Wingnuts are go!

[gordonzola]

OK folks, it’s definition time. Who would like to posit a definition for "wingnut" as it applies to a certain type of politico?

Here’s mine:

Wingnut: A person who has their mental health issues so intertwined with their "politics" that to them there is no difference. Paranoia, conspiracy theory, and poor social skills are necessary traits. In addition, ineffectiveness and failure are usually treated as signs that the Revolution is somehow coming closer to happening. The term originated in People’s Park, Berkeley, California and is usually used by slightly embarrassed anarchists and anti-authoritarians to distance themselves from "wingnut’ politics and activists who may also identify with those terms.

Sample sentence: Did you see the wingnuts protesting the "execution" of Rosebud Denovo when the cops shot her for breaking into the chancellor’s home with a machete?

Please feel free to add your own definitions or ask if someone you know fits the definition.

Comments

[odelenu.livejournal.com]

I dare you to check out www.urbandictionary.com. Wingnut, without the space is not there but there sure are some interesting definitions for wing nut.

[chitinous.livejournal.com]

That's it.
I'm going to post a personal highlight reel of my activist days.
Stay tuned.

[mercyorbemoaned.livejournal.com]

I did see that!

[jactitation.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think the Berkeley reference dates/locates you.

But honestly, I think the definition is anyone four steps further to the left (or, I suppose, right if one is firmly right-wing) of oneself. Alas, it is that relative.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

do you not think it originated in Berkeley? or do you just mean the Rosebud thing?

and I don't think it's that relative. I wouldn't call a party Trot a wingnut, generally, because their politics, however misguided, come with a certain context based on movement history. Not like, "You know the government is is sending electro-magnetic waves into the air to make people docile. That's what it's all about man, freedom..."

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

I can see you now with that "Avenge Rosebud!" sign.

[commandercranky.livejournal.com]

Part of the meaning is derived from the idea that these are not just nuts, they are nuts who exist in extreme political wings. wing + nut, in the sense that wing is the modifier of nut. I don't doubt that it was used in People's Park, but I'm sure it was used well before then.

I'm not sure I could narrow down what really counts as wingnut behavior, but gordon's definition is accurate enough. In my experience, it's not just an anarchist term, nor are wingnuts necessarily anarchists or not. There are wingnuts representing just about every political idea you've never heard of, and some that you have.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

That's not what I meant!

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

It was a special moment in Bay Area history.

[slanderous.livejournal.com]

That Rosebud episode was my introduction to Berkeley politics. T. and I flyered up and down Telegraph about how dumb the wingnut response was, because you know, we were the fuckin' punks, and at the time, we felt more of an affinity for the West Bay.

[jactitation.livejournal.com]

No, seriously, I grew up (I think) with the term "wingnut". And it was in England, too, in the 1980s.

And see, I think Trots are just a little too close to you. You do think the RCPers are insane with their, "Brother, all couples will wither away after the revolution," right?

[rootlesscosmo.livejournal.com]

Just shpritzing here... Susan Leigh Star does sociology of science and related stuff at UC San Diego. She wrote in a paper some years back that "There is no such thing, or place, as Underneath It All." This seems to me a very wise observation.

Could we then say that a wingnut is someone who stubbornly believes that there is such a place, and moreover that he or she (is it more usually a he?) knows exactly where it can be found?

[anarqueso.livejournal.com]

How about "some guy who crashes a workshop to tell a bunch of strangers about the connection between Jesus, Gandhi, my shirt, and the eschewing of animal flesh, unions, and the DMV?"

[jendle.livejournal.com]

Most definitely illuminating: a cross-reference to amarama's recent post with extensive comments about how poly, BDSM and other alternasex people are so dorky, with particular reference to the intersection with geeks, RenFair, Celtic music, D&D, gamers, hackers, etc -- all defined by a shared personality type. See especially ericaceous's comments.

I firmly believe that most people's politics are defined by milieu and psychology. The farther from the mainstream/milieu, the larger the contribution of personality type or psychological profile. That is, if you grow up in the Bible Belt and you have a mainstream personality type, you will be a Christian Republican. If you grow up in Berkeley with the same personality type, you'll be a granola liberal. If you have a contrarian, particularly rational-inquiry-based, or paranoid personality (or have disaffecting personal experiences), you are more likely to diverge from your milieu of origin in your political views. If you're an extrovert or like group security, you're more likely to get involved with political movements that have a cultural component. If you get involved with any sort of movement-based activism, you are definitely psychologically motivated. (Note, I did not say psychologically flawed, because I think often the best response to a fucked-up world is to organize and mobilize. Most activists are pretty mentally sound, just not mainstream.)

