Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers. Our next Q&A will take place on Sunday, Nov 2, 8-9pmET (the first week of the month our gatherings are held on Sunday evenings). Paying subscribers will receive a link at 5pmET to register for the Zoom gathering.
Our guest will be Gail Helt. She is a former CIA analyst who has covered democratizing and authoritarian countries, most notably Taiwan and China. She now teaches at a small liberal arts university in TN, where she teaches courses in intelligence, Chinese history, and authoritarianism. She is also on the board of directors of The Steady State, a group of more than 300 former national security experts standing for strong and principled policy, the rule of law, and democracy.
Those who can’t attend will find a video at lucid.substack.com, videos tab. If you’d like to participate in these supportive and informative sessions, you can sign up as paying or upgrade to paid here:
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Many of you have written to me about friends and family members who are unreachable by logic and untethered to reality due to their adherence to the MAGA cult or extreme forms of Christian nationalism. Some people have decided to break completely with these people; others ask how they can have a fruitful dialogue.
I’ve been wondering about the state of the MAGA cult, given the fissures to it from the Epstein scandal, the Donald Trump administration’s obvious coverup attempts, and the massive expenditure of U.S. tax dollars to save the political future of Mr. Chainsaw in Argentina. It will be harder for President Trump’s acolytes to ignore his hypocrisy, as hard times fall on the country and they see that he is focused on himself: building ballrooms for events with donors and making money from crypto schemes.
Now is the time to have those conversations with people you know who are still anchored to MAGA. In 2021 I wrote an essay about disengagement from leader cults and the delicate phase when cult followers start to realize they have been misled and lied to. The example of Fascist Italy shows that many of these dynamics transcend place and time.
When speaking with cult followers who might start to express doubts, we should resist the temptation to say “I told you so!” or “What were you thinking?” since that makes them more defensive and fearful of being shamed. Instead, as cult expert Dr. Steve Hassan told me in our Substack Live conversation, we must display warmth and curiosity about their choices.
Dr. Hassan is a licensed mental health professional and a recognized expert on cults and undue influence. He has assisted numerous individuals and families in their recovery from undue influence. Dr. Hassan possesses a unique perspective, having experienced life as a former cult member who was successfully deprogrammed in 1976, and as a clinical professional who has dedicated his life to aiding others in similar situations. He publishes the Freedom of Mind newsletter and is the author of the recently re-released book The Cult of Trump.
