Drinking The Kool-Aid

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" is an expression used to refer to a person who believes in a possibly doomed or dangerous idea because of perceived potential high rewards. The phrase often carries a negative connotation. It can also be used ironically or humorously to refer to accepting an idea or changing a preference due to popularity, peer pressure, or persuasion. In recent years it has evolved further to mean extreme dedication to a cause or purpose, so extreme that one would "drink the Kool-Aid" and die for the cause.

The phrase originates from events in Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978, in which over 900 members of the Peoples Temple movement died. The movement's leader, Jim Jones, called a mass meeting at the Jonestown pavilion after the murder of U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and others in nearby Port Kaituma. Jones proposed "revolutionary suicide" by way of ingesting a powdered drink mix lethally laced with cyanide and other drugs which had been prepared by his aides

On November 18, 1978, Jones ordered that the members of Representative Leo Ryan's party be killed after several defectors chose to leave with the party. Residents of the commune later committed suicide by drinking a flavored beverage laced with potassium cyanide; some were forced to drink it, some (such as small children) drank it unknowingly.  Roughly 918 people died.

Descriptions of the event often refer to the beverage not as Kool-Aid but as Flavor Aid, a less-expensive product reportedly found at the site. Kraft Foods, the maker of Kool-Aid, has stated the same.  Implied by this accounting of events is that the reference to the Kool-Aid brand owes exclusively to its being better-known among Americans. Others are less categorical. Film footage shot inside the compound prior to the events of November shows Jones opening a large chest in which boxes of Flavor Aid are visible. Criminal investigators testifying at the Jonestown inquest spoke of finding packets of "cool aid", and eyewitnesses to the incident are also recorded as speaking of "cool aid" or "Cool Aid." It is unclear whether they intended to refer to the actual Kool-Aid–brand drink or were using the name in a generic sense that might refer to any powdered flavored beverage.

The group had engaged in many "dry runs" using an unpoisoned drink.

The phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" as used to describe either blind obedience or loyalty to a cause is considered offensive by some of the relatives of the dead and survivors who escaped Jonestown. Seventy or more individuals at Jonestown were injected with poison, and a third of the victims (304) were minors. Guards armed with guns and crossbows had been ordered to shoot those who fled the Jonestown pavilion as Jones lobbied for suicide.

Now, keeping in mind ‘Drinking the Kool-Aid’, think about Trump supporters.  Many are more than willing to give their lives for him, ignoring all 20,000+ lies from this arrogant, entitled man over the past 4 years.  That’s astounding and dangerous.

Why would Trump’s cult followers put themselves in harm’s way like that? For Trump?

This is an actual aerial photo of the Jonestown massacre in Guyana:

And these are the same type of people, blindly, blithely following their leader:

Makes you wonder what kind of Kool-Aid is being served at those rallies.

 

Cheers!