Excerpted from “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”, a 1964 essay by Richard J. Hofstadter:
“The paranoid spokesman, sees the fate of conspiracy in apocalyptic terms — he traffics in the birth and death of whole worlds, whole political orders, whole systems of human values. He is always manning the barricades of civilization… he does not see social conflict as something to be mediated and compromised, in the manner of the working politician. Since what is at stake is always a conflict between absolute good and absolute evil, what is necessary is not compromise but the will to fight things out to a finish. Since the enemy is thought of as being totally evil and totally unappeasable, he must be totally eliminated — if not from the world, at least from the theatre of operations to which the paranoid directs his attention. This demand for total triumph leads to the formulation of hopelessly unrealistic goals, and since these goals are not even remotely attainable, failure constantly heightens the paranoid’s sense of frustration. Even partial success leaves him with the same feeling of powerlessness with which he began, and this in turn only strengthens his awareness of the vast and terrifying quality of the enemy he opposes.
“The enemy is clearly delineated: he is a perfect model of malice, a kind of amoral superman — sinister, ubiquitous, powerful, cruel, sensual, luxury-loving. Unlike the rest of us, the enemy is not caught in the toils of the vast mechanism of history, himself a victim of his past, his desires, his limitations. He wills, indeed, he manufactures, the mechanism of history, or tries to deflect the normal course of history in an evil way. He makes crises, starts runs on banks, causes depressions, manufactures disasters, and then enjoys and profits from the misery he has produced. The paranoid’s interpretation of history is distinctly personal: decisive events are not taken as part of the stream of history, but as the consequences of someone’s will. Very often, the enemy is held to possess some especially effective source of power: he controls the press; he has unlimited funds; he has a new secret for influencing the mind (brainwashing); he has a special technique for seduction (the Catholic confessional).
“It is hard to resist the conclusion that this enemy is, on many counts, the projection of the self; both the ideal and the unacceptable aspects of the self are attributed to him. The enemy may be the cosmopolitan intellectual, but the paranoid will outdo him in the apparatus of scholarship, even of pedantry. Secret organizations, set up to combat secret organizations, give the same flattery. The Ku Klux Klan imitated Catholicism to the point of donning priestly vestments, developing an elaborate ritual and an equally elaborate hierarchy. The John Birch Society emulates Communist cells and quasi-secret operation through “front” groups, and preaches a ruthless prosecution of the ideological war along lines very similar to those it finds in the Communist enemy. Spokesmen of the various fundamentalist anti-Communist “crusades” openly express their admiration for the dedication and discipline the Communist cause calls forth.”
Moving On Up a Little Higher 
The mechanics of hate in a nutshell.
A very astute essay. What I see is the description of all major conflicts we see in our culture today. Political feuding, countries feuding, corporation greed vs what it conceives as ignorant blobs, the common person vs what they see the corporate greed is doing.
Behind all of that we see false data and unevaluated situations. Not an LRH evaluation, but an evaluation by all concerned and all viewing as to the true isness there. We can also see why the current road-map of actions by RCS, OSA, etc will never end. As long as the ill advised and ignorant bias of personal reason is kept entrenched there will always be us vs them.
Those viewing this from an exterior, or external viewpoint, can back away from the insanity and not play that game. That, IMO, is the pathway to unraveling hate and evil actions that affect our cultures today.
I practiced aikido for awhile. A marshal art sometimes refered to ” the art of not bring there” Utilizing the force of the assailent against himself is quite effective.Being in the force effort band is not always the best place to be. After finishing your wonderful and very entertaining book, I think allthe force and effort being used by scientology inc will sooner or later destroy. Lets all sit back and watch.
Wow, that is incredibly accurate.
A great essay by Hofstadter about GPMs at work in politics. However, much earlier (1948) he also wrote the classic book, “The American Political Tradition,” in which his major idea was that a conspiratorial wealthy minority has always secretly ruled America by manipulating the non-wealthy majority into voting “the right way.” The elite knows they’re outnumbered so badly that they can never control the masses by force, so they do so by trickery. They promote the fiction that the “the people” are in control of government through democracy, when in actual fact the wealthy elite has always controlled the outcome of elections well enough to protect its interests. They do this by controlling who is allowed to vote, who’s available to vote for, and what issues voters are led to focus on. The masses get to blow off steam from time to time, and compromises between their interests and those of the rich are made. But the wealthy elite always remains in power on those issues that really matter to it, i.e. the ones having to do with their staying rich. Hofstadter describes how this was done at every stage of America’s political history, and promotes it as a good thing, which it probably would be if the wealthy elite really were Plato’s ultra-sane philosopher kings, which unfortunately they’re not.
