WEBVTT - Political Cults, Part 1 Ft. Andrew: Spooky Week #4 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:07.800 All the media. 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:13.840 Welcome to it could happen here. I'm Andrew of the 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.480 YouTube channel Andrewism and I'm here. 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:24.360 With Garrison Davis is also here. Hello, Welcome, Welcome. You 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:25.560 don't want to think about recently? 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:27.640 Cults? 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.480 Oh, one of one of my favorite topics culture, culture, fun. 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:37.239 Yeah, yeah, I mean the term cult is in some 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.600 ways just another pejorative for, you know, a group that 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:44.320 you don't like. Sure, you know, culture personality. Could we 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.559 use to describe a very passionate fan base. We use 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.840 cult classic to talk about, you know, really well known 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.720 and renowned pieces of media. You know, cults could also 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:58.640 actually ReFood high control groups that ruin people's lives, you know, 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:04.880 So that's something to consider. Yes, I know that there's 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.800 some debate within sociology but or should we use it, 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:10.480 should we not use it? But I don't think the 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:13.680 occasional misapplications of the term should distract us from the 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:17.960 very real cults that have existed or do exist out there. 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.880 Cults not just in the context of religion, but also 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:25.480 in the context of politics. 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:29.199 Absolutely, there's a I can I can think of many 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:33.000 many a political cult that rears it ZI whenever there's 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:34.600 a Popular Uprising. 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:45.840 And plent recently recently picked up on the Edge Political 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.240 Cults Left and Right by Dennis Turisch and Tim Wilford. 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:52.080 And as I was going through it and going through 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:54.440 all the different examples and stuff, it really gave me 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:58.040 a clearer sense of how political cults operate. And so 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:00.520 today I'd like to take some time to discuss nature 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:04.000 of photical cults, and perhaps in future episodes we can 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.920 dive into some specific examples and case studies, of which 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.519 there are several, and many of them seem to be 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:11.800 of the Trotskyist variety. 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.959 Let me ask my commander in chief, Bob, Actually, if 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.679 I'm allowed to talk about this before I continue continue 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.200 this episode. 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:28.040 Visionists, revisionists everywhere? 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:31.120 No continue please? 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:34.239 Yeah. So, first, I guess we need to understand what 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:40.440 cults are in general. Typically, culture defined as a relatively 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.520 small group which is typically led by a charismatic and 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:48.480 self appointed leader who excessively controls its members, requiring unwavering 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:52.240 devotion to a set of religious, spiritual, philosophical beliefs and practices, 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.840 or a particular person, object or goal which is considered 0:02:55.880 --> 0:03:00.400 outside the norms of society. The American Family Foundation find 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:04.160 cults as a group of a group or movement exhibiting 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:08.120 great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:12.560 or thing, and employing unethical, manipulative, or cohesive techniques of 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:17.559 persuasion and control, for example, isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:22.320 use of special methods to heighten suggestibility in subservience, powerful 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:27.240 group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.320 promotion of total dependence in the group, and fear of 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:33.840 leaving it designed to advance the goal to the group's leaders, 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:38.360 the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, of 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:43.280 the community. We can also define cults as organizations that 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:47.120 remold individuality to conform to the codes and needs of 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:51.440 the cult, institute taboos that preclude doubt and criticism, and 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:55.560 generate an elitist mentality, whereby members see themselves as loan 0:03:55.680 --> 0:04:00.000 evangelists struggling to bring enlightenment to the hostile forces surrounding them. 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.000 There is only one truth, and that is the truth 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:09.400 espoused by the cult. Competing explanations are not merely inaccurate, 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:14.840 but degenerate cults don't have opponents, They have enemies and 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:20.559 frequently dream about their ultimate destruction. Now, cults are usually 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:24.760 associated with religion, particularly of the New Age Who and 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:27.920 self help variety. Sometimes it even gets into the kind 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:31.599 of multi level marketing schemes of business trainer or. 