August 5, 2023

Applewhite was a charismatic figure. He convinced gullible persons that he was a super-human and if they committed suicide, a spacecraft behind the Hale-Bopp comet would pick them up. Twenty one persons committed suicide.

Charismatic figures hide their magic, so fools don't see how fraudulent it is. Applewhite used smoke and mirrors to project an image of hidden power.

Now a charismatic figure is destroying democracy in the U.S. Some critics have been describing Trump as a cult leader. Cult is too vague of a term. The focus can be sharpened by looking at the characteristics of charismatic figures.

Rational persons find it to be preposterous that such an incompetent idiot as Trump could be charismatic. But all charismatic figures are incompetent idiots; they just are not usually so visible to the public.

The key information is not in looking at Trump, as different persons see different things. The key information is in the descriptions of Trump's followers. They are worshipping a charismatic figure.

The most significant point is that Trump's follower assume he is above the law. Only nonhumans can be above the law. The most degenerate persons admit no one is above the law. But they only apply that standard to mortal humans. When they defy that standard, they are talking about a super-human who cannot be subject to human laws.

How gullible persons get to that point is somewhat academic. Some blather in that area says corrupters are looking for someone like themselves and then extend their pipe dream infinitely when they see such a person acquire power. The power convinces them that they are on the right path to acquiring power and building up their power figure is how to promote that process.

Of course, their heads must be devoid of knowledge that would correct their errors. Trump followers meet all of those requirements. They are dumber than the rocks on the ground who do not attempt to acquire knowledge and assume that power is the answer to everything. That means dumb power, not capabilities. Hence smoke and mirrors. Trump's smoke-and-mirrors is his endless lying.