Now that is an extraordinary gem of insight to be savored and integrated and… wow. thanks!
Wow, I guess that’s the other side of the coin. Applied to LRH, it’s a different evaluation of his take. Apparently, Hofstadter changed his mind about the “ultra-sane philosopher kings”. Which view was right?
Hope DM reads this. Or at least some OSA tools.
This guy is pretty smart. I think I’m missing the context. For some reason I thought of Alex Jones.
The quote above resonates strongly with the Hubbard I knew and loved while driving me crazy with impossible goals and a no compromise stance. I’m currently reading Lawarence Wright’s Going Clear and it reminded me how much scientology was a projection of Hubbard’s ideals and fears. And it is no wonder that Miscavige is now in charge.
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wise people so full of doubts.” – Bertrand Russell
This statement validates the observation that the “masses” do not organize and prevent tyrannical men from holding sway. It’s simply not in most peoples nature to do so – they can see more than their own viewpoints and therefore take longer to act while evaluating information and dertermining best practices while avoiding unintended consequences.
Meanwhile, the truly intelligent “masses” are often bypassed into non-existence by others who are swift to act, certain – and most often, incorrect.
The fact that LRH positioned so-called “OT’s” over other beings on the planet proves that he fell into the same trap that others fall into: That class-distinction, nationalism, racism, gender discrimination, religious bigotry, etc. all serve only one purpose – to make others be bodies.
In my opinion there actually is no Left or Right. There is only up or down.
Elliott, very knowledgeable & well-written.
Went to an interesting event on Saturday, the Bilgerberg Fringein the grounds of the ‘Grove’ hotel’ Watford UK where the main Bilderberg Conference was being held.
Wow. Did someone mention what a bitch dichotomies can be? 😉
I think the optimum relative position to snap terminals is the opposite pole. It’s got the least perspective, even though the greatest separation.
The Great Middle Path is not without a few hazards and probably can’t be traveled unscathed.
Marty, this is why I chose to read and study LRH… he wrote in an inimitable simple style…
What do you want to say?
It’s one thing to love the aesthetics of writing and another thing to be understood to your audience.
so, I don’t get what this man wants to say… sorry, a foreign student here but well versed in english by LRH… Does this many or you wanna say that all conspiracy theorists are crazy? how do you explain in your book all the attacks against LRH (which were under cover, by the way), from FBI, AMA, APA, IRC… etc.
Wasn’t/Isn’t that considered to be a conspiracy anymore? Since you are so “open minded” let’s talk about your book also, which I have called you many times and didn ‘t care to put up a post to adress us with questions…
Too many “memos” from LRH, Marty, going straight to DM and other… executives…. and.. us… the lower staff never got to know things… never… so maybe you wanna open up a post and have some two way comm here.
hey, guys since I am a foreigner… (as they used to call me in ASHO Day) can someone explain in simple words what this man says here? Sorry for the Dev-t but I am a “Conspirationalist” since I think too many things are kept SECRET from the public or… the lower staff…
Elliot, this english I can dig… thank you.
yes, let’s we… the Scientologists talk about the Bilderberg… If David Icke can talk about it… I guess… we… humble thetans or humble remaining OTs would have something to say… but I guess we won’t cause OT doesn’t mean a certificate it mean CARING about…. homo sapiens! that’s were everybody lost his/her certificates…. for not caring and you cannot say this about LRH no matter how much we can chit chat about him and his technology now!
Most days I need “a little perspective” from the seemingly endless bickering of humanity … it’s not just ex’s vs indies, or KSW indies VS kool-aid drinkers – no it’s my neighbor against the community association or more shockingly NSA versus privacy rights. Or David Icke against the Queen and Alex Jones against Rush Limbaugh. Or my judging of the behavior of a friend or the way the country is run or, or, or
It never ends.
HOWEVER – today I watched a movie — it’s 1:55 minutes based on a true story of a man whose passion and mission in life can be summed up in these words: “When you treat a person, you win”
(BTW — I think that Marty lives by this creed as well)
PATCH ADAMS — Robin Williams 1998 — Amazon Instant Video – $2.99
This film might remind you what matters.
Helping others is the way to help ourselves.
(interestingly his road towards his purpose began in a psychiatric hospital — I can relate)
Theo,
You are too smart for me to presume to tell you what the posting means.
But I can give you my viewpoint on how I like to live my life with as much independence from ANY group pressure and their enforced realties.
To be truthful, there always conspiracies, cabals, power grabs, covert and overt wars, some fairly peaceful, some violent. No matter where you are, some game is afoot. That is the MEST Universe.
