Plan B Forum

David Wilde
I was only a child when the Jonestown massacre happened. I remember quite clearly watching the horror of it all on TV.

But there is one part of the story that has faded in time. And it is an important lesson to learn.

We use the phrase "drinking the Kool Aid" as a reference to Jonestown. It is a way to attack and dismiss someone as being foolish and gullible.

But in the wake of the massacre, many of the friends and families of the victims came forward. They said that they knew the victims well and these people were not gullible fools - but ordinary, reasonable people.

Then psychologists explained that a person could be completely sensible and rational. However, if they are isolated and steadily fed paranoia and propaganda, then their whole perspective becomes terribly skewed. Their basic sense of judgement and rationality becomes lost.

This is exactly what is happening with MAGA crowd these days. They may not be in some compound in the middle of the jungle - but they do *only* listen to Fox News and Breitbart. Thanks to the internet, they *only* talk to right wingers who think exactly like they do. They refuse to expose themselves to other points of view.

Their isolation may be virtual, but it is still real. Their echo chamber is self created. And paranoia and propaganda are all part of their daily diet.