I found this podcast very interesting. I was surprised I have never heard of Jim Jones and the things he did previously to listening to the podcast. It so intriguing how Jim Jones a person who started off as a leader with good intentions and practices turned insane. Jones is a good example of power changing someone completely. He admired Hitler and ultimately became a version of him by creating a massacre. It was ironic how someone who believed in racial equality would admire someone like Hitler.
One thing they said in the podcast I thought was interesting was that if a couple of things had went differently, we could be talking about Jim Jones as a hero rather than a murderer. He would still have his flaws as all leaders do, but he made decisions that made him go from charming and charismatic to evil.
I also agree that there is a fine line between a toxic charismatic and a transformational leadership. I think every step a leader makes affects how they are viewed, and can change if they are good or bad.
I also was very interested in Jones’ shift from hero to villain. This made me realize that while we try to define people and place them into certain definitions, it is important to take into account that humans can fundamentally change their beliefs. This makes it even more difficult to assess a leader as good or bad, because it’s difficult to discount their actions in the past or the present.
I really liked your comment on how it is “ironic how someone who believed in racial equality would admire someone like Hitler”. In my eyes that is always a red flag; Hitler was a very effective leader and a toxic one, anyone from the outside would see that as brainwashing but Jones saw it as something to look up too…. RED FLAG
I also agree it was interesting that the speakers said we easily could have been admiring Jones if only a few things had gone differently. We like to think that evil people are evil from the start and even from the beginning of the podcast, one of the speakers kept saying things like ‘he started off so well’ and ‘I can’t beleive we are talking about the same guy’. I think we also inherently want to pinpoint one event or have an explanation as to why leaders who start off as good turn bad. The speakers could not explain this phenomenon in Jones’ case which is partly why I find his story frustrating the more I learn about it.
This podcast intrigued me regarding the hero to villain transition. I wonder how often “heroes” become “heroes” to eventually become villains.
I really enjoyed your post and thought you made a series of excellent points. I find it very interesting how Jim Jones essentially encompasses most of the topics we have discussed this semester. It relates to groupthink, charismatic leaders, and so on. The people were so brainwashed by him that they were willing to listen to and follow him across the country and commit suicide (only by some members not all)