Erica/ lawful salty-chaotic tired/ ENFP/ She-Her/ Often NSFW 18+/ This is a multi-interest blog. I love many things, and am also lazy AF, so everything goes here.
So my latest obsession is apparently the official twitter for the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is about half recall announcements for various shitty amazon products and half…..memes? pseudo-memes?? works of surrealist art??? what do i even call these
Whoever made these is either a random middle-aged government worker who’s spent enough time with Young Internet People to be at least 60% sure what a meme is or a Gen Z artistic genius and i can’t decide which
My hypothesis is that in like 10 years gen z is gonna have a big cult boom the way the boomers did in the 70s
It’s already happening on tik tok. There’s a fun new thing going round that’s citing common symptoms of depression and anxiety as signs you’re about to have your awakening and that you are actually an alien and the reason you don’t feel right is because you’re home sick for your own galaxy. So that’s fun.
agreed, and i don’t mean this in a “haha gen z is so dumb they’re gonna join a tiktok cult lmao” i mean that conditions are perfect for the formation of cults right now.
high unemployment and a lot of underpaying, pointless jobs = people are looking for things to do with their life, a purpose
skyrocketing cost of living = most young people will not be able to live on their own, meaning some will end up in a group living situation with people interested in recruiting them
it’s a time of great cultural and political upheaval, nothing feels real, people are desperate for meaning and human connection. cults promise that
there is a new wave of acceptance and understanding for ways of life outside the norm, which is great! …except for when cult leaders tell you abusive and controlling practices are just their culture, their religion, their lifestyle, their beliefs, their tradition, and if you disrespect it you are the problem
social media influencers have already shown us how easy it is to build a cult of personality and attract people from anywhere in the world who are interested in the exact brand you are selling
spirtuality is having a boom, as are things like astrology, crystals, tarot, meditation, energy… those things aren’t bad on their own but they are often used as tools of cult spaces
wellness. i think a lot of people are already in wellness cults. you can make people do a lot of things in the name of “wellness” and a big factor of maintaining a cult is keeping members in a state of decreased cognition….. like say, with regular fasting
i think people are just unaware in general of how cults function, especially because the satanic panic was a big stupid false alarm that convinced the youths that dungeons and dragons or doom were gateways to cults, which are scary evil child murdering, satan-worshipping gangs. people don’t know how to spot them in real life.
So if that’s the case everyone remember with me the cardinal rules of not getting cult’d
SOCIAL BUFFER: Learn what healthy social boundaries are and develop relationships which are within those boundaries.
Be wary of those who step on your or others’ boundaries. Be there for your friends, but don’t be their therapists or parents. Go get coffee or juice or snacks & chat casually with a friendly crew on a regular basis.
ESTEEM BUFFER. Recognize that you and every other person on this planet are owed a baseline of respect.
Respect means that what you wear, what/who you take interest in, and who/what you are are things which you decide on based on your own reasoning. If anyone is trying to change your mind, make sure to think critically about their side and decide for yourself whether you want to change. Ask: Why do they want you to change? Is that valid to your situation? Who / what would benefit from this change? Do you want them / it to benefit? Then decide for yourself.
RELAXATION BUFFER. Take time exclusively for yourself.
Take care of your body and mind when it needs to be fed, watered, washed, or nurtured. Have a couple hobbies that are just for you.Have more than one interest. Think about more than just one topic. Cults keep you focused on them to the exclusion of all else, so don’t allow yourself to be blocked in.
BUBBLE POP BUFFER: Learn from multiple sources, even ones you don’t like or respect.
Read multiple sources’ versions of events before you decide what you feel about something. Recognize that not all sources are valid, but understand what those invalid sources are trying to do. Are they misguided or malicious? Who are THEIR sources? What is the agenda? Who benefits? Why would they want to say what they’re saying? Do they have a point? Who pays them? What do they care about? Then make your decision.
BEWARE THE B.I.T.E.: Cults control people via Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotion control. BITE
Look up the BITE model and consider it against groups you wish to join / have joined.
Remember. You are the arbiter of your mind.
You have the blessing and burden of making your own decisions. Other people who will love and care about you throughout your life will want you to think for yourself and will think for themselves.
You are not alone. You are worthwhile. Your thoughts are your own and you have every right to control them yourself.
Just a quick addition: look for BITE stuff in regular individuals and friend groups, not just groups you’re formally joining. Look for it in roommates. Look for it in anyone you start getting close to. Look for it in groups that people you care about are getting into, and people they’re getting close to.
Sometimes people are just flawed, sometimes they’re well-intentioned but still growing, but that’s the point of red flags: they aren’t a sure sign of trouble, but they’re still worth taking note of & keep an eye on in case patterns emerge.
The reason I say this is worth learning and looking out for in more casual relationships is that these are mostly just abuse tactics carried out in a large-scale, more organized way. And because if someone is interested in recruiting you, they may employ these tactics on an individual, casual-seeming level as well.
As someone who’s really interested in cults and cult tactics, I really recommend “The Vow”, too! NXIVM is a cult that essentially set itself up as a self-improvement business tool for white collar folks, and it used “wellness” culture as a major recruitment tool. There was nothing remotely religious or spiritual about it, which is part of why so many people fell into it. “Seduced” is good as well, and shorter.
With so many elections coming up worldwide it’s probably a good time to remind everyone that tumblr once got infested with agents trying to convince everyone not to vote, or not to vote left because the candidates weren’t morally pure enough.
Also a reminder that they were better at tumblr than most of us, comrade interloper was great at memeing. Like, the talent!
Anyway don’t fall for it. There is no morally pure option.
Vote for whoever can move you one inch closer to your goals. This is a long game. If there’s a candidate who wants to move you a mile closer to your goals but they do not stand a chance in the general election, you vote for whoever can move you one inch closer to your goals. The time to vote for the “one mile” candidate in the primaries. Once you get to the general, you vote for the one who has a chance in hell of winning, or you’re actively working against progress. 100% of the time, voting in a general for a “can’t win” candidate because their beliefs align more with your beliefs is actively working for the opposition. There is no situation in which this is not true.
Just vote. All the time. Every election. Even if it’s just ‘Bob the city accountant vs Rob the city accountant".
