Jonestown itself


I kind of got mixed impressions from the documentary about the living conditions of Jonestown itself. Clearly there was an atmosphere of paranoia and an inability to leave, but aside from that, everyone seemed very happy with the life there. Even some of the interviewees who appreciate the horror of what happened seemed to still long for the life of Jonestown itself.

Did others feel this same way?

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While the idea of reaping what you sow being appealing, I would assume it was extremely hot and humid down there, and with no air conditioning and probably no electricity at all, I imagine many were miserable.

Jones had them doing brutal physical labor in Jonestown, and I think I remember hearing that there was severe dehydration and diarrea running rampant as well.

Plus in the documentary they mentioned when they had a big thunderstorm it really made things soggy and mudddy, not fun to live in.

So while living a self sustaining lifestyle sounded appealing, the actual conditions made life hard down there, imo.

I've always thought the would have done better if Jones would've picked a more welcoming enviroment than the middle of the jungle.

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I think that your impressions are probably very reflective of what the residents of Jonestown themselves felt...mixed. Some were probably happy to be there, some probably went back and forth, and others clearly hated it and wanted to leave.

Remember that Jones himself made sure that the only people outside visitors saw were those that were told to act and appear happy.

Regarding your comment about the interviewees, I know what you are saying, but I don't think they are longing for Jonestown...instead I think their reactios are based on 2 things:

1. They need to justify what they did in their own minds. To admit that you voluntarily followed a madman into the jungle requires a lot of self defense.

2. The folks that went down represented either disenfranchised members of society (drug addicts, convicts, the disabled, poor, elderly) or they were idealistic hippie-types, looking for a better world. One of the guys was a Vietnam vet who felt a lot of guilt for his participation in that war and was looking for a way to work that out. Ms. Stoener seemed to be an intelligent woman who could have made a very good life for herself in the U.S., but she, like many of the others (Christine Miller, for example) were disgusted with capitalism, the constant need to make more money, the increasilyng fast paced lifestyle in the U.S...in a word: The American Dream or Nightmare, however you wanted to view it.

A lot of folks say "that would never happen to me" but charismatic demagogues like Jim Jones can have a powerful influence on one's mind, depending on how vulnerable you happen to be at the place in your life.

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I think that it was the sense of community and purpose that they missed, rather than the place itself.

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The documentary does give a garbled impression. The most accurate and detailed account of what life was like at Jonestown appears in Tim Reiterman's book Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People, and it was one horror after another: insufficient food, diarrhea-related illness, psychological torture. A special unit of Jonestown's medical facilities was reserved for the "rehabilitation" of those who had attempted to escape or even expressed an interest in returning home; they were dosed with drugs like chloral hydrate, sodium thiopental, Quaaludes, Demerol, Valium and Thorazine.

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