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:34.839 Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah. 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.080 I mean, honestly, the lines between MLMs, primitive schemes and 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:42.120 cultures quite blaard disappoint essential oils all that stuff. 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:47.880 Yeah, it's very fluid, dynamic because no it in practice, 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:50.400 a lot of those if they are not cults themselves, 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.520 they do pick up a lot of like cult ish tactics, behavior, 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.840 kind of loads of modes of interaction. 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:00.000 Honestly, could apply. That's a lot of businesses these days. 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.040 I mean I've seen more than a handful of medium 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.359 articles like this is why you should run your business 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.680 like a cult. Here seven cult tactics that you could 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:12.400 apply to your business to generate more productivity. Kind of 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:24.080 classic LinkedIn style stuff. Yeah. So in two thousand, which 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:26.680 is when the book Political Cults Left and Right was published, 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:30.000 it's cited that as many as four million Americans may 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.520 have been involved with cult groups, and they were around 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.279 five hundred cults active in Britain at the time, and 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:39.200 between three and five thousand in the United States, And honestly, 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:41.719 that can be an understatement. 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.520 Especially nowadays, even just with like how the Internet has 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:48.560 changed social interactions. Yeah, Like, it's a lot of aspects 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:52.800 of American culture have either been or always have been 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:58.279 kind of cultified. Whether that includes stuff like the Marvel 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:03.240 or Star Wars, Van Base or sports teams or your 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:07.799 little church who has this one pastor for like fifty years, 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.520 who controls what everyone wears and what everyone's allowed to say, 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:13.920 what everything one's allowed to watch, and who they're allowed 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:17.360 to vote for. Right, Like, it's a lot of aspects 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:19.680 that have been kind of now sucked into kind of 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.800 like the what like the modern nuclear family kind of 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.280 looks like a lot of the dynamics that make that 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:29.479 kind of churns that machine have a lot a lot 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:30.839 of cult aspects. 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:35.479 Yeah, Yeah, definitely, I don't. Honestly, that's where like, you know, 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:39.240 sociologists would contend with the tomb, right because honestly, there 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:41.839 are some definitions of a cult that literally would just 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:49.039 apply to pretty much any religious group. Sure, And what 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.760 have your thoughts on that? You know, it's it's it's 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:57.920 clear that although religious groups do have their issues, we're 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:06.120 speaking about a very specific and concentrated approach to that 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:10.880 type of organization. I mean, cults could be as small 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:15.280 as two people, right where one person is controlling the 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:18.200 other through claiming a position of privilege in sight. In fact, 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:20.640 a lot of cults start with just two people the 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:25.720 leader and they face acolyte, you know. And larger cults 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:29.200 can also have smaller subcults within them, as you know, 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:33.800 certain members branch out and pursue their own little fiefdoms. 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.280 Cults weaponize people's emotions to bring them into the fold. 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:40.840 I mean, you don't rationalize your way into the cults, 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:45.240 the people that Heaven's gates with like, huh, yeah, you 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:48.360 know that that really makes sense. I should probably investigate that. 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:52.960 According to all these studies and calculations, it really really 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:56.640 all lines up, you know. And similarly, most don't even 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:00.720 rationalize their way out of a cult. Cult recruitment and 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:09.320 cult dissolusion are mostly involving constantly shifting emotional states, which 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.240 helps the leader loss of subtlety and nu ones and 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.840 one's thoughts and feelings. And on top of that, cults 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:19.200 are very good at making members feel special. You know. 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:23.840 These minor insights are presented as profound revolutions. Commonly held 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:27.440 ideas are claimed as exclusive to the cult, boosting members' 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:32.560 sense of intellectual superiority. Where apocalypse is concerned, cults operate 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.480 under the assumption that they are the only ones who 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:40.240 can affert imminent catastrophe, fostering a belief in their infallibility, 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:43.679 and then members are isolated from their pre cult self 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.760 and life as their old beliefs are discarded and they're 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.959 consumed by cult activities, embracing a new sense of self 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:52.560 and riding high and the illusions and promises of a 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:56.200 glorious future with often destructive and violent means needed to 0:08:56.240 --> 0:09:01.840 reach that goal. That description apply to both religious cults 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:03.520 and political cults. 