An argument that suspicion is a defining feature of modernity, saturating American history from the founding to the present

Recently, it has begun to feel like there are more reasons than ever for citizens of the United States to be suspicious. Political groups on the right and on the left claim that powerful groups work behind the scenes to advance their political agendas. In 2026, uniformed people peddle pseudoscience, while working in public-facing roles and claiming medical expertise. Horrible crimes happen in quiet neighborhoods, committed, as true crime media notes, by someone who seemed trustworthy. And traumas, biases, and illicit desires lurk in the subconscious, waiting for an individual to rediscover.

Suspicion argues that Americans’ fear of hidden dangers and “the other” that represents them is not a new phenomenon. Instead, the last two and a half centuries have been saturated by suspicion. Joshua D. Urich argues that the modern period is better understood not as an age defined by Enlightenment rationality, advanced science and technology, or global capitalism, but instead as a mood that predisposes us to treat others—and sometimes even ourselves—with suspicion.

To make this case, Urich points to five examples that share an uncomfortable truth: suspicion is an integral part of how we think about and engage with every aspect of modern, American society. A healthy democracy requires suspicion of hidden plots; science must constantly be purified of pseudoscience; the mind must be ceaselessly examined for repressed or buried biases or traumas. Urich contends that suspicion is so necessary, in fact, that, if there are no secret plots working to undermine society, we will invent them so that we can feel more secure in our democracy, our science, and our minds.