| Lost Utopia |
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“Attention!
Anyone coming near my abode, don’t touch my window or my door. You might find
yourself in a lot of trouble – It’s meant only for mercenaries.”
Jim Jones, Monday, October 16, 1978
Among the key factors of the turn of events at
Jonestown on November 17 and 18, 1978, the one that stands out most to me was
the total isolation of the community. Obscured by jungle, there were no
telephones in Jonestown. The only “radio room” was in Jim Jones’ cabin, so all
communication went through “Dad.” Cell phones and the internet were still the
stuff of science fiction.
“You asked me
about Russia. I’m right now making a call to Russia. What more do you suggest?
… And I can tell you the answer now, because I am a prophet. Call the Russians
and tell them and see if they’ll take us.”
Jim Jones, Saturday, November 18, 1978
Most residents of Jonestown had a better life there
than they could have had in the United States. “Dad” supplied food, medical
care, a stake in the community, and a common goal to work towards. These people
surely knew that they were pioneers. I can’t imagine how proud they must have
all been of Jonestown. “Dad” had saved many of them from the streets, drug
addiction and poverty. He’d gotten a few out of jail, and who knows what else.
These people had reasons – each very different I’m
sure – that they were so fiercely loyal to their leader. These weren’t
brainwashed-zombie-robots, many of these people sincerely felt that they owed
him their lives! This man could make or break an election back in California,
and in Jonestown, he had created a “heaven on earth.” But it was a heaven
isolated by jungle, where his absolute power, drug use and paranoia could all
fester… just long enough to absolutely consume him.
“The puma? The
leopard? The ocelot? ‘Bout 50 different uh, breeds of uh, poisonous reptiles?…
Are you aware of this– any of this? How long you been around here?… The anaconda?…
Thirty-six foot long? Can crush a horse in seconds!”
“We have met too many pigs. We’ve met too many
snakes. No, there’s nothing in the human book– in the an– animal vocabulary
that describes humans. We’ve met too many capitalists, mangy capitalists.
Vomitous capitalists. We’ve met too many of them and their past shenanigans–
You are not going home to that fascist Babylon, until our people are here. And
then we’ll be glad to be rid of the likes of both of you.”
Jim Jones, November 1977
The near lynch-mob mentality on some of the recorded
meetings at Jonestown is what I find hardest to believe. Only in the seclusion
and atmosphere of the jungles of Guyana could this mentality take hold,
mutating their communist/socialist and spiritual way of life into a nightmare
of fear, hysterics (as Jim says on the Death Tape) and violent discipline.
Sleep depravation, hunger and hard, long work days became the norm. This
environment makes it increasingly easy (and emotionally justifying) to gang up
on anyone not doing their share, or going with the program.
“Get Dwyer out
of here before something happens to him.… Dwyer. I’m not talking about Ujara. I
said Dwyer.… Ain’t nobody gonna take Ujara. I’m not lettin’ ‘em take Ujara.”
Jim Jones, Saturday, November 18, 1978
Jim Jones was desperately ill at the end of his life.
Even if the nature of the illness – an unknown jungle fever? a slow collapse
after years of drug abuse? a precursor to AIDS? – he surely felt like he was
weakened, sick and nauseous, a key factor of his mental state during the last
days of Jonestown. Along with the isolation of the community, the miles of
massive jungle that obscured it, and the realization that his Jungle Utopia
would not be realized, and that his own life would be remembered by scandal, he
felt, as he put it…
“All is lost… ”
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