A healthy way to go about it is to simply recognize that is the lot of being alive and part of life.
A wise way to go about it is to recognize that beings have an almost pathological need to agree with the group and to obsessively participate in the game however crazy that might be.
We can simply recognize that most people are in some kind of GPM or another, and choose not to participate, or do so in a more intelligent and detached way.
That is the viewpoint that I maintained, and how I refused to be recruited into the insanity of Scientology.
My two cents.
Marty, dont get me wrong, I love yourblog. Your books were great and the people who post here most are awsome, but judging from the contents of this post and tha number of people responding or not responding i would say some of us are tired of war and enemys and could use some peace and serenity.
Hofstadter first of all is a huge intellectual giant of his times. So even reading him, kudos to anyone who does!
“… since these goals are not even remotely attainable, failure constantly heightens the paranoid’s sense of frustration. …” – Hofstadter
Sadly, “Clearing the Planet” to me, fits this Hofstadter remark.
I think LRH was at times, a realist, and he didn’t think even himself that “Clearing the Planet” was attainable.
Certainly at the end of his life, LRH, if what Sarge says LRH said to Sarge, near the end of LRH’s life is true, and I’m sure it’s true, then LRH didn’t even think that the grand goals were likely going to be achieved. LRH admitted that he had failed. I took this as a positive admission and reflection of LRH’s. That seemed like a overly harsh but realistic self realization for LRH to have made. (I think the people who do the tech and have wins and make spiritual gain would think even LRH was being too hard on himself, and I think even myself, I would so much want to find out the details of exactly what parts of Scientology that LRH felt he failed most at, because I agree, that LRH is being too hard on himself, and that the tech is out here, people are trained enough to do it, and are doing it, and only if the tech were book burned out of existence, would LRH truly have “failed.”!)
Now, if quoting Hofstadter was to focus on Miscavige, well, to me, Miscavige is just a very flawed personality type in the right place at the right time, and he’s warped the church of Scientology history is all. Even “wog” academics can differentiate this whole bad Miscavige era from LRH.
Miscavige will die of old age, someday.
The way LRH wrote everything, people after Miscavige is gone will be forced to return to what LRH said, and anything written by DM won’t hold water anymore, once DM is gone. .
LRH wrote himself so much into Scientology history, through all his writings, that any of the flaws and abuses Miscavige is perpetrating, even for the last 3 decades, will get washed away later by Hubbard’s writings which ARE in the public domain, for people who want to do Scientology, and who will become Scientologists long after Miscavige is dead and forgotten.
+1
The quote is a kind of a trojan horse.
It sounds great and rings true, but it can make you dumb at times.
I wonder if Richard J. Hofstadter wrote this assay with JFK in mind.
Cheers
” Once we put a label on something, we create a corresponding emotion.” Anthony Robbins
How could it make you dumb?
“Scientologists at War”
Channel 4 (UK)
Monday 17th June @ 9PM
Scientologists at War examines the independent Scientology movement and the high level defectors who have publicly renounced their membership from the Church of Scientology.
Marty Rathbun is one of the most senior defectors in Scientology’s history. As the former Inspector General of Ethics in the organisation that was created by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard, Rathbun worked closely with its leader, David Miscavige, and celebrity follower Tom Cruise.
The film provides a rare insider view of the Church of Scientology
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/scientologists-at-war/
In the way that some “authority” tells you, that anyone who “believes” in conspiracies is paranoid.
If you’ve read “The sociopath next door”, you can figure out the rest for yourself.
What’s your take on JFK?
Who?
Goldwater, IMHO.
Intersting how you took it personally. I never read it that way.
A programming note, if I may: Documentary about Independent Scientology: “Scientologists At War”
To be shown on Channel 4 (UK), 9pm 17 June 2013.
Likely to be available on 4oD (web streaming) shortly afterwards.
Scientologists at War examines the independent Scientology movement and the high level defectors who have publicly renounced their membership from the Church of Scientology.
Marty Rathbun is one of the most senior defectors in Scientology’s history. As the former Inspector General of Ethics in the organisation that was created by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard, Rathbun worked closely with its leader, David Miscavige, and celebrity follower Tom Cruise.
