America Is Failing the Crazy Test | Eastern NC Now

David Harsanyi writes for National Review Online about recent signs of Americans’ collective embrace of extreme political positions.

ENCNow
Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Mitch Kokai.

    David Harsanyi writes for National Review Online about recent signs of Americans' collective embrace of extreme political positions.

  • The better life becomes for the vast majority of Americans — and it is better by nearly every quantifiable measure — the angrier, more disgruntled, and more radicalized people seem to get. We see it in the embrace of delusional election conspiracy theories, in both 2016 and 2020, and in the general apocalyptic tone of partisan rhetoric and media coverage, which permeates all sides. Maybe the "endless series of hobgoblins" convinces us we're perpetually on the precipice of some new disaster — whether it's the climate-change apocalypse or the destruction of the middle class or the rise of white supremacy, or any other such myths — or maybe a loss of faith has left us susceptible to stupid ideas as we rummage for meaningful ones in the junkyard of politics. Whatever the case, all this anger is, for me, the biggest mystery of the modern age.
  • It must be simply exhausting to internalize every political event, every election loss, as an existential threat to democracy. ...
  • ... Some days I think we've lost our collective minds. The fact is, it's not only the slack-jawed QAnon yokels on Parler or the violent communist Antifa radicals who spread conspiracies and hysteria; it's professors from leading institutions of learning, cultural and media figures, senators and presidents. Some of them need to be held to higher standards than others, but there are far too many people, incentivized by the promise of more social-media followers and clicks, generating anger.
  • I don't have any solutions to offer, other than to say: When Democrats lost in 2016 and started marching around in pussy hats, lionizing detestable people, and spreading political hysteria, conservatives used to lecture them by saying, "All you had to be was not crazy." This should be an American credo.

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published )
Enter Your Comment ( text only please )




Increased Federal Regulations Lead To More Deaths, and N.C. Largely Affected, Study Finds John Locke Foundation Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics Cruz, Hawley Targeted by Judicial Oversight Group


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

ruling leaves congressional districts intact = huge blow to Spanberger
illegal alien "asylum seeker" migrants are a crime wave on both sides of the Atlantic
If you are covering Roy Cooper in Greensboro today, please consider the following statement from the Republican National Committee:

HbAD1

Obama and Biden judges abuse power for political reasons to try to stop Haitian deportations
teachers union rally held on major socialist / communist May Day holiday
Democrats foment climate of violence against Trump and GOP
Cheryl Hines. Dennis Quaid. Nicki Minaj. All became associated with the Trump administration. What happened next?

HbAD2

A federal grand jury in North Carolina has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on two charges related to making threats against President Donald Trump.
Their goal was simple: to put a Planned Parenthood in every mailbox in America.
Treasury officials allege these groups pose as humanitarian entities while covertly siphoning donations to Hamas.
President Donald Trump has publicly floated regime change and other aggressive actions toward Cuba.
With a new roadside plaque unveiled in Ellerbe on April 23, legendary wrestler and local resident André René Roussimoff is finally getting the formal recognition fans believe he deserves.
Following a string of attacks, critics are calling for denaturalizations. It's not that simple.

HbAD3

 
 
Back to Top