American Extremist: The Psychology of Political Extremism (2nd edition) - Imperium Press

by Josh Neal

In American Extremist, Josh Neal brings the eye of the experienced clinician to bear on extremism both right and left. His rigorous psychoanalysis shines a light on the motivations of violent miscreants, but more to the point, it shines on their more mainstream enablers and cheerleaders. He shows that extremism is at the heart of American culture, offering a glimpse into a subterranean antagonism that erupts into orgiastic violence all too often.




This book also breaks further ground in assessing left wing authoritarianism. Long handwaved away as an empty term, Neal takes it seriously and brings his penetrating insight to bear on this neglected topic alongside right wing authoritarianism. We have here not a cowardly centrism, but a bold affirmation of normality over psychopathy-wherever it is found.




This is a work with the potential to change American political discourse, and a first corrective measure to reconcile the schizophrenic tendencies of what is ultimately a great and noble people.

Genres: Psychology, Politics, Nonfiction, Political Science, Philosophy

440 pages, Paperback

Published January 29, 2021

Reviews

[Minotaurochs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, the tragedy of it is, much like Ted Kaczynski's writing, the people that would benefit the most from reading it and doing some self-reflection based upon its analysis and conclusions are exactly the kind of people who would never read it, or would become offended by it and quickly stop reading it if they attempted to.

If you're in the nationalist sphere and have been into psychology/psychoanalysis for some years, perhaps being familiar with Ted's analysis, blogs like TheLastPyschiatrist's, people in our sphere such as Borzoi, you will probably not 'learn' much from this book; rather it'll be confirming, reinforcing, and expanding upon observations you've made yourself and analysis you've read or heard before. This isn't to say Josh is unoriginal, but rather that his analysis fits perfectly with intuition and things everyone can notice if they are smart enough. He essentially gives us a good framework and more detail to work with.

I would recommend familiarising yourself with some of the concepts he mentions from Lacan, Foucault, Jung, and Freud as well as a few others. He does put in some effort to explain them but it can be quite difficult at times to smoothly read a section that uses a lot of terminology you won't be familiar with unless you've read these guys before.

All in all it's a very good book, it starts off well and becomes more interesting as it goes on. The last 'book' specifically I think everyone should read, Josh uses the pro-social/eusocial and anti-social dichotomy a lot which is a great way of categorising things.

[Nick John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a game changer. A must read for anyone. He critiques both the left and points a much needed mirror at us in the dissident right. Explains much about the extreme sperg types in our midst and where their heads are at. Looking foward to more work from Josh Neal in the future.

[Oakley C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the publishing house Neal really DOES attempt to locate, explain, and very effectively critique the "pathology of everyday life" which is American liberal politics (both left and right). And, in many ways, that insight alone (that our extremism is a product of liberalism and that "left" and "right" for all practical purposes are simply branches of neo-liberalism [left liberalism] and neo-conservatism [right liberalism]) is worth the price of admission. Additionally, there is something profoundly refreshing about a thinker of the (non-liberal) right utilizing Freud, Jung, and Lacan in a positive light as opposed to leaving such thinkers to the critical (non-liberal) left alone. Of course, one might ask--if extremism is always a perversion of liberalism then how can we have literal neo-nazis shooting up black churches and antifa storm troopers burning down a police station? Aren't both of those "not-liberal" according to the "intellectual dark web" and their tribe of dweebs? But this is where Neal's analytical (even dialectical) method proves most potent. The liberal core radiates extremism on both branches because the very genetic root of liberalism uniquely "fundamentalizes" already present pathologies in the would-be extremist. The left liberal extremist and, concomitantly, the right liberal extremist both possess related (but inverted) disorders that uniquely map onto the fringes of the state political apparatus/paradigm. Lastly, Neal discusses that being a political radical is not synonymous with being a political extremist. However, this is perhaps were the text is not as air-tight as it could be. Radicalism, Neal tells us, is NOT extremism but is healthy, organic, and necessary. Unfortunately he doesn't have much of a better definition or demonstration (as far as I could tell) of what political radicalism actually IS according to this paradigm. Furthermore, Neal claims that the state itself is invested in promulgating extremism and while this is by no means a difficult idea to entertain I'm afraid he ALSO did NOT truly demonstrate this fact. In the portion of the book dedicated to this notion Neal presents the reader with the work of Polish psychologist Lobaczweski and his understanding of "pathocracy" whereby the very worst personalities will most often wind up with political power (culminating in a state of "political ponerology"). Perhaps it would have been far too much of a detour or perhaps Neal needed to more effortlessly re-insert these concepts in latter portions of the book but as it stands now I'm not sure he truly proved this point. Additionally, and more troublesome (but expected due to the publishing house) Neal is definitely a concrete and fundamental essentialist when it comes to biology, not just in terms of sex (which is understandable) and individual personality/intelligence (which is still somewhat understandable) but the third rail category of race. Neal does NOT go into this with much detail (and uses some entertaining euphemisms along the lines of "human biodiversity") but it is present in the book. Now, I am perfectly open to reading radical political literature of any stripe and I will not simply dismiss anyone's entire thesis due to this or that particular point (no matter how I might find it personally objectionable). But, in a way, I was confused--why even bring up these shadowy concepts about race and genetics and IQ if they are not even, from what I can tell, relevant to the discussion? Because, despite Neal appearing to be a dyed-in-the-wool evo-psych materialist this book clearly illustrate the necessity of faith, religion, and transcendental values for everyday life. That is something I can get behind! But, if the author does think this way..why the gestures towards an atheistic materialism at all? Perhaps this is a misreading on my part. Perhaps not.

[David Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Haven't finished this yet, but I'm concerned that anybody who cites freud as much as this author does is not quite there with their analysis of why White nationalists are considered dissidents or extremists.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ineresting take on political extremism vs. the current state of US politics.

The author has a psychology background and uses psychology profiles to explain the different players in the political arena.

[Smart Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful read for those looking to understand the growing dysfunction that seems to sabotage everything.

[Oolalaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

16/20