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    Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11
    Unavailable
    Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11
    Unavailable
    Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11
    Audiobook11 hours

    Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11

    Written by Kathryn S. Olmstead

    Narrated by Marie Hoffman

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Many Americans believe that their own government is guilty of shocking crimes. Government agents shot the president. They faked the moon landing. They stood by and allowed the murders of 2,400 servicemen in Hawaii. Although paranoia has been a feature of the American scene since the birth of the Republic, in Real Enemies Kathryn Olmsted shows that it was only in the twentieth century that strange and unlikely conspiracy theories became central to American politics. In particular, she posits World War I as a critical turning point and shows that as the federal bureaucracy expanded, Americans grew more fearful of the government itself—the military, the intelligence community, and even the President. Analyzing the wide-spread suspicions surrounding such events as Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination, Watergate, and 9/11, Olmsted sheds light on why so many Americans believe that their government conspires against them, why more people believe these theories over time, and how real conspiracies—such as the infamous Northwoods plan—have fueled our paranoia about the governments we ourselves elect.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Audio
    Release dateAug 28, 2018
    ISBN9781541446854
    Unavailable
    Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11

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    • 3/5
      One feature of the paranoid style in 20th century US politics, Olmsted argues, is that the paranoid fantasies often have recognizable cousins in real things the government did and covered up. The US did have intelligence about Japan’s intentions to attack, albeit not specific enough to predict Pearl Harbor; the government did skimp on investigations into JFK’s assassination in order to prevent a feared war with the USSR if too many Communist ties came to light; etc. Olmsted doesn’t discuss race very much, but the book is mostly about white fantasies, and so its limitation to the 20th century also limits its analysis, since white fantasies of slave insurrections are also part of the US story.
    • 3/5
      Conspiracy theory is an easy way to tell complicated stories, Kathryn Olmsted reminds us in "Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11." Her book is a scholarly if a bit dry overview of the "greatest hits" conspiracy theories of 20th Century American political life and documents how from Woodrow Wilson to 9/11, the increase in federal power in particular has led to the growth of conspiracism. Olmsted does a good job covering the controversy surrounding General Short, Admiral Kimmel and the whole "FDR knew about Pearl Harbor" theory that in many ways was the birth of the modern conservative movement. Olmstead also reminds us that from time to time, the US Government HAS engaged in its own subterfuge and secret deals, and that sometimes the fires of government perfidy do contribute their smoke to the great cloudbanks of conspiracy theory. The secret actions of government is the enemy of democracy, Olmstead warns, but in the end the only anecdote to the conspiratorial ills of democracy is more democracy.
    • 5/5
      I would definitely recommend this book. Often the most destructive conspiracy theorists are the ones in the gov’t. Very relevant to current events.
    • 1/5
      Blind but can see. Shame. Wasted potential. Would not recommend.
    • 1/5
      The real reason people don’t trust the government is because it lies.