Not really, no. Cults are a very specific means of control. Almost every organization ever has some minor aspect of the BITE model, but that does not make them cults. Doing so waters down the term and is insulting to people trying to get out or have gotten out.
frezik
joined 3 weeks ago
If you have a politician that you rank above others, then by definition, that is your favorite politician.
I'm fond of Robert La Follette (one of the loudest voices against US entry into WWI), Russ Feingold (only senator to vote against the Patriot Act), and Bernie (who doesn't need an introduction). In all of history, there are some politicians that stand above the rest.
No, you're wrong. Cults of personality fall apart fast when the leader dies. There are exceptions, but there's huge survivors bias in counting them. For every Scientology and Mormons, there's a hundred little ones you've never heard of that formed around a guy and dispersed when something happened to the guy.
The MAGA true believers will be around for a long time, yes--there's still a few Shakers around--but they won't be a unified political force.
They should be. Plenty of adult women are trafficked, too, and Epstein almost certainly didn't care either way as long as someone would pay him.
It's a disagree button. That's how it's used in practice, and we're better off just accepting that.
Attempting to hold up contradictions will do that to you. Can't deport migrant labor without destroying the base of cheap farm labor. The people hiring them are often Trump supporters themselves, and they'll lose money with crops rotting in the fields if MAGA got everything they wanted. At the other end of the spectrum, the tech billionaires love hiring H1-B visa holders to keep tech salaries down, and they're the ones buying $1M/plate dinners with Trump.
Arguably, you may have already lost that bet, or close to it. Depends on how you measure the results. Trump's approval rating this week is 41%, which is 1.6 points down from last week. 5% of 41% is about 2 points.
This is one of those issues where people won't come back when they leave.
Stay cracked. It may take years to work out, though.
No, cults do not have permanent control over peoples minds. People do leave. When there's big events like this that expose problems in the group, lots of people towards the edges will take off. Those who remain are the really devoted ones. It may take decades or even centuries to truly disappear (there's still a few Shakers out there), but MAGA doesn't have to shrink that much before it's no longer a meaningful political force.
There's always someone who likes it. The real secret to good sex isn't any specific technique. It's being open with your partners about what you like and explore that in a safe and consensual way. The rest is details.
Unfortunately, it's a thing. I've had people try to merge onto the roundabout when I'm in it, and then honk at me when I didn't let them through. If any of these people ever do hit my car, I am not going to try to correct them ahead of time so that they perjurer themselves to the cop who eventually shows up to take the report.
Which I think speaks to the terrible level of driver training in America. A roundabout is a combination of things that you should already know about as a driver, like how yield signs work, and how to stay in your lane and follow lines on the road. If you can't put those thoughts together, then I question your ability to drive safely at all.