The film provides a rare insider view of the Church of Scientology.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/scientologists-at-war/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/scientologists-at-war
Director(s):
Joseph Martin
Producer(s):
Danielle Clark
United Kingdom
2013
50 min
HDCAM 1080/25p
English
Contact
Mike Lerner
Executive Producer
Roast Beef Productions
mike@roastbeeftv.com
+44 2072402885
http://www.roastbeeftv.com
http://sheffdocfest.com/films/show/5491
http://www.roastbeeftv.com/
Hat Tip – WWP: https://whyweprotest.net/community/threads/scientologists-at-war-documentary-joseph-martin-roast-beef-productions-uk-channel-4-17-june.111534/
Photo from post on Tony’s blog: http://tonyortega.org/2013/06/10/scientology-goes-after-critics-with-legal-threat-letters-following-strange-infiltration/#comment-925602623
Oh, on JFK, my take is he was a pretty interesting President.
I think to acknowledge that the bad guys are bad, is only good in order to longer play their game. From then on -being exterior- one can take responsibility for ‘them’ too 🙂
scilonschools,
Thanks for posting this weekend’s video snip of this event.
Our planet won’t resemble anything close to sanity until the sociopaths running it are isolated and we the people, free beings, get it on.
Icke hits all 8 cylinders in the last 5 minutes. I hope everyone and anyone takes the chance to listen.
By the way, the real criminal operatives are those that oversee the Build-a-burgers. RJ-67 was cutting edge on exposing these creeps. There were others on the front lines, of course.
If RJ 67 was so spot on – a dozen years worth of intelligence work by the GO would have turned up or produced something tangible, imho.
Theo,
The idiom “in a nutshell” means “in a short, summarized form”. Hope that helps!
Conan thanks, self determinism is very important. The only problem comes when things are going bad but a thetan alone or by himself cannot do much about it.
No matter how bad an example of a “Group” we got from DM, I still think that soon thetans (I am not even gonna call them Scientologists since the word is becoming already a cliche’) will re-think about their Dynamics and see the value of a true Group. And yes I am sorry not every Group is for everyone… You cannot be a Don Quixote all of your life.
A Group or a Game do not have to be crazy all the way from the start. Yes, as time goes on they can, like an uncontrolled machine turned loose. Automaticities is what makes the group and the game go awry.
Exactly Spyros! Thanks.
I should clarify Marty that RJ 67 was cutting edge for me personally. The first time I listened to it was circa 1974 and i was about 20 years old. As an undecided major in college I ended up majoring in Economics with emphasis on international banking and finance because of its influence.
A bit of history…
Somewhere around my first visits to the Cincinnati Mission there was this outrageously intriguing person named Mark Schreffler who informed me I had to go through an obligatory HCO sec check to make sure I wasn’t FBI, CIA or any other alphabet soup plant.
I passed.
Anyway, we ended up in a longish conversation that went at least an hour and a half as I recall.
Here’s my point. Mark whipped out a copy of a book titled “David” as in Rockefeller. Happily, this conversation steered me on a line of research and hopefully discovery through to my current ripe 58 years.
All in all, I feel I’ve been served well. Life really is an adventure if wanted.
To your point, RJ 67 has a personal significance as I’ve tried to explain.
Factually, there are, though, a handful of lunatics who effectively rule this planet and oversee and profit from all of the bullshit they, themselves, create.
They’ve been and continue to be exposed with increasing frequency and intensity. The good news is that our fellow beings are waking up to this scene on an exponential scale.
It’s all an illusion, yes, no observation may convince anyone…. since the “authorities” came out and said it’s NOT happening (when it was)….
We have been tricked once this lifetime by DM and those who were right next to him and followed him in his crazy streak.
Geoengineering is just another good thing and everything that is being done behind it, “is ok…”
The lady on the video says a lot from… observation! thank God there are people who still wanna look.
Reminder! The way to introduce new people to Scientology or recover people that have been set up for losses, is:
CONTACT
HANDLE
SALVAGE
and
BRING TO UNDERSTANDING.
That is per Hubbard. And that is the ONLY reference by Hubbard about it.
There is also a CDEI scale to be understood.
It is NOT scaring people into buying service from you with threats with generalities. If you know anything about the CDEI scale, you should know that people do not become curious about or desirous about when they are made paranoid or restimulated with generalities about what bad things could happen to them if they do not buy service. That is not bringing someone up the CDEI scale, that is restimulating them.
All of the OT materials are now on the Internet. The scare and mystery tactics are no longer fruitful.
This was started as a practice in “The Paranoid Style in Scientology Politics” era when mystery was a valid tool.
The ONLY thing people on this planet buy because “they are afraid not to” is health insurance, food and guns.
Hofstadter’s analysis is very perceptive – even approaching a realisation in the third paragraph that ‘you become what you oppose’. All a consequence of two-valued logic in a two-terminal universe.
Exactly; thank you.
Yeah, and God damn those people who were ‘right next to him and followed him in his crazy streak’, right? There is no need for you and I to discuss my book. You are in denial and wish to remain firmly implanted there. Godspeed.