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:07.080 And political cults. No, I was definitely viewing that through 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:09.480 even a more so political lens, just because that's, you know, 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.600 a lot of what we cover on the show. Yeah, No, 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.760 like that can even that can even also I mean, 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:18.720 it can obviously describe, like we've kind of been alluding 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:22.520 to these big like communist kind of cult groups that 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:28.560 operate particularly in North America. But honestly, that description can 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:32.360 also like be applied to just like a really shitty 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.600 like anarchist affinity group that's kind of being led by 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:40.599 one asshole. Like, it's certainly like this. It certainly applies beyond, 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.880 you know, the very you know, like political systems that 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:48.200 are more inherently authoritarian versus once that aren't. But you know, 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.320 if you look at like the Libertarian Party of the 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.920 United States, right, and all of their little local chapters, right, 0:09:54.960 --> 0:10:00.280 they claimed to be anti authoritarian, but a lot of 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:05.280 a lot of their internal politics are very authoritarian. But 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:10.160 also like the specific local chapters, whenever they get new 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:12.640 people in and they kind of have someone new take 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:14.880 take charge of their chapter, it does have a little 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:18.120 kind of cult dynamic running. And I don't think that's 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:22.439 restricted just to those on the right of the political spectrum. 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:25.160 I think there's definitely aspects where you even see this 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:30.560 in like anarchist kind of compositions in at least at 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:31.560 least to the United States. 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:36.800 And in my observation, yeah, definitely, I think people here 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:40.559 cults and they immediately think like the destructive cults of 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.839 people of like the People's Temple of Jim Jones, right, Sure, 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:48.280 I mean those numbers through deliberate action abused, physically injured, 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.360 or killed other members of their own group and other people, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:53.440 you know, and then then of course they doomsday cults 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.040 people think about like Having's skates who believe in some 0:10:56.120 --> 0:11:01.720 kind of apocalypticism or millenarianism. But I want to talk 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:06.040 about political cults, right, and not just political cults on 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:11.960 the left, even though that's a very easy target to 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:15.839 go after, because you know, we are involved in these spaces. 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:17.719 But you know there are a lot of right wing 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.920 political culture as well. You know that we'll get we'll 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:25.800 get their due attention in due time. In fact, the 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:27.679 first political culture I do want to talk about in 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.640 another episode is a cult that really ran the gamut 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:37.199 from left to right. The leader of that cult the 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:41.640 last name rhymes with La Poach. But you know we'll 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:42.280 get to that in De. 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.360 Tex Okay, all right, all right, all right, I will, 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.600 I will, I will wait for the for the reveal. 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.360 Do you know who else really loves cults? 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:51.160 Who's that? 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:55.840 The products and surfaces that pay both my bills and 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:00.240 some of your bills. So here is a perfect a 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:04.040 perfect space for an ad break. Thanks Chevron, if you're 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:10.720 advertising pushing pushing forward the great American tradition of cultish 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:25.880 behavior in the economic system, we are back have you 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:28.320 ever read the book Cultish? 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:33.560 So I classify my engagement with literature in two broad comps. 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.040 Books I've read in books I've skimmed. That's a book 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:37.560 I've skimmed. 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.080 Okay, all right, all right, it's it is it is. 