Among the Truthers

A Journey Through America's Growing Conspiracist Underground

Hardcover, 368 pages

English language

Published Nov. 21, 2011 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:
978-0-06-200481-9
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From 9/11 conspiracy theorists and UFO obsessives tothe cult of Ayn Rand and Birthercrusaders, America is suffering from an explosion in post-rationalistideological movements. In Among the Truthers,journalist Jonathan Kay offers a thoughtful and sobering look at how socialnetworking and Web-based video sharing have engendered a flourishing of new conspiracism. Kay details the sociological profiles of tenbrands of modern conspiracists--the Failed Historian,the Mid-Life Crack-Up, the Damaged Survivor, the Campus Revolutionary, theStoner, the Clinical Case, the Puzzle Solver, the Christian Doomsayer, the CosmicVoyager, and the Egomaniac--in a compelling exploration of America's departurefrom reason and what it means for the very future of rational discourse as thenation steps further into the 21stcentury.

1 edition

Jonthan Kay's among the truther was much more interesting that "VoodHoo Historeis" I read earlier. Kay certainly is biased and I almost stopped reading at the beginning when it became clear that his status as a Secular Jew (maybe even an atheist of Jewish heritage) was influencing everything. Automatically throwing out conspiracies because they were "anti-semetic" and basically claiming that you can't believe anything people say who also believe in talking snakes and men born of virgins raising from the dead. returnreturnHowever chapter 7 really saved the book as he went on to talk about the problems of the conspiracy that poor blacks are disadvantageous and that admissions policies are unfair and the bullshit on the the conspiracy that women are paid less than men. returnreturnHe is really stuck on firm belief that that which is most likely is probably true. returnreturnFrom an academic standpoint it was informative, looking at …

Subjects

  • Conspiracy theories
  • Political culture
  • United states, politics and government, 2009-2017