http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2002-2006 by the authors Fri, 9 May 2003 11:17:59 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/08/213417.php#comment-9282 No, Hofstader, first of all, was writing in the immediate aftermath of the McCarthy era, when right wing conspiracy thinking was riding high, so that is what he focused on. But he also cited the Populists, a left wing movement of the 1880s and 90s, for its conspiracy thinking. Had he lived longer than he did, he very possibly would have become a neoconservative, since he ran with the Commentary crowd in its more liberal days. The real problem with Hofstader is that the historical precedents he cited were not as conspiracy minded as he thought. Scholarship has discounted his interpretation of these movements; but his charecterizations of the "paranoid style" are as relevant as ever. As a leftist (with libertarian tendencies) who's always fighting with left conspiracy thinkers--excuse me, "thinkers," I think he was spot on, as the British say. You can actually retrieve the original essay the book was based on by Googling it; it's well worth reading. ]]> 9282@blogcritics.org Fri, 9 May 2003 11:17:59 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/08/213417.php#comment-9270 Isn't this better under Etc. or Politics. Is there such a category? It is well written but seems to have nothing to do with books except one reference at the end. Ah well. I'm just reacquainting myself with this site. ]]> 9270@blogcritics.org Fri, 9 May 2003 05:35:49 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/08/213417.php#comment-9266 Everything I've read about Hofstader's book indicates that, while good, it suffers from the fatal flaw of blaming all paranoia and conspiracy-minded thinking on the radical right, and lets radical left-wing conspirators almost completely off the hook. Pipes' book offers a riveting analysis of both far-left and far-right conspiracy groups. Furthermore, it's far more up to date. ]]> 9266@blogcritics.org Fri, 9 May 2003 00:36:17 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/05/08/213417.php#comment-9265 An even better book is Richard Hofstader's "The Paranoid Style in American Politics." http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0674654617/qid=1052454449/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-5030864-2811140?v=glance&s=books ]]> 9265@blogcritics.org Fri, 9 May 2003 00:29:10 EDT