I found it very interesting to find the origins of Jonestown and the people’s church. At first it started as what seemed a good idea. He wanted to create real and good change in the US. I had never heard that he started as a good leader. Then he started to use his power for bad instead of good.
I see him as both a tyrant and unethical charismatic leader. He was charismatic enough to get a huge following and convince his followers to believe in him. He convinced many many people to pick up their life’s and follow him blindly. Where I see him transition from serving his followers to being a tyrant is later off in his teaching. He started using his followers for his own personal gain and whatever he desired instead of helping create change like he originally did.
Jonestown
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In addition to seeing him as a tyrant and a toxic charismatic, I also think that his leadership was an unethical permanent type. This is because he had no intention of becoming equal with his followers, and he also abused his power through deception.
I agree with you that the origins of Jonestown is interesting because Jones started the Church with good intentions. I think it is worth thinking about how much drugs had an impact on Jones turning crazy.
I think you mentioned a great point about how charismatic he was. It leads me to think back to when we talked about the negative aspects of charisma, such as manipulation. In this case, Jim Jones was very manipulative to his followers and led them to do things and follow him blindly without thinking.