For nine years I ran a national public radio weekly interview program called Social Thought. Social thought
is based on one premise: all institutions are structured around a tent
pole idea, image, metaphor or concept. Example: the tent pole idea for the free
market is premised on the Invisible Hand.
Therefore it shouldn't surprise you that I believe Jim Jones had to be a fanatic Lefty to create a mass suicide and that Deepak Chopra had to be a new age woo-woo to blame America for the recent Mumbai terrorists?
The tent
pole idea of fanatic Lefties is: there is a great oppressor. This is
evident in the standard Lefty terms: imperialism, ruling class, income
inequality, victims of poverty, Cheney is a war criminal, America is a
fascist state....etc
This Lefty view can easily shade into paranoia as it
did with Jim Jones and his followers. It has many times in the past and
it will again in the future result in paranoid tragedy with other charismatic Lefties. Jones' follower's died to
avoid the imagined torture of the great oppressor.
The tent pole idea of new age woo-woos is: I create the world I live in with my dreams, goals and determination. Look at the standard terms of woo-woos: affirmations, you are what you eat, we are the change we have been waiting for, think good thoughts, believe in yourself, don't listen to negativity.....etc. This solipsistic view can also shade into paranoia as it did with Deepak Chopra. A powerful government, like America, that isn't bringing sunshine and goodness to the poor oppressed Muslims of India must be the cause of Muslim terrorism. Indian Muslims need to think good thoughts to behave well. America keeps Indian Muslims from thinking good thoughts.