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:43.400 It is definitely a fine book to skim. No, it's 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:47.480 definitely a good a good kind of a good, central 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.480 central piece of literature. Kind of on on this topic, 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.920 especially as it relates to, you know, getting out of 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:57.640 just like Heaven's Gate or scientology. Know that there's very like, 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.160 very obvious cults as starting to like look at the 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:06.040 general cultishness of like this entire continent and specifically the 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:10.840 United States. It's definitely a fun read if anyone is 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:12.040 interested in the topic. 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:15.440 Yeah. I think it particularly focuses on cult language, right, 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.319 how the language of cultures used to manipulate people. Yeah. 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.640 So political cults, right, I mean, in a world where 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:26.640 established politics has failed us again and again, many have 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:30.840 to into radical politics right and left. I mean, as 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:34.800 someone who doesn't really consider myself left, but I do 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:40.400 like relate to it in some way, you know, typical anarchist. 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.680 Yeah, I'm on the same I'm in the same boat 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:44.160 as you there. 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:48.280 Yeah, I don't see radicalization towards left as necessarily a 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.200 bad thing. I mean, there a lot of rabbit holes 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:54.000 and pitfalls I think people fall into when they start 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:57.880 progressing in that tratructory. But you know, people's frustrations with 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.680 this feeling system are real, and it's that they seeking 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:04.640 radical alternatives. Some of those alternatives are terrible and should 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:07.680 be called out, but the premise of needing revolutionary system 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:11.400 change is not terrible, which is where I disagree with 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:14.880 the books kind of Centrist Bent, because it puts forward 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.839 the idea that revolution is like this dramatic thing, right, 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:21.800 Like how why would you reproposing that? Unless you were 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:24.960 called kind of vibe. It also ends up drawing some 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:28.400 equivalences between the radical left and the radical right. Sure, 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:32.400 although I will say as well, the book is primarily 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.400 discussed in Marxist Leninists when it talks about political cults 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.840 on the far left, and as we'll see the way 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:42.400 that Marxis Leninists structure things, it is somewhat conducive to 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:45.960 that particular formation. Not to slander all Marxist Leninists, but 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:51.600 the ideology is, you know, in some ways compatible in 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:57.040 many ways campatal with cult organization. Yeah, and I do 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.520 agree with the book's criticisms of the way that a 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:03.520 lot of our sis learninists specifically organize their movements and organizations. 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:09.080 But yet preamble side, the book defines political cults as 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:14.360 environments where individuals are encouraged to envision of future society 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:19.240 under their control. These members are often praised as visionary leaders, 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.520 referred to as cartres, who will hold significant power in 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.560 the new world order. At the same time, they are 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.520 criticized for not fully grasping the ideals of the founders 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:31.880 in the present. The slow progress toward realizing the cult 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.920 schools is attributed to their perceived lack of effort. The 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:39.440 leader is credited to the cult's achievements, while any setbacks 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:43.080 are blamed on the members perceived laziness. This combination of 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:46.840 grandiose vision and in culture that suppresses dissent create an 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:50.320 environment where questioning any aspect of the group's ideology is 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:55.080 met with intense fair and punishment, and political culturally do 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:59.920 present a danger. Most of them are marginal irrelevant, but 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.760 they do cause harm to the people within them and 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:04.920 the people outside of them, And if they managed to 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:09.480 take state power, like in Cambodia, it really has like 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.520 extremely disasterisk results, and I would call a full partter 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:16.240 cult leader. I would go as far as to say 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:21.120 that political cults have been mostly far right right. There 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.840 are some far left cults in the mix, which in 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:28.480 my opinion is even more depressing because it's like you're 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.760 so close and then yeah, there you go. So like 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.840 a lot of my eya is targeted towards political cults 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:40.040 and the left because it's like, wow, you know, almost there, 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.920 and then now you're stuck planting the flag of the 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:49.480 CCP in front of a university in the US or something. 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.800 Yeah, many, many such cases. 