If it were possible to go back in time and witness a historical event, which one would you choose? Could you imagine what it would be like to be a fly on the wall, having the ability to eavesdrop on private conversations that could quite possibly provide insight that could significantly alter the collective historical perspective? Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does human curiosity. This is why, if historians don’t have a complete record to document an event, historical revisionists and conspiracy theorists rush to fill in the blanks.
During casual conversations over the course of my many years researching and writing about Jonestown, most people 40-years-old and under will tilt their heads sideways and ask: Jonestown? That contrasts – but only slightly – with many over 40 who simply respond, “Oh, Jonestown; those crazy cultists who killed themselves.” Yet even a cursory examination of the story yields results that are not as simple as American society has perceived this event, with much of the new information on Peoples Temple and Jonestown coming through this website in the last 15 years.
I believe it is time now to revisit this story in its entirety, to bring it to into the consciousness of the younger generations, and to look beyond the “official version” of why this event took place. After all, even a good number of those who are well-versed in the story think there is a great deal of information we still don’t know. Is there a reason for that, or are they just trying to make sense of the nonsensical? Call it conspiracy theory thinking, paranoid, or just plain cynical, but it has always been my belief that in any great tragedy shrouded in mystery, one must always take a closer look at those who stand to gain from it. (Here’s a hint: “Follow the money.”)
The life and death of Jim Jones and his followers in Jonestown still mystifies people to this day. “Drinking the Kool-Aid” has become a famous metaphor for holding an unquestioned belief without critical examination. But was there a far more sinister play at hand than the official story revealed?
My new book, Jonestown: Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid, which will be available in December 2013, is the complete story of Jim Jones and Peoples Temple, with further analysis on what might have been the real cause of this tragedy.
(Will Savive is an author and an investigative journalist, with a B.S. in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Forensic Science, from American InterContinental University (AIU). He specializes in “True Crime” stories. His previous stories for the jonestown report appear here. He can be reached at: willsavive@live.com; http://willsavive.blogspot.com/.)