Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.

I first read this after hearing the band, The Paranoid Style.

The list of paranoid organizations suffers from survivorship bias - every "paranoid" John Birch Society has a Ukrainian Insurgent Army or Blue Shirts Society counterpart. In fact, given the populations of the USSR and China, one is more likely to find oneself in the latter sort of organization than the former.

There's research pointing out "the paranoid style" is everywhere in the world, just controlled or checked to various extents in different places and different times. Still a good read for perspective.