From Meer: “In 1970, Thomas Szasz, professor of psychiatry emeritus at State University of New York, published his seminal work, The Manufacture of Madness. The book traces the 13th-century origins of how the belief in witchcraft led to regrettable social actions and the emergence of the Inquisition (which lasted for four centuries). The stated objective of the organized movement that emerged was to protect society from the harm, danger, and madness that “the witch” represented. Szasz goes on to draw parallels after the Inquisition as the 17th-century movement morphed toward the formation of institutional psychiatry. The perceived danger in the 17th century focused on the danger of the “madman.”
In this, the 21st century, the Trump playbook is inhabited by many of these fundamental elements for “the manufacture of madness” as chronicled by Szasz. This article explores this reality.”
