The concept of the cult of personality has always been a fascinating one to me. Whether it’s Jim Jones convincing followers to drink the Communist cool aid or your favorite firearms instructor convincing you this next course is gonna make you that badass you’ve always wanted to be because this time, of course, as opposed to the last one, will finally do it; the art of salesmanship in mass movement is an interesting one. Every so-called movement has these people; in good cases you’ll always remember them as HEROES! and in bad, like Jim Jones above. But in all cases that cult prevents critical thought, sound judgement, and normally any reason whatsoever. Like moths to the flame, and rats to the piper, you may not know what you’re running towards.
I remember Heaven’s Gate. The question everyone had, or has, when the topic came up was How in the heck did anyone fall for that? Because they wanted to believe. The people who followed the bald guy in sneakers were weak. They didn’t posses any social bond of their own, they were told what they wanted to hear, they never questioned why they believe what they believe, and they all lived in an echo chamber reinforcing groupthink. A free ride on the back of a comet sounded better than anything they had going here, fantastical though it may be to sane people, with nobody questioning it.
Now recall a guy by the name of Randall Rader aka James Ellison. Don’t remember him? He convinced his small church congregation, living in their compound, that the end times were nigh and thus the Covenant, Sword, Arm of the Lord needed to go to war with the ZOG!. While we can agree that government overreach has been at critical mass for a while, something indeed may need to be done, and the wheels might fall off the wagon before long; that was 32 years ago and yet here we are. He led his people right to prison with nobody bothering to question the logic behind running to action without anything other than raw emotion as motivation. Sure, they had a neat compound and all that, which didn’t do much good in the end. Those that didn’t go to prison went on to hang out at honey pots and become patsies. I’m sure that doesn’t remind you of anyone today.
In both examples the people were more than free to associate; it’s their right for sure, but digging a little deeper any critical thinker would’ve started questioning the logic of such actions. Why ride the comet- just stay home and live like Krishnas. Why go to war? You’re alive, no one is attacking you, just stay home. File a 501c3 and do what you do and don’t brag about it. Don’t go full retard and I bet you’d be left alone. And it’s just as easy to opt-out today as it was in 1985, in some ways easier.
But, hold on- Change Doesn’t Happen Without Action!
Yes, this is objectively true. It’s also touted by the Left, who’s demonstrably supported by the force multipliers of funding, self replication and favorable media coverage. The internet has closed the gap somewhat for the populist Right, but there still remains many issues. Internet connectivity is nothing more than a communications medium; a resource to be used and consumed. There is no ‘movement’ solely on the internet- no, not even the ‘alt right’, despite the constant evolution that technology plays upon social movements themselves. This is where the more astute would point to the role of social media in the Mideast Color Revolutions aka ‘arab spring‘, but I point out that the role was one of organization alone- and organized by someone- it was anything but spontaneous; it’s just easier to look that way these days.
The role of the internet brings us to blogs. Blogs, when properly executed, are resources of knowledge. The critical thinker will ask of the blog author, ‘this is neat, but why should I believe you? What does this person offer to me? Is it anything more than what I simply want to hear?‘ with the burden of proof solely upon that author to convince the reader of the argument. It is an implicit contract of supply and consumption; nothing more, nothing less, among the rational. But the reality is such that like our cool aid drinkers seeking a fantastic voyage or the people so alienated a crazed felon makes sense, many fall prey to hearing only what they want to hear, placing too much trust in the mouthpiece or writer, not questioning the validity of what’s being said, because the answer provided, real and plausible or not, sounds good.
Escapism is a dangerous, dangerous mistress. I submit to you that no one behind a keyboard is your leader. No One. Further, no one you don’t know personally or interact with on a regular basis should know much of anything about you. Period. If they’re asking questions they shouldn’t or you don’t feel comfortable answering, don’t. As some of you who’ve interacted with me behind closed doors know, I don’t give out personal information to anyone I don’t plan on meeting in person. And even then, it’s very limited and cryptic. Why? Because you don’t need to know, that’s why. Because trust is built over time in the flesh, people are generally not trustworthy, as I could spell out for you several occasions where information given by a former low level confidant lead to the targeting of Taliban leaders. Sold out by their buddies for a few bucks. And that’s not counting the moles we inserted; so unless you’ve run those kinds of operations, keep your trap shut to people who are warning you that some dude behind a keyboard might not be what he claims. And as many tirelessly point out over and over again, cognitive infiltration is rife in the so-called liberty movement. Not that I fancy myself as any kind of subversive; I’m not and could care less about anyone’s ‘revolution‘, but I do care about the survival of Christians in the recurrent time of tribulation and the maintenance of our Liberty. I am a Survivalist and a political Libertarian who runs a blog as a resource for other Survivalists, Prepers or Patriots, created to fill a void by others who got fed up and opted out. I am not anyone’s ‘leader’ or spokesman; I give you things to consider and tools to succeed based upon my experience.
Don’t believe it if you’re not doing it. Don’t trust anyone you don’t know personally. Quit with the idiotic groupthink and ignore those with nothing to offer. And stop drinking anyone’s cool aid- it’s probably poison.