America’s politics is reaching peak paranoia
The paranoid style of thinking that predisposes its people to indulge in conspiracy theories is as old as the country.
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MAGA and Democratic elites disagree over about what constitutes “Americanness.” The angriest Trumpists feel that they are being deliberately replaced by immigrants, says the writer.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Adrian Wooldridge
One of the most striking things about contemporary America is the popularity of conspiracy theories. The list of absurd things that “everybody knows” gets ever longer.
If you’re on the right, you “know” that the Deep State is subverting the administration of US President Donald Trump; that the global elite is set on undermining American sovereignty; and that lockdown during Covid-19 was a dry run for totalitarian rule. If you’re on the left, you “know” that Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin has “kompromat” on Trump, probably involving urination; that the Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt was a put-up job; and that the administration will find a way to cancel the midterm elections.
