Doomsday Cults
The end is nigh! The sky is falling!! Here, have some Kool-Aid*!!!
Wikipedia sorts doomsday cults into two categories: Those that predict the end of the world, and those that seek to bring it about. The ones we tend to think of first are the wacky ones, but many religions and sects, both established and fringe-but-accepted, have elements of apocalypse in their dogma.
Their ubiquity and persistence tells us that there is some aspect of human nature that is stimulated by negative beliefs and outlooks. There's a tendency to pessimism in each of us, likely born of the fact that fixating on negative possibilities increased chances of survival back when humans were hunter-gatherers trying to outwit lions and other predators.
Like many other lizard-brain instincts, the tendency to doom can be overstimulated by expanding the threat from a single meat-eater hiding in the tall grass to something much larger.
Such as the planet dying.
All this occurred to me as I read this account of protests at the second annual Natal Conference that recently took place in Texas. The conference, which sought to share ideas about how to counter the problem of a below-replacement fertility rate in America (a problem that plagues most of the developed world), was denounced as Nazism, eugenicism, and other 'isms,' because protestors love their 'istic' labels.
Why would conversations about more babies be all these? The claims include it being a secret plot to have more white babies, so as to outbreed the influx of non-whites, and it being about putting women back into barefoot-kitchen status. Because screaming "racism!" is a default response that helps avoid actual critical thinking. That the claimers are of the sort who argue that men can have babies is, of course, not to be mentioned. Yes, indeed, the protestors skew far-Left.
The claims are a veneer for a deeper truth: that progressivism is, at its core, a doomsday cult.
Greens tell us we have to live poorer, less comfortable lives in order to "save the planet."
Malthusians tell us that there are too many people on the planet, that we are running out of resources, so we should just die already.
Race essentialists tell us that being born the wrong skin color (i.e. white) is an original sin that must be countered with a life of penance.
Anticapitalists tell us that the one economic system that actually works in elevating people out of poverty is evil, and that success should be either quashed or bled out.
Hamas apologists have chosen to side with a culture that is dedicated to the eradication of Israel, the extermination of Jews, and the imposition of a grossly illiberal theistic dogma on the planet.
Disinformationists tell us we can't be trusted to figure out what to believe, so they need to limit our free speech rights.
Nannies tell us we can't be trusted to live our lives as we wish, so they need to limit what we are allowed to do.
Luigi Mangione supporters believe that violence up to and including murder are justifiable means for effecting cultural and political change.
All of these overlay a pessimistic attitude, a belief that humans are inherently bad, that, in the words of Captain Jack Aubrey, "men must be governed." That absent such management, humanity will destroy itself and the world.
No matter that voluntary cooperation has been proven to work, that the growth of living standards coincided with removal of top-down control in favor of that repugnant capitalism. No matter Dr. Steven Maturin’s retort, “that’s the excuse of every tyrant in history.” No matter that those who would govern others are as or more flawed as those they believe need governing.
The people who espouse these ideas are fanatics. They've managed to control and steer the Democratic Party despite most people who call themselves Democrats not sharing in their doomsday fanaticism. The party is in the throes of an under-reported civil war, with realists (as in, people who see and acknowledge reality) trying to break free of the fanatics' dominance, and the fanatics insisting that the path back to power is via doubling down on doomsaying.
Trump's success this past election was in no small part because he constantly emanates a positive vibe and propagates an upbeat message. Despite the epithet status given to "MAGA" by the Left, "Make America Great Again" is a strong and positive slogan that counterweighted the Democrats "you all suck and need to be managed, controlled, and beaten into submission" message and manner.
Social media is awash in declarations of Trump-induced doom. Before the election, it was "save Democracy!" Now, it's endless bleats of "fascism!" The bleaters would not recognize real fascism even if it smacked them across the face, of course.
As always, I caution that I'm not defending or extolling Trump here. I predicted a mixed bag, and a mixed bag is what we are getting. The doomsaying from the opposition is having an unfortunate effect - Trump's fans are growing ever more reactive, defending even his most questionable or outright-bad policies, because "with us or against us" dualism trumps (yeah, pun intended) judging things on their own merits.
Fortunately, negativity only works in the long term if it's eventually backed up by substance. If the sky never falls, more and more people start ignoring Chicken Little. As various narratives, such as climate catastrophe and "we can't do anything to stop the illegals from coming in," fail, people feel safer ignoring the doomsday cultists.
One tell-tale difference between a religion and a cult is that cults don't allow you to leave unscathed. That has worked for quite some time now in the leftists' favor, as cancel culture, shunning, social media excoriation, and other behaviors established a culture of fear that kept mainstream Democrats from rejecting their wilder ideas and defecting from the party. But, now, people are leaving the wild-eyed Left. Which has the unfortunate effect of concentrating the loonies and possibly empowering them further.
Will the Democratic Party kick the doomsayers to the curb and move toward a more ‘normal’ platform (see: Senator John Fetterman), or will it continue its devolution into a doomsday cult?
*In fairness to Kool-Aid, the Jonestown people drank a different brand of flavored beverage.