Revolution as it continued). That said, so much of it feels applicable to our current state of the world and the current condition of the United States. The key difference that the author identifies between the anti-Mason or anti-Catholic movements in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and his modern day, is that the previous leaders of those movements using this paranoid style were fighting for an ideal. What Mr. Hofstadter sees in the twentieth (and we can see in the 21st) century, is that the leaders of these political movements espouse that they have lost something or something has been taken from them (whether they believe it is questionable). And the paranoid style of communicating to people is used to identify the enemy, the one who took whatever it is away. Right now, we talk about people in this country feeling like they are not heard, feeling disenfranchised, being set aside, and once again this language of paranoia is being used extensively to foster feelings that there is one enemy who has taken these things away from citizens, who is responsible for how they feel. This piece does not provide a solution, but understanding what is happening and having insight into the history is very helpful.

6 people found this helpful

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1963 essay still timely today

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2019

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Amazing to think that this November, 1963 political essay, a classic from a well-known American political scientist, is still as timely today as ever. A quick read from his larger book but very interesting and thought-provoking.

3 people found this helpful

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C. M. Stahl

Dated and biased but interesting

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2017

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Hofstadter a noted leftist in his day had written several books that were commentary of the mindset of the American Right. This book was the result of a Herbert Spencer Lecture that he delivered in November of 1963. His argument is that much of the American political mindset is fueled by suspicion and what he called paranoia. He assured the reader that he was using the latter term in the way we commonly use it rather than as its clinical definition. He also indicated that this was not solely an American attribute but could be found everywhere to some extent. He indicated that those on the political left of center also were subject to this sort of decision making. Then he presented a short book that was nearly 100% devoted to addressing conservative and right wing ideology.
Ideology was the key word here and he rarely or never used it but what he presented was actually how people become blinded by their own ideology and defend it by showing how those they are opposed to it actually are part of a powerful cabal of conspirators designing political domination through feint and deceit. They also have uncanny skills as well as resources with which to pull their machinations off. There is brainwashing and seduction going on in order to sway minions to side with essentially the beast of an anti-Christ.
Hofstadter did not go into some of the details about how conspirators can convince so many people without even a one, breaking ranks to report their new found misgivings. Instead the book focused on the efforts that those who were on to any conspiracy detailed their “facts” and shepherded a path to avoid the apocalypse that loomed. The books he cited were replete with footnotes, curious photographs and statistics that were funneled into a viewpoint that was hard to deny by those already convinced.
While reading this book written over a half a century ago, I reflected on several events that bolster his claims and occur today. The first being “fake news”. Some of that comes from the likes of The Onion newspaper which never pretended to be otherwise. Jon Stewart who during his time as a comedy “news” host likewise never pretended to be offering the “truth”. We did witness during our recent presidential election, a host of “fake news” stories that obscured their falsity and presented information for people who were looking for exactly what the false news provided.
I also considered the ideas of Marshall McLuhan the media theorist and a contemporary of Hofstadter. I cited him much when I wrote a thesis many years ago. Both of these men wrote when the media was constricted to the “hot” forms such as radio talk shows and the “cool” media such as Atlantic Monthly. In the latter our emotions were intensified by sometimes preached screeds designed to convince the audience of what Hofstadter was describing in this book. The latter was read as its title suggests, by the month. It also cited sources that could be easily found and researched. Both of those forms continue to exist today but with technology that exacerbates “hot” media. Facebook, Twitter and all of the other means of making personal expression omnipresent, conspiracy concepts get plenty of play. Technology has made more “hot” media forms but no new “cool” ones.
I have read, heard and witnessed that American’s ability to think critically is very poor. It is likely that it always was and probably many evolutionary thinkers have explained how this is an adaptation. I do not disagree especially with its rampant nature. As disheartening as that idea is, it appears to simply be the case and that is where Hofstadter’s reference to Montaigne comes in handy. That 16th century writer brought a philosophy (of sorts) to bear by reminding us that people who voted for Trump or Britain’s Brexit might have paranoid delusion (and might not of course) but we have to live with them. In reality there is no “norm” rather there is a vague standard that is interpreted by everyone to suit their own needs. We individuals are generally determined that we are correct so in America we have about 300 million correct people.
The challenge now is that with all of the “information” hitting the vast mediums and screaming our beliefs everywhere, how do we remain civil. How do we have discourse that allows for people of general disagreement to learn from each other? Robert Dole referred to Bill Clinton as “an opponent, not an enemy” 20 years ago when they campaigned for President. As a nation we are a long way from that perspective. If we continue on the course of action that exists now…well I am glad to be old.

8 people found this helpful

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Martha's Vineyard

Things haven't changed much over the past century, it seems...

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2017

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You'd think Hofstadter was writing for today, but this article-length tome will convince you that things really haven't changed much in American politics over the last century. Cogent, fluent, insightful--take your choice.

2 people found this helpful

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Richard Faulkner

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2017

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I suppose this should now be considered a classic given it is over fifty years old and as relevant to today's world as it was when originally published.

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2021

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This is the speech that was core of the book paranoid style. It is detailed and quick read but doesn't go into His target's causal explanations and historiography like the book does.

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dominic

Badly Needed Corrective

Reviewed in India on January 5, 2021

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A badly needed corrective to those impressions of America based on media, Hollywood, etc., this insightful portrait of just how weird Americans really are and always have been suits the times precisely.

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