That's why you almost never see wingnuts in, say, local Democratic Party meetings. It's too mainstream for them. And their craziness will be detected much sooner and ejected much quicker.

Gord, I think your definition is spot on, though I also take issue with the etymology.

My favorite wingnut was a guy who highjacked the Green Party in Chicago to run for mayor in the mid-80's. He was so culturally off -- wore button-down oxfords and worked in retail in a computer store. He was pretty charismatic, but deceptive. He invited reps from all the enviro groups in town to what purported to be a green party organizing meeting, and got a crowd of about 40 to show up. Then the press arrived and he got up on the podium and announced his candidacy. Someone from the anarchist collective pied him in the face while the cameras were running, and it made the evening news. (The pie consisted of rancid mayonnaise and rotten eggs.) Then one of the Earth Firsters pulled a gun and ran after the fleeing anarchist. She turned out to be a cop.

Wait, sorry, he wasn't a wingnut. He was an agent provocateur. But it's a good story, and great political theater. Wingnuttism is all about the mental health issues, and some Unified Field Theory always plays a role.

english wing nuts

[raptis.livejournal.com]

Hmmm - I don't think 'wing-nut' has peculated (down/up/over) into British english. I remember it being used to describe kids with big ears when I was at school, but that is a different story.

I didn't 'get' the precise meaning of wing nut until I read this thread. I was going to tell the story of the woman who wanted to stop the gulf war (before last...) by getting activists to wrap tape round TV ariels and stop the rays from Bush Senior and John Major corrupting us all. The problem with that was that none of the (mostly Brit Trots) knew what to do and so stared at their feet.

The nearest Britishism I have heard for lefties who are just so vociferously on-their-line that they are almost a parody of themselves is 'hack' or 'head banger' but none of these quite point derision as wing-nut seems to.

[andypop.livejournal.com]

That's hilarious that a police mole blew her cover to arrest a pie thrower!

[andypop.livejournal.com]

I don't remember "wingnut" ever being used over here, either, and I've been around long enough to remember the origin of the term "politically correct" as a joke among UK lefties in the late 70s & early 80s.

The RCP are/were just scary (didn't they morph into a business think-tank after the demise of their stupid magazine?)...

[andypop.livejournal.com]

I got into a lot of trouble for using the word "nutter" on a particular Yahoo group.

[dobrovolets.livejournal.com]

Two different RCPs are being referenced here.

RCP(US): Acolytes of Chairman Bob. Most visible Maoist group in North America. Originators of the t-shirt slogan "Mao More Than Ever".

RCP(GB): Quasi-Trotskyists turned eclecto-Marxists turned corporate media gurus. Led by Frank Furedi (Richards).

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

of course they're crazy. but I wouldn't use organizationally crazy to mean wingnut, I'd use sectarian. Wingnuts may develop followers, but I think of them as more the Lone Wolf type.

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

see, I don't buy all that. or rather, I think there's some truth to it, but it's treating symptoms not the real issues. Basically, it says that in areas with limited radical political organizing, there are few people with radical politics. QED.

that's why you almost never see wingnuts in, say, local Democratic Party meetings. It's too mainstream for them. And their craziness will be detected much sooner and ejected much quicker.

see, the thing about the Democrats is that they have actual standards and aren't so desperate for members that they'll allow obvious neediness and disruptive behavior to dominate an event. They'll call security or the cops and be done with it. I was talking to the facilitator of that workshop I wrote about yesterday and we agreed that a Left group is defined partly by what it does when confronted by wingnuts. Cuz they'll be at every event.

and yes, great story. But I still challenge anyone to find "wingnut" used to define a type of politico before People's Park. Show me, People.

[walktheplank.livejournal.com]

Let's not forget:
1. Christian fundamentalists of the "End Times" variety.
2. Anarcho-millenarians
3. Primitivists (eg., the followers of John Zerzan)
4. Lyndon LaRouche
5. Ward Churchill
6. Members of various American "liberation armies" that broke-off from the New Left in the late Sixties/early Seventies.

[dirtylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Oh but they love the public library!

[andypop.livejournal.com]

Aha.

Is Furedi not his real name, then?

I've encountered Ann Furedi many times through the pro-choice campaigns I've been involved in.

Unfortunately.

[jtemperance.livejournal.com]

I first heard the term in Berkeley, so I'm no help at all.

Are you planning to submit a Wikipedia entry?