Surviving Jonestown
I still can&#x27;t imagine or comprehend what kind of mental illness, evil coercion, or both, is needed for a mother to murder her own 1 year old child.<p>Not being an American, I first learned about Jonestown pretty recently, but I keep returning to sources about it and I simply can&#x27;t comprehend it. What causes people do this? Why did <i>Jones</i> do this? How can someone like that enjoy political support? Does anything like this still happen? Why? Where?<p>The author of this article takes care to point out that it was mass murder, not mass suicide. I &quot;understand&quot; mass murder for personal gain, or because of blind racism, or out of desperation (eg access to food), or as defense against (perceived) threats. But what would cause one to murder their own community and then themselves? What&#x27;s in it for, well, anyone? I mean, American high school shootings, 9-11, or Anders Breivik&#x27;s terror attack make a lot more &quot;sense&quot; to me than the Jonestown story.<p>Does anyone here, maybe someone older than me, understand this? What was the world like in that time, that something could come to this?