{"id":30207,"date":"2013-07-25T15:43:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-25T15:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=30207"},"modified":"2018-11-09T15:09:18","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T23:09:18","slug":"arnett","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=30207","title":{"rendered":"Lost Utopia"},"content":{"rendered":"

(David Arnett is an artist who has incorporated some images on Jonestown into his work. Warning:<\/span> This example<\/a> of his work has a graphic image of bodies in Jonestown. He may be reached at Depravedave@myspace.com<\/a>.)<\/i><\/p>\n

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\u201cAttention! Anyone coming near my abode, don\u2019t touch my window or my door. You might find yourself in a lot of trouble \u2013 It\u2019s meant only for mercenaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Jones<\/a>, Monday, October 16, 1978<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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 \u201cradio room\u201d was in Jim Jones\u2019 cabin, so all communication went through \u201cDad.\u201d Cell phones and the internet were still the stuff of science fiction.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou asked me about Russia. I\u2019m right now making a call to Russia. What more do you suggest? \u2026 And I can tell you the answer now, because I am a prophet. Call the Russians and tell them and see if they\u2019ll take us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Jones<\/a>, Saturday, November 18, 1978<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Most residents of Jonestown had a better life there than they could have had in the United States. \u201cDad\u201d 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\u2019t imagine how proud they must have all been of Jonestown. \u201cDad\u201d had saved many of them from the streets, drug addiction and poverty. He\u2019d gotten a few out of jail, and who knows what else.<\/p>\n

These people had reasons \u2013 each very different I\u2019m sure \u2013 that they were so fiercely loyal to their leader. These weren\u2019t 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 \u201cheaven on earth.\u201d But it was a heaven isolated by jungle, where his absolute power, drug use and paranoia could all fester\u2026 just long enough to absolutely consume him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe puma? The leopard? The ocelot? \u2018Bout 50 different uh, breeds of uh, poisonous reptiles?\u2026 Are you aware of this\u2013 any of this? How long you been around here?\u2026 The anaconda?\u2026 Thirty-six foot long? Can crush a horse in seconds!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have met too many pigs. We\u2019ve met too many snakes. No, there\u2019s nothing in the human book\u2013 in the an\u2013 animal vocabulary that describes humans. We\u2019ve met too many capitalists, mangy capitalists. Vomitous capitalists. We\u2019ve met too many of them and their past shenanigans\u2013 You are not going home to that fascist Babylon, until our people are here. And then we\u2019ll be glad to be rid of the likes of both of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Jones<\/a>, November 1977<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet Dwyer out of here before something happens to him.\u2026 Dwyer. I\u2019m not talking about Ujara. I said Dwyer.\u2026 Ain\u2019t nobody gonna take Ujara. I\u2019m not lettin\u2019 \u2018em take Ujara.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Jones<\/a>, Saturday, November 18, 1978<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Jim Jones was desperately ill at the end of his life. Even if the nature of the illness \u2013 an unknown jungle fever? a slow collapse after years of drug abuse? a precursor to AIDS? \u2013 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\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAll is lost\u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(David Arnett is an artist who has incorporated some images on Jonestown into his work. Warning: This example of his work has a graphic image of bodies in Jonestown. He may be reached at Depravedave@myspace.com.) \u201cAttention! Anyone coming near my abode, don\u2019t touch my window or my door. You might find yourself in a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":30377,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30207","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30207"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84248,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30207\/revisions\/84248"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}