The Paranoid Style
The paranoid style in American politics has been around for longer than the politics it is about. Its history can be traced back to the 1700s in the European political spectrum and has been developed since then. Hofstadter’s article The Paranoid Style in American Politics takes a closer look into the history of the paranoid style and applies it to American politics since the 1860s; specifically, politics concerning the wars of the 1900s moving into 2000. He also takes time to detail the main points concerning paranoid style and how it differs from other right-wing beliefs.
The two historical points Hofstadter draws attention to are the anti-Masonic movements of the 1800s and the Illuminati conspiracy in Europe in the 1600s and how it influenced the American Masonry. The paranoid style Hofstadter discusses in relation to these two cases is the anti-Masonic political movement. The anti-Masonic paranoid style encompassed an animus against the “closure of opportunity for the common man” and against “aristocratic institutes.”
A contemporary paranoid style has three distinct characteristics and is found in heavy right-wing conservatives. Their primary motivation is the fact that they feel America has been taken away from them and they want it back. They are typically very upset because they feel old American virtues and values have been replaced. Another key characteristic of paranoid style is they see a fate of conspiracy in apocalyptic terms. Conspiracy to them is not something that can be recovered from; instead, they believe the fate of America is in their hands and should they not do something about the reversal of American values or America itself will fall. As Hofstadter mentions, the paranoid, being capable of seeing the conspiracy before the general public, is a militant leader. He does not think like a politician. The paranoid views the enemy as someone who is full of malice and is amoral. Another key aspect of the paranoid style is the pedantry. There is a vast and clear contrast between the fantasied conclusions and conspiracies and the ability the paranoid has in order to create evidence to prove the conspiracy correct and everyone else wrong.
Hofstadter concludes this essay with drawing attention to the fact that the paranoid style is full of double suffering. The certain obsession with fantasies causes the paranoid to not only be affected by the real world and everything happening that he is against, but to also be afflicted by his fantasies.
My response to this article is mostly centered around last year’s election because many of the political debates appealed to the paranoid style. Specifically, Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” although not directly targeted toward paranoid style, caught the attention of many right wing conservatives because of the paranoid’s first main point which was reclaiming the country. Trump’s appeal to reclaim America to make it what it once was is attractive because of the ideals behind it.
This article details more on exactly how Donald Trump uses the paranoid style to appeal to possible voters. Similarly, other elections in the past have appealed to the paranoid style. I wonder how important the paranoid style is really to contemporary politics and political elections.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/illegitimacy-and-american-policing/422094/
This article summarizes paranoid style in regard to the police force. It is an interesting article because it gives another viewpoint of paranoid style using a different lens of focus.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/17/goldwater-the-father-of-american-conservatism/
One of the politicians Hofstadter draws attention to in this article is Barry Goldwater, who was an intense right-wing conservative who lost the 1964 election. This article makes me think about what would have happened if Goldwater had won the election and been president and how paranoid style, which he appeals to, would have transformed with his presidency.
This is another article on Barry Goldwater and why his loss was defining for American politics; this article is great to understanding Goldwater’s background and history leading up to his political career.
Here is a New York Times article that also discusses the recent rise in popularity within the paranoid style. This talks more about the race between Clinton and Trump and is vital to understanding contemporary political paranoid style because it contrasts and compares Hofstadter’s article to both of their political movements and campaigns.