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:57.280 Many such cases. All sorts of political cults demand to 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:01.440 their true believers be prepared to raise the group's inflexible 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:05.720 theology and strict organizational practices, much to the parallel society 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:09.800 and honestly the waste of the talents, energy, and commitment 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:13.159 to their members. For as long as I can remember, 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:15.640 cults have been a bad thing. You know, Cults suck, right, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.720 Cults of all types really suck generally. 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.200 Yeah, generally, cults have kind of a bad rap. 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:29.639 Yeah, yeah, I can't imagine why. But then that lent 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:33.520 itself to the question of why do people join them 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:39.359 now they're stupid? How do they recruit and keep their members? Like? 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:41.840 What's going on there is that they just didn't know? 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:45.440 Is it that? Oh, cults, sign me up. I want 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:51.320 to take a very unorthodox approach and offer you, Garrison personally, 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:53.720 a guide to start your own cult. 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.760 Oh I I've thought a lot about this already, but 0:17:57.840 --> 0:17:59.640 I am, I am. I'm very happy to, very happy 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:02.119 to take it out here. Let me make a new Google. 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:06.679 Doc and sure where drawn from the work of social 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:13.399 psychologists Anthony Pratcanis and Elliott Aaronson. So just follow these steps, 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:18.560 all right, all right? Step one create a distinct social reality. 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:23.160 Cults is slate members from external sources of information, making 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:26.639 them interact primarily with other cult members. This leads to 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:29.760 a shift in vocabulary towards the cult's lingo, making it 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.640 difficult for them to communicate with non cult members, which 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:37.159 leads to the uncritical acceptance of the cult's propaganda. The 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.440 cult's belief system must be rigid and all encompass in 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:44.240 the analysis, answers everything about the world, and there is 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.600 nothing beyond it. Left wing cults believe that their ideology 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:51.520 is the only valid lens through which to view the world. 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:54.879 Historic coalm zerialism. Well, right wing cults often center their 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:59.840 beliefs around conspiracy theories, particularly related to race. And I remember, 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:05.080 group's beliefs are beyond question or falsification, No tests or 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.840 challenges allowed that might lead to a reevaluation of these beliefs. 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:13.560 Any dissent or questioning is labeled as heresy or betrayal 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:19.000 or you know better kind of vibe. Step two, create 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:24.320 an in group and an outgroup. Cults emphasize differences between 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:28.520 there in group and perceived out groups, fostering loyalty among members. 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:31.280 It really doesn't matter who the out group is. You 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:33.520 just need to have an outgroup of some kind. So 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.960 for far right cults, it's like Jewish people, black people, 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:39.359 gay people, those are the necessary out groups. That's like 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:43.280 the bare minimum out group for most right wing groups. Right, Yeah, 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:47.200 it's like checklist, you know, typical. I mean, of course, 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:49.240 some go even further, and they might say something like 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:54.040 anybody who isn't a white Anglo Saxon Protestant is excluded 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:57.119 from their groups. But you know, sorry, became kind of irrelevant. 0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:59.359 Sorry, Catholics, you're not. 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:05.679 Yeah, yeah, RP Catholics, RP Irish, et cetera. And then 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:07.679 for far left cults, in order to I state the 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:11.000 members for the they can't just rely on like the 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:13.640 bourgeoisie as the old group, because I mean, the rest 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:17.080 of the left already has the bourgeoisie as an opponent. 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.840 So these far left cults have to create other out 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:23.119 groups to talk at the and I state their numbers 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:23.720 from as well. 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:28.800 Yeah, it becomes much more like seeped in ideology than 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:31.600 some all then, like compared to some of the right 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:34.560 wing cults, I think generally, the cults on the left 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:38.600 get get way more into creating kind of ideological distinctions 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:41.000 that separate the in group in the out group, and 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:46.480 there the ideology becomes the thing that like this is 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:50.000 like that becomes like the unquestionable thing that answers all 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:52.560 of the truths and all of like the problems of 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.040 the world, whether that's like an apocalyptic version where you're 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:59.679 talking about like some like collapse, or it's you know, 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:03.080 like a or even like a utopia version right where 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:08.480 you're talking about the Marxist Leninists Party is gonna see 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.240 seize power through the vanguard and control swaths of territory 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:15.880 and return power to the proletariat. 