If you listen to the tapes (which, totally understandable to not) - there was a woman (iirc) who argued pretty vociferously against Jim Jones plan. They had killed a U.S. congressman at that point - the idea was that they were doomed anyway. But people did argue against him.
Another aspect is that they had started the suicide drills long before they had even moved to Guyana. They had church services in California where they were told to drink what they were taught was poison.
People who didn’t drink the Flavorade were shot. You don’t need everyone to go along with it - you just need a handful of the people who are willing to take quick, immediate action.
The recent Behind the Bastards episode about Kevin Smith (not the director of Dogma but a Jamaican Pentecostal preacher) makes this pretty clear - there’s these fucked up dynamics which make certain people more willing to act, and others less so.
Yeah, I didn’t want to get too deep in the weeds, but it’s so much more complex thank ‘drink the kool-aid’. I’ve listened to the 40+ minute tape as well, and linked a well written Britannica article detailing these points as well as some important cultural impacts in my original comment.
A large portion of his ‘congregation’ were Black Americans who were beaten down by the status quo at the time. I can’t blame them for grasping at hope that his de-segregated ‘church’ valued them for the people they were. As you said there were drills for this sort of thing before, so it’s impossible to say if the ones who initially volunteered for it were truly aware of what they were doing.
I’m personally not a ‘Behind the Bastards’ person. I very much enjoy historical dark comedy; just not as a teacher. I’m more of a fan of ‘referential’ humour in that regard. If I’m trying to learn something I want it as honest and close to the source as possible.
If you listen to the tapes (which, totally understandable to not) - there was a woman (iirc) who argued pretty vociferously against Jim Jones plan. They had killed a U.S. congressman at that point - the idea was that they were doomed anyway. But people did argue against him.
Another aspect is that they had started the suicide drills long before they had even moved to Guyana. They had church services in California where they were told to drink what they were taught was poison.
People who didn’t drink the Flavorade were shot. You don’t need everyone to go along with it - you just need a handful of the people who are willing to take quick, immediate action.
The recent Behind the Bastards episode about Kevin Smith (not the director of Dogma but a Jamaican Pentecostal preacher) makes this pretty clear - there’s these fucked up dynamics which make certain people more willing to act, and others less so.
Yeah, I didn’t want to get too deep in the weeds, but it’s so much more complex thank ‘drink the kool-aid’. I’ve listened to the 40+ minute tape as well, and linked a well written Britannica article detailing these points as well as some important cultural impacts in my original comment.
A large portion of his ‘congregation’ were Black Americans who were beaten down by the status quo at the time. I can’t blame them for grasping at hope that his de-segregated ‘church’ valued them for the people they were. As you said there were drills for this sort of thing before, so it’s impossible to say if the ones who initially volunteered for it were truly aware of what they were doing.
I’m personally not a ‘Behind the Bastards’ person. I very much enjoy historical dark comedy; just not as a teacher. I’m more of a fan of ‘referential’ humour in that regard. If I’m trying to learn something I want it as honest and close to the source as possible.