Conspiracy theorizing is a venerable American tradition. In the decades after independence, the boogeyman was the British. Then there was the Anti-Masonic Party. And throughout the 19th Century there was a CT that the Pope was -- somehow -- cause mass Catholic emigration to America, with the goal of subverting American democracy and creating a monarchy under a Catholic prince. Then the 20th Century saw several Red Scares, and the 21st saw renewed Islamophobia, and there was also the whole "New World Order" thing.
QAnon isn't really anything new, is it?
- Thread starter Wilson23
- Start date
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Paranoia#In_politics
In 1963, Richard Hofstadter gave a lecture titled "The Paranoid Style in American Politics", which was subsequently expanded and published in Harper's Magazine in 1964,[5] and reprinted in a collection of essays in 1965.[6] Hofstadter defines the political paranoiac as someone with a sub-clinical form of paranoia who nonetheless shares the traits of being:[6]:4
“”overheated, oversuspicious, overaggressive, grandiose, and apocalyptic in expression, the clinical paranoid sees the hostile and conspiratorial world in which he feels himself to be living as directed specifically against him; whereas the spokesman of the paranoid style finds it directed against a nation, a culture, a way of life whose fate affects not himself alone but millions of others.
Hofstadter claimed that the paranoid style was only associated with minority movements within the United States, probably because as a historian of American history, he was naturally looking backwards.[6]:7 He did not foresee the paranoia of the Richard Nixon (who won the 1972 Presidential Election with 61% of the popular vote) and Donald Trump (who lost the popular vote in 2016 but won the Electoral College vote) presidencies. On the other hand, Hofstadter stated that paranoia is a common ingredient in fascism, referring specifically to Nazism in Germany (through the international Jewish conspiracy),[6]:7 and Nazism was popular among Germans. The subsequent Holocaust was the culmination of Hitler's paranoia, the worst act of genocide in history, only rivaled by the Holodomor.
Hofstadter argued that the paranoid style is primarily expressed through all-embracing conspiracy theories, such as the "Jesuits or Freemasons, international capitalists, international Jews, or Communists".[6]:6
Significant paranoid American political movements that Hofstadter identified were McCarthyism and the John Birch Society.[6]
Hofstadter also noted a curious behavior ("a fundamental paradox") of paranoid political groups: imitation of perceived or real characteristics of their enemies.[6]:32-34 For example:
The Ku Klux Klan in their anti-Catholicism imitating the Catholic priestly robes, elaborate rituals, and hierarchy[6]:32-33
The John Birch Society in their anti-communism imitating communist cells and front groups[6]:33
In 1963, Richard Hofstadter gave a lecture titled "The Paranoid Style in American Politics", which was subsequently expanded and published in Harper's Magazine in 1964,[5] and reprinted in a collection of essays in 1965.[6] Hofstadter defines the political paranoiac as someone with a sub-clinical form of paranoia who nonetheless shares the traits of being:[6]:4
“”overheated, oversuspicious, overaggressive, grandiose, and apocalyptic in expression, the clinical paranoid sees the hostile and conspiratorial world in which he feels himself to be living as directed specifically against him; whereas the spokesman of the paranoid style finds it directed against a nation, a culture, a way of life whose fate affects not himself alone but millions of others.
Hofstadter claimed that the paranoid style was only associated with minority movements within the United States, probably because as a historian of American history, he was naturally looking backwards.[6]:7 He did not foresee the paranoia of the Richard Nixon (who won the 1972 Presidential Election with 61% of the popular vote) and Donald Trump (who lost the popular vote in 2016 but won the Electoral College vote) presidencies. On the other hand, Hofstadter stated that paranoia is a common ingredient in fascism, referring specifically to Nazism in Germany (through the international Jewish conspiracy),[6]:7 and Nazism was popular among Germans. The subsequent Holocaust was the culmination of Hitler's paranoia, the worst act of genocide in history, only rivaled by the Holodomor.
Hofstadter argued that the paranoid style is primarily expressed through all-embracing conspiracy theories, such as the "Jesuits or Freemasons, international capitalists, international Jews, or Communists".[6]:6
Significant paranoid American political movements that Hofstadter identified were McCarthyism and the John Birch Society.[6]
Hofstadter also noted a curious behavior ("a fundamental paradox") of paranoid political groups: imitation of perceived or real characteristics of their enemies.[6]:32-34 For example:
The Ku Klux Klan in their anti-Catholicism imitating the Catholic priestly robes, elaborate rituals, and hierarchy[6]:32-33
The John Birch Society in their anti-communism imitating communist cells and front groups[6]:33
A very good source here: https://www.amazon.com/Fantasyland-...6e935ec81b08ad680303641&qid=1772134445&sr=8-1
Rightguide
Prof Triggernometry
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2017
- Posts
- 72,818
QAnon isn't really anything new, is it?
Not as far as Democrat conspiracy theories go. It's quite typical of their fantasizing.
QAnon is no Dem theory.
In fact, I can't recall any CTs Dems HAVE endorsed since the New Deal years.
bijedi
Deviant
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2004
- Posts
- 415
Most of the early 9/11 truthers were leftists/Democrats.
The anti-vax movement was largely started by liberal Democrats.
Both of those movements have been taken over by MAGA in the last decade, but they still see significant support from liberals.
And there is small but significant number of Democrats that believe the 2024 election results were manipulated. Not quite to the degree of the Big Lie supporters, but it is definitely there.
ll74
Your Best Friend
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2013
- Posts
- 74,803
One of our most prolific posters here believes it to be the Bible.
And then there was the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Very CLOSE resemblance to QAnon, in its blood-libel obsession with abducted children.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Satanic_Panic
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Satanic_Panic
Rightguide
Prof Triggernometry
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2017
- Posts
- 72,818
I'm pretty conservative, and I've had nothing to do with it, or even know what it is, except that it's a feverish obsession of yours and others who don't love their country
It's this: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/QAnon And it is a feverish obession of RWs, not of Dems.
MajorRewrite
Iffy
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2014
- Posts
- 10,844
11 GOP congressional nominees support QAnon conspiracy
Including MTG and Boebert, of course.
Your choice to live in denial about everything is weird.
briancamdudetenger2018
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2023
- Posts
- 3,654
remember the old school conspiracy theories from the 40s to the 2000s in the infamous supermarket tabloids like who shot jfk did aliens crash in roswell is area 51 real does bigfoot live in the forests is elvis still alive
Chernosoth
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2021
- Posts
- 2,300
QAnon has gained some credibility. Various people apologized for ridiculing the believers and reminded the Dems to reload the insult guns. It may still be a false flag op run by a Democrat. For most people, it's an occasional distraction while we wait, push for, or push against criminal trials.
MajorRewrite
Iffy
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2014
- Posts
- 10,844
Nope.
Nobody seriously apologized for making fun of Qanon loons.
fAlSE fLaG oP is one of the looney-sphere’s favorite excuses.
MajorRewrite
Iffy
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2014
- Posts
- 10,844
How Qanon was spectacularly wrong
Expecting the best friend of the head pedo guy to bring justice was … misguided.
Expecting the best friend of the head pedo guy to bring justice was … misguided.
All of those were TRUE, actually, but that's another discussion.
Is there nothing you don’t grossly lie about?
Another crazed revisionist
briancamdudetenger2018
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2023
- Posts
- 3,654
lol
How, when nothing it predicted has happened, and nothing it asserted has turned out to be true?
Not even you believe that is remotely possible.
