It is such a universal delusion associated with some forms of mental illness, I’m sure you could find some guy on the Mongolian steppe who thinks the CIA is trying to kill him and is monitoring his conversations with his yak.
So what was the stereotypical paranoid delusion before the CIA? The catholic church?
I would nominate Jews, as undefeated–and still champeen–prize winners.
I would guess something related to religion, for example that they are demon-possessed, that the Inquisition is out to get them, or that local religious officials are not actually believers and are hindering their spiritual progress.
Also Masons and Roman Catholics (Leo Taxil, Eugene Sue).
Any leaky boat in a storm, or even a well sealed dinghy on a calm sea.
Jews as mentioned. The Illuminati were popular bogeymen for quite some time. Cecil talks about it some here.
I think the OP is asking about what paranoid schizophrenics were fixated on pre-CIA, not what sane paranoid people were afraid of. The two might have a lot of overlap, but its not obviously so.
Of the famous pre-1950’s paranoids I know of, James Matthews was afraid of gangs of anti-British spies using mind-rays to subvert the British gov’t somehow (which basically seems like modern CIA delusions sans the actual CIA) and W.C. Minor was afraid of the Irish.
There have always been spies, at least since people became organized on a scale large enough to have wars, and where you would not personally be acquainted with everyone on your side (in your tribe).
“Sane paranoid people” seems like a bit of an oxymoron. You may not have to be schizophrenic to be paranoid, but if you are paranoiac (in anything more than a very loose, colloquial sense) you are not entirely sane.
I’m not sure if this is what the OP has in mind, but Siamese King Taksin was executed in 1782. Some people at the time believed someone else was executed in his stead and that he himself lived out the rest of his life quietly as a monk.
There was something similar with the previous Thai king, older brother of the present one. He was found mysteriously shot to death in his bed in the main palace in 1946. The death was officially ruled an accident. But some people believe the young man really went off to be a monk, not caring for the kingship. In fact, one of my sisters-in-law said she knows a lady who is convinced she has met and spoken with that very king-turned-monk, although he could not of course let on it was him. At least, she claims it was “someone she knows,” but I have an inkling it might be her, and she just didn’t want to be scoffed at.
Witches.
Eh, I think its clear what I mean. There are plenty of sane people that believed in witches or the Illuminati or Zionist Conspiracies. I don’t think that’s what the OP is asking about, he’s asking about the delusions of people whose paranoia is caused by actual mental illness.
Bingo. When I was in HS, 1968, my History teacher read us a rant by one of these paranoid groups (for fun, he was a reasonable guy.) I don’t remember much, except the repeated phrase “John James Audobon, aka George Washington.” I guess my brain rejected how they got to that.
And I knew someone back in Texas who believed every word of Jack Chick’s regarding the Catholic Church’s secret world domination.
That’s weird. If he’s the John James Audubon I’m thinking of, as opposed to the famed German roadway magnate John James Autobahn, the big rumor around him was [del]he really liked birds[/del] he was the Lost Dauphin of France [del]a.k.a. Flipper[/del].
The OP seems pretty clear that the question is mental illness, so conspiracies involving the Illuminati, Jews, goddamn-pinko-liberals (one word as I understand it), United Nations, Catholic Church (or just the Jesuits), etc are not the issue.
True paranoiacs seem to fixate on some form of recent technology or force as the medium, and almost anyone in any position of power, or that they might have even the slightest fear of. The advent of radio of course was a godsend. Once wireless communication was appreciated, mind control rays, control by wireless, and so on, to explain the voices in their head was too easy. The “government” no matter where you live is also a trivial source. Once your country has a secret service they are a shoe in. “The man”. I’m sure the FBI was as big if not greater source fear for many poor souls in the US. But you got people who were convinced that the next door neighbour was piping gas into their home, or blowing poisonous dust through the keyhole. Estranged relatives are a good subject of fear. Nothing like a belief that “that floozy” is “slowly poisoning me to get the money”. Delusions don’t need organised agencies to provide a subject. But for isolated people, it is perhaps an easy start. I would bet that the established church in many countries provided a good subject for centuries. Of course for the faithful, there is nothing like Beelzebub as a good all round source of torment. The main trick is not to find oneself on the wrong end of a burning.
No doubt some are now convinced that the LHC is a huge secret mind control weapon. Oh and satellites, gosh, how could one forget all those satellites beaming mind control rays down.
But just believing in one or other of those sorts of things is not evidence that you are paranoid. If, for instance, you live in a subculture where such beliefs are widespread and considered normal, you might well believe them and be perfectly mentally healthy. Having weird and false beliefs about who or what might be dangerous is not necessarily a sign of paranoia. To say someone is paranoid does imply that they are less than fully mentally healthy.
No, he was African-French. I know that because a radio series about famous African-Americans put out by the Chicago Public Schools said so in his biography, down to the kid playing him as a child said, “But Papa, I gots to paint duh buhds,” in a lovely South Side accent. :rolleyes: IRL, the African-French ones were his half-siblings, and even they were octoroons, to use the phrase of the time.