sardine

#28: Jonestown

american-apologies:

Don’t ever drink the Flavor Aid, no matter what they tell you. Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple cult, formed the Jonestown settlement in the 1970s in Guyana. Jones saw Jonestown as both a “socialist paradise” and a “sanctuary” from media scrutiny, and encouraged hundreds of members to bring their families there. What was claimed to be paradise ended up looking a whole lot like North Korea, with propaganda films shown, hard work hours, destitute housing, and Jones’ apocalyptic speeches. Congressman Leo Ryan of California wanted to see what was going on there, and ended up murdered along with four others after investigating the settlement. Despite the fact that Ryan was intending on writing a somewhat positive report, Jones had him killed by his followers, and considered Jonestown a failure. With no escape possible, Jones took the coward’s way out, and encouraged “revolutionary suicide” in a final speech that was recorded. A total of 909 Temple members (more than 300 of which were children) died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning. Jones chose to shoot himself in the head, ending one of the darkest days in American history.

what? The recording is creepy.