Cult is the New Normal

We are horrified by the behavior of Trump supporters w/o realizing we'd do the same damn thing. John Kennedy - a charming charismatic leader who made people want to believe in him. I remember in '62 Perry Como doing a "jogging motif" on his TV show cuz Kennedy said everyone oughtta get out & exercise more. That simple concept - Kennedy says it - so it's something we all oughtta do, is an essential & crucial element of human behavior.

All people want to belong. The existential questions are: why am I here; what am I supposed to do here; do I belong, and so forth. If you've answered these questions, you feel like you belong. If you haven't answered them, you're in a world of shit, to quote Private Joker. The only thing worse than belonging to a self-destructive group, is to not belong at all. Believe me, I've tried. Reminds me of a song by The Grass Roots. Imagine, county fair in warm soft summer, all the perty girls, and riding on the Zipper w great school chums, listening to that carny's tape of marvellous music. Like a book I wrote about that feeling. 

Belonging or not, is the only question we'll answer in our adult lives. Camus said "once you've answered the question of suicide, everything else is easy." Or as Herman Hesse said in his book Steppenwolf - your life is like a chessboard, and you can arrange the pieces anyway you like. Now maybe that's easier said than done, but before dismissing it, give it a try. You might like it.

So the natural way to find belonging is to find a group to belong to. "Group" is a basic survival mechanism. "Us" provides greater odds of survival than just "me" alone. And there're other benefits. We join groups of common interest as a means of furthering self-interest - people who think like me, reinforce my own beliefs. They are the perfect sounding board for affirming that my existence matters. But the key essential for any thriving group is an attractive leader. 

Jesus is the perfect example. He attracts followers. The more followers, the bigger the group. And the bigger the group, the easier it is to want to join. Cuz the biggest group offers the best chance of survival. This may sound quite simplistic, but the real horror is - I'm describing the world as it is. Like my old friend Sonny used to say "if I'd be a damn fool to think that way, then everybody would." 

The one great champion of "self" over "group" Friedrich Nietzsche, lived a lonely tragic life; which hardly exemplifies his astounding insights. Perhaps a more attractive example is John Lennon, who wrote the lines: 

"a working class hero is something to be; keep you doped with 
religion & sex & tv; but you're all fucking peasants as far as I can see."