Read Online Republic of Lies American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power eBook Anna Merlan
Download As PDF : Republic of Lies American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power eBook Anna Merlan
A riveting tour through the landscape and meaning of modern conspiracy theories, exploring the causes and tenacity of this American malady, from Birthers to Pizzagate and beyond.
American society has always been fertile ground for conspiracy theories, but with the election of Donald Trump, previously outlandish ideas suddenly attained legitimacy. Trump himself is a conspiracy enthusiast from his claim that global warming is a Chinese hoax to the accusations of “fake news,” he has fanned the flames of suspicion.
But it was not by the power of one man alone that these ideas gained new power. Republic of Lies looks beyond the caricatures of conspiracy theorists to explain their tenacity. Without lending the theories validity, Anna Merlan gives a nuanced, sympathetic account of the people behind them, across the political spectrum, and the circumstances that helped them take hold. The lack of a social safety net, inadequate education, bitter culture wars, and years of economic insecurity have created large groups of people who feel forgotten by their government and even besieged by it. Our contemporary conditions are a perfect petri dish for conspiracy movements a durable, permanent, elastic climate of alienation and resentment. All the while, an army of politicians and conspiracy-peddlers has fanned the flames of suspicion to serve their own ends.
Bringing together penetrating historical analysis and gripping on-the-ground reporting, Republic of Lies transforms our understanding of American paranoia.
Read Online Republic of Lies American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power eBook Anna Merlan
"This book covered material that has the potential to be very disturbing, but the sense I came away with after reading it was respect for the author. She was able to see the members of these groups as human beings rather than caricatures, which cannot have been easy when at least some of them were advocating for her death right in front of her. She manages the difficult balancing act of listening to views that are repulsive or factually incorrect, being clear about her own position on these issues, and letting the individuals she interviews tell their own stories so that the readers can make their own judgment. It might have been easy to turn this into a screed but she did not. The narrative is engaging--as though your wittiest friend is telling you about the wild weekend she had meeting the most unusual people--without losing track of fact-checking. Highly recommended."
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Republic of Lies American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power eBook Anna Merlan Reviews :
Republic of Lies American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power eBook Anna Merlan Reviews
- I had really high hopes for this book but was left disappointed. The editing was sub-par, there were several names of groups or regional organizations (easily verifiable) that were misreported or misspelled, which made me question much of the overall text’s authenticity. I agree with the author’s aim that our current moment is an apt one to re-evaluate the place that conspiracy and conspiratorial belief holds in our society now, and to ask blunt questions about what the (particularly American) allegiance to those beliefs suggests in a broader way. It is truly a rich area of thought and social theory, but unfortunately this books falls extremely flat as a shallow and surprisingly unempathetic text.
- This book covered material that has the potential to be very disturbing, but the sense I came away with after reading it was respect for the author. She was able to see the members of these groups as human beings rather than caricatures, which cannot have been easy when at least some of them were advocating for her death right in front of her. She manages the difficult balancing act of listening to views that are repulsive or factually incorrect, being clear about her own position on these issues, and letting the individuals she interviews tell their own stories so that the readers can make their own judgment. It might have been easy to turn this into a screed but she did not. The narrative is engaging--as though your wittiest friend is telling you about the wild weekend she had meeting the most unusual people--without losing track of fact-checking. Highly recommended.
- If you are questioning #fakenews, this book is for you.
If you've recently begun to choose to know the truth, this is the book for you.
Plain and simple.
Read it.
Pass it on.
Repeat. - Republic of Lies covers a lot of ground but zeroes in on the most important and influential conspiracy theories of the last several years. It's an important read for understanding the Trump era and an exploration of the current weird media moment.
- Anna Merlan’s book Republic of Lies is a well written, even-handed, and thought-provoking look at the cause and effects of conspiracy theories. Being perhaps the most recognized victim of one of the most prolific conspiracy theories, Sandy Hook, it can be easy to focus on the horrible results of hoaxer’s beliefs, which have included stalking, harassment, and death threats. While acknowledging the tremendous damage that conspiracy theory causes and the threat to both private citizens like myself and to the community and even democracy as a whole, Merlan peels back the layers of circumstances that create conspiracy theories and discusses why they happen and how easily they can consume people. This book is an important read for anyone interested in understanding what is quite possibly the greatest threat to society; disinformation, misinformation, and the monetization of lies.
- Two stars for containing words, as advertised.
- This is nothing but a pack of lies. One must wonder who paid this author to write fiction as nonfiction.
- Merlan does a great job creating this theme, placing conspiratorial thinking as a sort of language of those who understand themselves to be helpless. This is a well-placed book for this political and historical moment as well, showing what caused the development of historical and common conspiracy theories. With the rise of QAnon, Pizzagate, and Russiagate after the 2016 electoral cycle it kind of feels as if the world's collective brain has broken and a lot of people have taken to this sort of mindset at different levels, and it's better to understand the history and mechanics behind this sort of thing as it starts to become more mainstreamed, and Merlan's book along with a few others are excellent at telling the stories behind it.
I really respect the proper balance of empathy that she seems to take with the people she discusses and interviews. Even though these people have been pushed to make horrible statements and undertake awful acts, she's able to cast some light on what pushed them to that point, which is so valuable.
