Paranoid Thought in American Politics; 1797 through Today

Conspiracies and Paranoia of Old

In 1964, one year after publishing his classic, "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life," Richard Hofstadter wrote an article for Harpers Magazine titled, "The Paranoid Style in American Politics."[1] In it he traces a strain of political thought in American politics which is based on fear of some all-powerful "elite" group who plan to destroy our way of life and keep us in bondage. In the past century, perhaps the most prominent example of this would be Communism and the Soviet Union wielding influence with it's tentacles outstretched across the world. But as Hofstadter shows us, this phenomenon has been going on since our nation’s inception.

Americans first learned of Illumism in 1797, a conspiracy which was out to destroy all religion and governments. Hofstadter writes of a Scottish scientist who first "exposed" the conspiracy, John Robinson. He spoke Illumism, "fermenting and working all over Europe."[2] The anti-Christian Illumaniti corrupted women, “cultivated” sexual pleasure and promoted abortion.

By the late 1820s the anti-Masonic movement spread across America, was intensified and was no longer contained to New England territory. It was believed that Masonic influence festered in "sheriffs, juries and judges [who] must all be in league with the Masonic criminals and fugitives." In a modern-day parallel perhaps most shocking, it was believed that the Masons controlled and "muzzled" the press.

In the 1830s rumors began to spread of a vast Catholic conspiracy which sought to destroy American values and the American way of life. The inventor of the telegraph, S.F.B. Morse wrote a book titled, "Foreign Conspiracies against the Liberties of the United States." He spoke of well-funded "Jesuit missionaries" who were spreading out across the nation "in every possible disguise." Catholics were blamed for the economic depression of 1893, and rumors spread of a possible Catholic uprising and war to mutilate and exterminate the opposition.

The enemy is always with some great source of power whether it is money or media, and he tries to create crises and benefit from them. Furthermore in times of crisis, this type of thought naturally increases in popularity. The paranoid mind does not see history as merely history, but finds clues of a grand conspiracy within it, directed by some elite group. Hofstadter writes that, throughout history, to combat conspiracy groups, "secret organizations [are] set up to combat secret organizations...The Ku Klux Klan imitated Catholicism to the point of donning priestly vestments, developing an elaborate ritual and an equally elaborate hierarchy."

In Hofstadter's Time

Hofstadter writing of the conspiracies in his own time notes that one difference he saw that presented itself was that in previous times the right-wing saw themselves as fending off threats to American values, but now they see themselves of trying to recover what has actually been lost. Essentially the right feels they are dispossessed victims, not of changing times but of a powerful elite. Furthermore Hofstadter saw the conspiracies of his own time as being in the public eye more than ever before with the anti-communist sentiment and suspicion that education and government are infiltrated with the enemy.

What's Happening Today

The Right has now taken up the old call that the media is our current vast conspiracy. I have to think that this paranoia has been actively created when Sarah Palin only has to say the words, "media" or "New York Times" and receives a chorus of boo's, or when media vans at rallies are flipped the bird or screamed at by rally attendees. While the “liberal media” has been a talking point for decades, this is essentially a variation on a familiar theme as is evidenced above.

After "Joe the plumber" had his life sifted through by the media John McCain sent up the call that Obama's media attacked a common man and destroyed his life. While I do not believe the media should have gone through Joe Wurzelbacher's life either, the right-wing speaks as if Obama gave the word and his minions in the media attacked on cue. The other side of this issue is that calling Obama a “socialist” has become commonplace, invoking an old favorite in American politics.

Another example of this was after the New York Times wrote an article about Cindy McCain and in it spoke of her previous addiction to pain-killers there was outrage and calls for an investigation into Obama's past drug abuse, as if it were some sort of secret the media has not touched.

A final example, this past week was on the show Hardball, where Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota in all seriousness asked for an investigation into "anti-American sentiment in Congress." This woman is the most extreme example we have yet in this election season of this paranoid sentiment, and as Katrina Vanden Heuvel said later in the show, she seems to be "channeling McCarthy."

This is nothing singular to America, the conspiracy of the Jews in Europe has perhaps caused the most harm of any paranoid thought in history. Even dating back to the Black Death of the 1340s Jews were accused of poisoning public wells and were burnt alive. However, the one necessary ingredient of paranoia is fear, and America has been a fearful country dating back to our conflicts with the Native Americans. It seems fear or the capacity for it is more rampant here than elsewhere, evidenced by the fact that before the invasion of Iraq we feared Saddam Hussein more than countries next to him in Europe.

One has to be concerned in uncertain times such as these about scape-goating. As a gay person I become more concerned in times such as these when the reactionary half of America is inevitably and easily whipped up and directed toward an enemy. If we are really facing the “once in a century” economic crisis that Alan Greenspan says we are, I have to think we are ill-suited to deal with it in our current frame of mind.

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FOOTNOTES

1. You can find the full article here: http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/conspiracy_theory/the_paranoid_mentality/the_paranoid_style.html
2. In times when we hear constantly of socialism and Islam taking hold in Europe, this language is not something new even centuries later.