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:21.520 Yes, and the true obstacles to that party are the revisionists, 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:24.680 the ultra leftists, et cetera, et cetera, the. 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:30.080 Post leftists, the anarchists. Yeah yeah, the social Democrats as 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:34.439 always the enemy to all sides, truly, the one, the 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:36.640 one that everyone everyone loves to hit. 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:46.200 Yeah yeah, truly, come right. Next step step three build 0:21:46.240 --> 0:21:52.280 commitment through dissonance reduction, so cults manipulate cognitive discerns by 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:56.520 gradually escalating members quitment the group's beliefs and actions. These 0:21:56.560 --> 0:22:00.600 for sense of consistency and eventually conversion. You don't throw 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:03.399 a newbie into the kool aid right away. You start 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:06.080 small and you build up from there. Maybe first you 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:08.959 join a meeting, Then maybe you start voting in the meetings. 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:11.320 Then you hand it out flyers for the cult at 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:14.800 like a Black Lives Matter protest for example, and then 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:17.480 you sip in the kool aid. You know, it's like 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:21.720 baby steps. You don't throw them into the intilrating right away. 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:30.720 Next step four, maintain a rigid internal regime. Decision making 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:34.160 power is concentrating in the hands of a select elite 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:39.120 within the group. Formal controls and democratic processes are either 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:43.399 dismantled or ignored, even though the organization make claim to 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:47.640 be democratic on paper, and this environment helps to foster uncertainty, 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:53.359 fair and confusion among members, which actually helps to reinforce 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:58.560 their commitment to the group. Believe it or not. Five. 0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:04.560 Step five establish the attractiveness and credibility of the leader. 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:08.080 Oh alrighty, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, makeover. 0:23:08.720 --> 0:23:11.080 This is this is why it's gonna be all over. 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:13.320 As soon as they start making twink cults, it's gonna 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:18.520 be whole swathps of above the population just are gonna 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:20.280 immediately fall victim. 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:26.800 Indeed, indeed, these grand or supreme leaders are legends, extraordinary 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:34.439 in their qualities, your twinkness. New age cults do this. Sorry, 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:38.119 new age cults do this with their sex best leaders 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.000 and stuff. But oh my god, I can't not mention 0:23:41.160 --> 0:23:44.760 the veneration the political cults plays in their leaders, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:49.119 I mean Hitler fans just obsessed with the guy. I 0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:50.280 mean that goes on saying. 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:53.879 Yeah. This applies to like to like, people who are 0:23:53.880 --> 0:23:55.680 really into Hitler, people who are really into Stall, and 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:58.480 people who are really into now they've become this almost 0:23:58.560 --> 0:23:59.840 like messionic figure. 0:24:00.720 --> 0:24:04.040 Yeah. Yeah, I mean even before I understood cults better, 0:24:04.560 --> 0:24:08.240 I could see very clearly early on, even you know, 0:24:08.280 --> 0:24:11.320 before my readers theory and everything just being exposed to 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:17.760 you know that space, that there is a veritable cult 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:22.639 of Lenin, of the king family, of Mao, of Trotsky, 0:24:22.880 --> 0:24:26.560 out of Stalin, and far be it from you to 0:24:26.720 --> 0:24:30.720 point out their flaws and mistakes. Either it's denied outright 0:24:30.760 --> 0:24:33.840 as outside propaganda, or it's kept on the download as 0:24:33.920 --> 0:24:38.760 much as possible. Specifically North Korea situation, right, you often 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:42.880 see its supporters saying things like, yes, there are problems 0:24:42.880 --> 0:24:46.000 with North Korea, and we do discuss our criticisms behind 0:24:46.080 --> 0:24:50.120 closed doors, but openly, you know, it's full throttled, full 0:24:50.280 --> 0:24:53.919 throated support, which I find very interesting. 0:24:54.359 --> 0:24:56.080 Yeah. 0:24:56.640 --> 0:25:01.320 Step six, speaking of leaders, the leader needs privileges naturally 0:25:02.080 --> 0:25:07.359 post our power, wealth accumulation, and often sexual favors as well. 0:25:08.560 --> 0:25:12.240 Activities that are usually deemed unacceptable for ordinary members are 0:25:12.280 --> 0:25:17.479 tolerated when apply it to leaders. Why because step seven 0:25:17.880 --> 0:25:22.600 you make sure to deify the leader. Leaders, whether historical 0:25:22.840 --> 0:25:27.360 or current, are elevated to a near defined status. They're 0:25:27.359 --> 0:25:30.399 carrying on the legacy and defending it from revision. If 0:25:30.440 --> 0:25:34.200 the og is already dead, you resolve the arguments by 0:25:34.240 --> 0:25:37.920 referencing the sayings of these leaders rather than through independent analysis. 0:25:39.080 --> 0:25:41.920 So it's not well, you know this is the case 0:25:41.960 --> 0:25:44.960 because we examined X, Y, and Z factor. It's this 0:25:45.080 --> 0:25:49.240 is the case because pus and AA said so in 0:25:51.160 --> 0:25:54.119 nineteenth century text number three hundred and seventy six or whatever. 0:25:56.400 --> 0:25:58.600 It's it's six hundred pages long. 0:25:58.720 --> 0:26:02.600