FanPost

Drinking the Kool-Aid

History ... our story ... a moment in US history.


For younger fans and others who may not know the history

behind the saying ... I just think it’s worth noting and for me , it explains

why I’m not a big fan of this expression.

This was of my era and not far from my neighborhood.

from Wikipedia

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" is an expression used to refer to a person who believes in a possibly doomed or dangerous idea because of perceived potential high rewards. The phrase often carries a negative connotation. It can also be used ironically or humorously to refer to accepting an idea or changing a preference due to popularity, peer pressure, or persuasion. In recent years it has evolved further to mean extreme dedication to a cause or purpose, so extreme that one would "Drink the Kool-Aid" and die for the cause.

The phrase originates from events in Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978, in which over 900 members of the Peoples Temple movement died. The movement's leader, Jim Jones, called a mass meeting at the Jonestown pavilion after the murder of U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and others in nearby Port Kaituma. Jones proposed "revolutionary suicide" by way of ingesting a fatal powdered drink mix laced with cyanide,[1][2] which had been prepared by his aides.

The phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" as used to describe either blind obedience or loyalty to a cause is considered strongly offensive to relatives of the dead, and survivors who escaped Jonestown:[3] seventy or more individuals at Jonestown were injected with poison against their will, and a third of the victims (304) were minors. [4][5] Guards armed with guns and crossbows had been ordered to shoot those who fled the Jonestown pavilion as Jones lobbied for suicide

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