Comment by TrackerFF
4 days ago
Cult leaders tend to be narcissists.
Narcissists tend to believe that they are always right, no mater what the topic is, or how knowledgeable they are. This makes them speak with confidence and conviction.
Some people are very drawn to confident people.
If the cult leader has other mental health issues, it can/will seep into their rhetoric. Combine that with unwavering support from loyal followers that will take everything they say as gospel...
That's about it.
If what you say is true, we're very lucky no one like that with a massive following has ever gotten into politics in the United States. It would be an ongoing disaster!
That's pretty much it. The beliefs are just a cover story.
Outside of those, the cult dynamics are cut-paste, and always involve an entitled narcissistic cult leader acquiring as much attention/praise, sex, money, and power as possible from the abuse and exploitation of followers.
Most religion works like this. Most alternative spirituality works like this Most finance works like this. Most corporate culture works like this. Most politics works like this.
Most science works like this. (It shouldn't, but the number of abused and exploited PhD students and post-docs is very much not zero.)
The only variables are the differing proportions of attention/praise, sex, money, and power available to leaders, and the amount of abuse that can be delivered to those lower down and/or outside the hierarchy.
The hierarchy and the realities of exploitation and abuse are a constant.
If you removed this dynamic from contemporary culture there wouldn't be a lot left.
Fortunately quite a lot of good things happen in spite of it. But a lot more would happen if it wasn't foundational.
Yes. The cult's "beliefs" really boil down to one belief: the infallibility of the leader. Much of the attraction is in the simplicity.