Whats the derivation?
Dear Windhorse,
I loved that movie, Patch Adams, and adopted Dr. Adam’smuch attitude when helping my brother who was schizophrenic. It was very effective. My brother is much better now. Not “cured” per se, but living a pretty good life.
Tom – There are sociopaths in the world, and some in positions of power. I would not agree with the “handful” ruling the world. Nor would I agree with the dozen in RJ 67. I have researched this issue a lot and have over 100 hours of Icke speaking on my computer. There is no specific “group”.
Any agreement that there is a group in control immediately makes you assume the position you are the controlled. It is a fallacy. Individual sociopath’s yes. A “group” coordinated no. If you assume for this argument that an SP can never observe true present time as it is, that an SP cannot complete a cycle of action and that you are basically a spiritual being and not a body.
Then, how could you agree that certain families, along their physical genetic lines can control the world. How could these SP’s/sociopath’s act in a concerted fashion and complete cycles of action needed for an organized control and suppression of mankind. It wouldn’t happen.
This does not mean that via banking and economics; GMO/monsanto issues; drugs and the “drug war”; and the continuing dispute or turmoil by various political parties the average person isn’t effected and basically held down. If you look it is individual nut cases and these can be observed and confronted.
What is needed is the widespread certainty of self and the decreased need to only rise up by pulling others down. I am probably the minority here – very conservative in my views. That does not mean I cannot see from a pan determined viewpoint what is going on. But, the handling, is not to show what great powerful forces are aligned against us – it is but to speak with people one at a time and get them to see who they are and the stability that aligns.
Large greedy “corporations” are helpless and weak when the “masses” of average people do not buy their bull…t and crap products. I just ask that you think about it from a pan determined view. If LRH really knew the 12 people then why were they never named, why was there never a program to expose them and their control apparatus. IMO there was no single small organized group. There were special interest groups against Scientology and what it could do. Don’t get mired into looked for the enemy.
If all were to live life, have fun and flourish and prosper – wouldn’t we truly have a saner world. No dragons need slaying. I regularly follow another blog that has Icke on it and I enjoy what he has to say. Not to say that I believe everything – it is his viewpoint.
You must confront what is and not what you think it. The future is in looking how things are made better and not putting all the attention on what is wrong or incorrect. Another, whom I do not know stated it quite well:
“Once you get past the fear of darkness, you can find the things hidden in the shadows.”
I think that there presently are and have been conspiracies of many kinds. How else would people who might happen to be stuck in a condition of behaving covertly naturally behave? I don’t think conspiracies are all that unusual.
Remember this book?
Free on line copy of Gary Allen’s None Dare Call It Conspiracy:
http://www.whale.to/b/allen_b1.html
Marty, thanks for answering to me.
I didn’t say “God damn” to them…. if I had I wouldn’t be talking to you and i wouldn’t be supporting you (which you cannot see after 3 years that I am writing here on your blog). Same goes for Mike Rinder and some other people.
I don’t even say it for DM who keeps ruining so many lives of good, good people (referring to SO members who are rendered incapable of applying the tech inside the CofS). But I think he will have his own share of craziness and his payment from…. Life!
So I am in no denial… I just need communication and on a broader scale and in details…
I don’t know if you ever read my write up in the Freezone since the year 2000…. You can Google my name and read it there. That I stick to my viewpoint is no denial. When I was sent to bake bread or mop the floors for insisting on HCOBs I think that’s a big failure for everybody in the Sea Org. LRH was no fool and you know that. He meant to create an Admin system which of course went by the boards because of DM. That’s where the denial and the implanting started. That implanting I do accept, if that’s what you mean.
I told you many times that there are questions on your book. You don’t want to discuss it. Fine. Doesn’t matter. But I think we would all benefit if you did.
Yeah, I’m sure.
You don’t think he was “paranoid”?
Measured against this (genaralizing) standards set by Hofstadter he would fit easily into this category.
And you point?
Blame is nasty, low emotion to stick in.
Ι know Marty, I know. Blame is nasty. I am sorry that the whole Translations Unit in Copenhagen didn’t do anything about those HCOBs, cause Walter Kotric was bullying them… and saying the program from COB will be implemented no matter what.
You are right, I fell down to blame and maybe I am stuck there and in protest since then. Please read my write up if you care to see what was happening in 2000 from my viewpoint in the TU and in general from a CLO staff member’s viewpoint.
http://www.amazon.com/Unseen-Hand-Introduction-Conspiratorial-History/dp/0961413506 by Ralph Epperson, another good read.