Mitchell

“Instead, the threat to democracy now in America and elsewhere comes from the working and middle classes—the people among whom I was born and raised—whose rage comes overwhelmingly from cultural insecurity, inflated expectations, tribal partisan alliances, obsessions about ethnicity and identity, blunted ambition, and a childlike understanding of the limits of government.”
― Thomas M. Nichols, Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy

“And as excellent as our cognitive systems are, in the modern world we must know when to discount them and turn our reasoning over to instruments—the tools of logic, probability, and critical thinking that extend our powers of reason beyond what nature gave us. Because in the twenty-first century, when we think by the seat of our pants, every correction can make things worse, and can send our democracy into a graveyard spiral.”
― Steven Pinker, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters

“Consider again the research showing that, in the United States, racial minorities are generally more accepting of conspiracy theories as compared to Caucasians.”
― Rob Brotherton, Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories

“If things happen to us because of pure chance, we have little hope of comprehending, predicting, and controlling our fate. Believing that someone somewhere is in control—even if they don’t have your best interests at heart—is preferable to thinking that the course of your life is dictated by nothing more than chance.”
― Rob Brotherton, Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories