The book, When Prophecy Fails, is a classic work of social psychology written in the 1950’s based on a study of a UFO cult called the Seekers. This group was led by a woman named Dorothy Martin, who claimed that aliens spoke through her to warn of a coming apocalypse. She employed something called “automatic writing” to channel the messages from the people of the planet Clarion. Through her, they were telling humanity that a great flood was coming and the world would end on December 21, 1954.
The study documented the believers and how they coped with the fact the word did not end on December 21, 1954. What they found is that instead of the group realizing they had been duped by a lunatic, they quickly developed an explanation for why the great event had not occurred and came to believe that with the same degree of intensity they had believed the original prophesy. In the case of the Seekers, within hours they were telling themselves and the world that their faith had convinced God to spare the world.
It is a useful thing to keep in mind while observing the actions of the America Left. Whatever it was, today it is a cult. We tend to assume cults have a charismatic figure at the top, but that’s not always the case. Hassidic Jews are not led by a charismatic leader, unless you consider the Rabbi a cult leader. In fact, that may not be a bad comparison, in that Rabbis come and go, temporarily holding the position of sect leader. Progressives swap out their chief lunatic as well. Look at their list of three initial heroes.
In the summer before the 2016 election, the Cult was sure Hillary Clinton would be anointed as their new cult leader. They were so sure of it there were people quitting their jobs so they could prepare to move to Washington and serve the new ruler. Then disaster struck and the prophecy failed. Like the Seekers, they waited all night for a miracle, but there was no miracle. Also like the Seekers, the cult has cooked up an elaborate explanation, rather than accept the result. Russian collusion is a coping mechanism.
It does not stop there with the Progressive cult. They have a new prophecy that they are sure will come true on the first Tuesday of this November. They believe the magical blue wave will cleanse the Imperial Capital of the sinners, who defend the evil Donald Trump, by concealing the Russian hacking scandal. It’s why fiction writer Bob Woodward released his book this week and why the NYTimes ran the fictional op-ed. These are intended to be evidence at the trial of Donald Trump, when he is impeached and removed.
It’s also why Elizabeth Warren was out demanding they invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump now. After all, if it is inevitable, why wait for the election? As far as she and the other hormonal crazies in the cult are concerned, the impeachment and removal of Trump is written in stone. True believers always succumb to the Tinker Bell Effect, because they believe so intensely, they inevitably begin to see everything as confirmation of their deeply held beliefs. Fanatics see only that which confirms their fanaticism.
You’ll also note that these periods of extreme mania come and go. When Trump fired Comey, the Left was apoplectic for a week. Comey himself was out there casting himself in the role of martyr for the cause. Then it passed and no one talks about him anymore, outside of grand jury rooms. When Trump met with Putin, there was another week of fevered lunacy in the Progressive media. This week’s spasm of fervor from the cult coincided with the Kavanaugh hearings. Next week, all of this will be forgotten.
What’s happening is the cult is responding to disconfirmation in the same way the Seekers handled it. Rather than reevaluate their positions or beliefs in light of obvious reality, they escalate their intensity as a way to pull the faithful together. Firing Comey showed Trump was not about to resign, as the cult believed. When he met with Putin, it annulled their Boris and Natasha fantasy. Now that Kavanaugh is obviously going to be confirmed, it undermines their belief that his own party is about to abandon him.
Another aspect of the Seekers is relevant here. Dorothy Martin came out of the same cult that gave birth to Scientology. She later went on to reinvent herself as Sister Thedra and start a new cult called the Association of Sananda and Sanat Kumara. Progressives have similarly morphed into different things over the years. You’ll also note that spiritual cults tend to be led by women or have a lot of high profile females. The same thing is happening with the Progressives. It is hormonal woman shepherding non-whites.
All of this is amusing, but imagine a country with a powerful army and nuclear weapons being run by nutters like Elizabeth Warren. Imagine a situation room that looks like the editorial board of the Huffington Post. There are no obvious remedies to having the ruling class succumb to mass insanity. The big challenge is accepting it. The public can accept that their rulers are corrupt or evil. It’s really hard to accept that they are insane. The proof of that probably comes too late as the loonies have already pulled the roof down us.
“There’s a seeker born every minute!” -Dr. Happy Harry Cox
They have pulled the roof down on themselves, Z. What happens to us is still up in the air. My family has been led and dominated by hormonal females for most of my 54 years on this planet. About 5 years ago I walked away and my wife came with me; contrary to the hormonal men of the manosphere… no, Not All Women Are Like That. It’s time for a divorce. What that will look like remains to be seen.
I see cats and kitty litter and lonliness for a lot of women in the days ahead.
I see cats and kitty litter and lonliness for a lot of women in the days ahead.
That’s only if we win if we don’t it will be burqas, rapes, and stoning for women…
+1. These women are doomed either way. You can’t make good soup out of deadly ingredients.
“Imagine a situation room that looks like the editorial board of the Huffington Post”
It exists in Sweden.
Cult is a fairly good model for the typical low-info shitlib, but one mustn’t forget that the entire apparatus of the state is oriented toward propping up their fantasies. The effect is still so powerful that even a majority of people who nominally oppose them (“conservatives”) still believe most of the same things.
I prefer to think of it as a full-blown religion, and the U.S. and most of western society today as a theocracy. They may not have God, but that’s merely a Calvinist twist – an evolutionary adaptation for democracy.
The NRx types like to think of this religion as being an outgrowth of calvinism. But this social justice religion is more like hinduism.
Calvinism started out as the religion of wealthy merchants. They haven’t changed one iota. They believe that God displays his grace upon the True Believer by granting them financial success. Make money and it is a sign of your being “saved”. Walk over your neighbors to achieve wealth and all is fine, because it is a sign.
Methinks you need to read up a bit more on Calvin and the Calvinist movement.
I point to Calvinists because they’re probably the earliest and most obvious social justice offshoot, but progressivism is a coalition of all antinomian branches, including Quakers and Episcopalians – and of course, reform Jews.
I’m no expert on Hinduism, although from what little I know, it’s hard to see the correlation. On the other hand, if you go to the wiki entry for “Mainline Protestant”, you can practically tick off all the liberal/progressive boxes one by one.
Spot on, good read.
BUT
There is a govenor on your thinking about the future where they are in control and nutty as well.
Their hostility and aggravated abuse of power would result in civil conflict.
“All of this is amusing, but imagine a country with a powerful army and nuclear weapons being run by nutters like Elizabeth Warren. ”
I expect Russia & China are imagining the same thing … and preparing for it.
Off topic, but “Sloppy” wrote a pretty good price (I think) about the OK/White Power sign. I’d like to hear your thoughts.
link please 🙂
We needed a Carter to get President Reagan. Just like we needed an Obama to get President Trump.
Here’s hoping the left keeps up the lunacy and they get slaughtered with the midterm elections. Hiawatha is getting challenged by a young Republican. It’s Massachusetts so all the lefties assume she’s guaranteed to get reelected.
Should she goes down in flames this fall that would be a telling bellwether that the dirt people are still upset and will continue to throw the bums out.
I have a dream . . . . . . 🙂
Politics as a cult is common in Latin America, Africa and Muslim nations. It is our future. We are importing the people who will join the cult that too many heritage don’t want to join and we have turned over the educational system to the cult to insure that the young have a great chance of being indoctrinated into the cult.
Yes! (In lieu of an upvote).
Insane yes, but not benign like the Seekers mania. The Progressive Sect seeks power for the purpose of dominating the sane and ensuring their primacy, control, and sustenance. This is not a joking matter (e.g. look over there at the crazy people, aren’t they acting funny). This is a deadly serious threat to liberty loving citizens trying to live normal lives. And this threat won’t evaporate in November regardless of the outcome.
Seekers describes the Left well. To describe Libertarians I have often called them Shakers, for their proclivity to self annihilation.
The Seekers continue to Ratchet UP! the crazy. It’s not enough for them to be left alone with their crazy delusions. They will not rest until they make it mandatory! (or perhaps “mandator-i-er”/infinity/!!!1111’s) for all. UNder penalty of whatever they desire & they are totally free to change their minds. Like whenever. Continuously. Randomly. etc…
Just a site-related comment. I read every word of every post, but recently the mobile version has become eye-killingly small. Hard to read. Any remedy for that?
Also, the comments have gone wacky, with the upvotes disappearing and the comments box moving to the bottom. The old way was better.
Just constructive suggestions from a fan. Thanks. Soldier on, Zman!
Install CM browser: many options and settings: enlargeable, white text on black background, choose your own search engine etc.
Thinking back, Billy Boy Clinton just wanted a ton of money and lots of easy tail out of his presidency, Boosh Jr. wanted to get out of it in one piece (9/11 was not what he had signed up for), and Obama wanted to LARP as some sort of African strongman (but didn’t quite have the firepower to go over the top of the hill with it). Hillary, however, seems to have this weird Jim Jones-type need to cultivate a string of followers and lead them around. It’s like some sort of bizarre parenting thing gone haywire. It’s not where… Read more »
I agree wholeheartedly with your characterization of HRC. She is dangerous, nuts, and inspires cultish followers with a religious fervor.
“According to the Society for the Study of Psychopathy, psychopath traits include:
Lack of guilt/remorse (check)
Lack of empathy (check)
Lack of deep emotional attachments (check)
Narcissism (triple check)
Superficial charm (check)
Dishonesty (quadruple check)
Manipulativeness (triple check)
Reckless risk-taking (check)
Yup, just like the Seekers, “I’m with her”. LOLs.
The Cult is going to go from one thing to another, week by week, and then, in six years or so, Trump will hand the presidential baton to someone else. The Cultists will be dancing in the streets and passing out sweets for a day or two. And then, they are going to feel like the kids do when Christmas is over. They will have lost the talismanic symbol of their rage. A big empty place where their hate used to live. And then things will get really weird on their side of the fence. I am hoping for their… Read more »
What is is about the idea of government schools that is not insane?
If they are run by sane people they can be fine.
All white govt school systems in rural areas generally fine.
The left is making strategic error after strategic error. The main reason they have been historically successful has been because the fuzzy middle accepted their premises and acquiesced to their demands occasionally while never reversing any of their successes. While the fuzzy middle seemed to be willing to go along with attempts to undermine the transfer of power after the last election, the utter craziness of their behavior recently is threatening the alliance. I just got a call yesterday from someone who had been refusing to speak to me after the election. I think part of this was precipitated by… Read more »
That’s the fundamental crisis of legitimacy right there — our leaders are insane. Whatever else it’s supposed to do, representative government is supposed to prevent *that*. We can tolerate some eccentricities in our rulers — who among us isn’t a little quirky? — but the stuff our “leaders” in the Uniparty believe is outright barking lunacy. Any system that puts someone like Kamala Harris within three zip codes of the levers of power is broken beyond all hope of repair.
What is is about the idea of government schools that is not insane?
What is is about the idea of government schools that is not insane?
It is very insane but easy so most people choose it…Where else can you get a babysitter that someone else pays for while you are out doing your thing… Homeschooling which we do we always be in the minority until they start requiring parents to pay for their kids public schools…
The idea of needing to be “led” by a “government” is what is insane.
“Representative government” doesn’t prevent poor leadership, it causes poor leadership.
Yes our leaders are nuts and worse have been for some time. What makes it different now is that Trump’s winning the presidency exposed them as the lunatic cultists they are.
And Harris is a loon.. But look at those senile hags, Feinstein and Pelosi who are both mentally unfit to hold office. Or gropin Joe Biden, looney tunes Schiff, mad dog Ellison and carnival barker Booker.
Any system that protects such denizens of the Imperial Capital is indeed beyond repair. For it’s one thing to promote scoundrels and bland machine pols. But not the aforementioned mental menials.
Very droll, but have you considered that YOU may in fact be the Seekers in this matter, falling victim to confirmation bias as you survey the landscape of pre 1980s “white america”, a dreary landscape of mediocrity and corruption. ALL societal markers have improved dramatically after the civil rights acts and the 1965 hart cellar act, opening the American dream to the talented masses held back in the trap of colonialism. You choke back recognition that dr Carson can clip an aneurysm with greater pizzazz than the best of you, and the corollary that he has better claim to your… Read more »
Dr. Carson was a pediatric neurosurgeon. I doubt he ever treated an aneurysm after completing residency.
Yes exactly, that’s my point, it’s all the more searing because he hasn’t worked at it as long as you have! What happened to the voting—that was the funnest part!?
What the hell are you smoking? ALL THE SOCIAL MARKERS HAVE IMPROVED? Believe me I’m on the front lines of the drug problem in this country and it has not improved. Not at all. And I can promise you that the sense of hopelessness in communities is in large part responsible.
@SES: Do I read you correctly that the reason our country’s young military aged males and child bearing age females are using and killing themselves with drugs is that there is a lack of opportunities and a sense of hopelessness of the future so they turn to using drugs to escape? Also, may I ask if you are referring to young rural white people (who have been the target of much of this “white privlidge” non-sense)? Or if you are instead / also referring to urban blacks instead (who have the same or greater limited opportunities and sense of hopelessness… Read more »
LOL at the idea that Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, NYC, and the state of California were “landscapes of mediocrity and corruption” when they were run by and comprised mostly of White people. Weak troll TBH.
St Louis, Houston, San Francisco, Seattle and the clincher… N’ Orleans, for the Win!
Hilarious. Which societal markers? Be specific, and don’t cherry-pick your time frame – you need to go back to at least the early 20th century.
Some markers that definitely haven’t gotten better include: urban crime, unemployment, family formation, fertility, obesity, fatherlessness (especially among blacks), drug/alcohol abuse, mental health, taxation level and entrepreneurship.
But I’m sure those markers are all relics of the dreary and corrupt past. So go on, tell us which markers matter, don’t sputter about weak generalities like a pathetic gamma.
Torog =troll in elvish!
Don’t listen to him! He’s the worst kind of deceiver.
A dreary landscape of pre-1980s “white america” which put a man on the moon, and eliminated smallpox, and invented recombinant DNA, and invented the semiconductor, and the digital computer, and the Internet, and…and…and…and…and.
This is complicated to write coherently. Pardon me on that please. A lot of days I think TINVOWOOT, (there is no voting our way out of this). There are a couple ways to interpret that, one is that is as it should be, people become manifest in the face of wonton corruption and itinerant tyranny. The other is its combat humor, gallows humor, etc. Which really, TINVOWOOT is an observation, snark, that in reality it doesn’t matter if TINVOWOOT or not, what matters is resistance is fertile, and live free or die. Of course its the timeless glass half empty… Read more »
I swear to God the next person who screws up the usage of the words “lose” and “loose” – is going to be the first to hang. The commies are doing an excellent job at destroying the language – let’s not help them along. LOSE lo͞oz/ verb verb: lose; 3rd person present: loses; past tense: lost; past participle: lost; gerund or present participle: losing 1. be deprived of or cease to have or retain (something). “I’ve lost my appetite” synonyms: be deprived of, suffer the loss of; no longer have “he’s lost a lot of blood” antonyms: keep, regain cause… Read more »
Good job, calsdad, definitive even. But I’ve been on this same band wagon for years, to no noticeable effect. That error is pervasive across the interwebz, along with many another. I share your ire and despair. However… Doug is one of the Really Good Guys who it has been my pleasure to witness develop in thinking and writing (mostly at WRSA) for several years, and with whom I agree more than not. If you would hang him, you’ll have to start with me. We have not enough articulate, thoughtful and courageous men on our side to dismiss out of hand… Read more »
Ya, the idea of hanging Doug is a looser.
LOL My overall point is that there is a certain subset of people who will just dismiss a well thought out argument simply because of one word mis-spelling. You shouldn’t have to cater to them, but people should use the language correctly too. When I see people write things like ” if we don’t do X – we’re going to loose!!” – I respond with: ” loose what – a fart? One of those trendy burning lunch bags? What are we letting loose?” Repeat for effect: Commies love language destruction , because it instills a lack of mental discipline. Stop… Read more »
Calsdad- I know how to use the English language. What I’m not so hot at is proofreading and typing…
You keep writing! … and I won’t axe you to proofread my posts.
Right there with you, Calsdad. When people play fast and lose with the language, I just loose it.
Depending on when he grew up he may be forgiven this faux pas as the focus on ‘hard’ education started losing traction in the early 70’s. Remember also that spell check and grammar check have their limitations. I do however see your point as to how both the language and definition of words has be co-opted to ‘steer’ those with a public indoctrination center (schools) education towards socialism and other things of political value to the left. The best way to overcome this handicap is to READ A LOT of quality literature and learn the use of the English language… Read more »
You sound stable Calsdad. I feel comfortable having you in our movement.
Thanks.
I appreciate you’re sarchasm.
I am not sure if it was intentional or a typo, but I loved the line “Resistance is fertile.”
Yes, that one is great! I hang out on some Star Trek/Star Wars sites, and I’m going to toss that one into the mix one day when the time is right – I think they’d love it!
The media is a woman constantly inventing drama to maintain her position in the pecking order. The NYT confessional comes a week after our titans of journalism were as one in expressing how much their feathers have been ruffled by the troubling rise of anti-media sentiment being stoked by despots like Donald Trump.
The Seekers = Voters.
Re: “There are no obvious remedies to having the ruling class submit to mass insanity”. I have to disagree – slightly. I think there is a very obvious remedy: a whole lot of people are going to have to get shot. That’s the “remedy” that appears to be getting serious consideration among an awful of lot of the forums, blogs, websites that visit that lean rightward. The left wingers have their own version of this : they’re going around screaming about “killing Nazis”. Whether it actually happens or not – that’s the REAL question. The way things seem to be… Read more »
The way things seem to be unfolding I tend to agree with the premise that people will realize too late once they’re trapped under that roof the lefties just pulled down..
Amen on that Brother…Like I’ve said before Pain will be the only motivator for most but by then it will be to late for them…Then Why Did This Happen to me God will be out in force…Sad That…
The elites are always surprised by revolutions because they in their arrogance and insulated lives are the last to understand what is happening in the real world.
@Epaminondas
I guess that all depends on who you classify as elites…If you mean the politicians then yea they are usually surprised but if you mean the ones that pull the strings then you might be mistaken since they want the chaos to come…
Yes they do because they think they can survive it and emerge more powerful.
We just have to be sure they’re wrong on both counts.
We just have to be sure they’re wrong on both counts.
That can only happen through organized effort and looking around I have a hard time seeing that come to fruition…
I’m not convinced that shooting them is a good idea. It would not have enough ‘visibility’ for the most part as much of it would be out of the public view. A better solution? Well…..let’s just say that there is no shortage of rope and street lamps in this country both of which would be highly visible and a warning to would be tyrants.
I wouldn’t dismiss the left so lightly with regards to killing us. One thing they have down cold that right does not is the ability to organize and organize at a moments notice. Right now when they don’t get their way it’s professionally made signs, transportation on demand and paid-for legal services on call 24/7, that takes organization, and more importantly, money. Who wants to wager that they already have caches of AK’s & RPG’s stashed away all over the country, as well as lists of who they should be looking for first once they get the proverbial green light?
I wouldn’t be surprised if they had weapons caches. Nothing much surprises me these days. But what they don’t have is training. Sure, it doesn’t require a whole lot of practice and skill to fire wildly into a crowd of people, but you can’t get away with that for long. Sure, it would kill a good number of people, but after that initial shocking event, it wold be game on. And there really isn’t any substitute for real training and practice. Muscle memory. Can you reload or clear a jam in the dark while your hands are sweaty. Even just… Read more »
The soy-boys won’t be the ones doing the shooting. It will be criminal street gangs and Antifa types. They only need III percent of their population, (with apologies to Mike Vanderboegh.) How many Germans were active Nazis in 1932? How many Russians were Bolsheviks in 1917?
Oh without a doubt, I understand what you’re saying and yes. most of the population of the local Starbucks would shit their collective pants when faced with someone who not only knew how to use a weapon properly, but had a number of notches on their belt from situations in the real world. A few months ago there was an AntiFa training video going around the web of a bunch of them at an improvised range with their AK’s. Most of the comments concerned making fun of them and the fact that their hits were all over the map. Then… Read more »
As someone who has written and been published in various alt-right ezines, I am driven to distraction to find grammatical and spelling errors in an otherwise elucidating essay. The Z Man is always interesting because of his Innovative slant on current events. But there are at least 7 grammatical and spelling errors in his current piece. I attribute this to his lacking an editor to review his essays. I know that some commenters have offered to edit his pieces free of charge. One commenter said that when there is an obvious error it tends to diminish the importance of the… Read more »
One spelling error, a typo, and zero grammar errors. Your sense of grammar is dated and obsolete.
Seriously you have an army bearing down on you and you’re worried that they didn’t put enough honey in your tea… WTF over..
When they come for you, Taylor, I am certain that the written arrest warrant will be grammatically correct with no spelling errors…