The Prestige of Extremism in American Political Life

There always was an apocalyptic strain in American political life, but it wasn't mainstreamed and it wasn't as widely admired as it is now. We live in a time in which the truth of a proposition is determined for people by how intensely you believe in it. The intensity of a belief in something tells you nothing about the truth of what you believe. And we have to calm down before we do anything; that's the thing that worries me most.