Thread by @Noahpinion

In order to better understand the Trumpist movement and modern politics in general, I've been reading studies about earlier waves of American rightism.

One good book I've read is The Paranoid Style in American Politics: amazon.com/Paranoid-Style…

If you read alt-right or other "dissident right" stuff, you'll instantly recognize what Hofstadter calls the "paranoid style".

Anyone who has argued with alt-righters knows very well how they start with a few verifiable facts (gang rapes in Sweden!) and then jump to wild, dramatic conclusions.

Well, that ain't new.

I've been saying that American politics (on both sides) is now mostly about respect, and not really about economics.

Hofstadter says the same about the rightist politics of the 1960s.

Interestingly, Hofstadter's description of rightist immigrant politics in the 1950s seems pretty applicable to the social justice movement of the 2010s.

Does Hofstadter's description of rightists remind you of any would-be "alphas" you've encountered on the modern right?

Hofstadter could get away with saying that rightists are a buncha racists, because it was the mid-century and he was talking to academic audiences.

Sometimes, reading about the last century, I feel like I'm in Battlestar Galactica. "This has all happened before, and it will happen again."

Is this from a 1960s history book, or a Paul Krugman blog post?

Hofstadter's distinction between "interest politics" and "status politics" is one we badly need today. Status politics has taken over everything.

Man, if only the modern Left could find a candidate like Barry Goldwater, maybe we could experience a similar level of electoral success! :P

Anyway, Hofstadter's work shows that the modern movements that are roiling American politics are not new things. Not creations of the Russians or the internet.

They've been with us for a long time, and they won't go away when Trump leaves office.

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