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The Cultish [correct spelling] Tendencies of Brexiters and Trumpists

Will Black
6 min readAug 1, 2022
Photo from the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, photographer Anthony Crider (Wiki Commons)

Several hour queues to leave the UK as soon as the school summer holidays started, much of Kent turned into a fume-filled carpark, fruit and veg rotted in the fields, companies that made a living from exports struggling or vanquished into oblivion, animals being slain due to an inability for farmers to export, and rapidly shrinking living standards — as prices take off faster than planes while pay crawls along like Nigel Farage at a beer festival.

These things are all related to Brexit, but many Brexshitters won’t hear a word of it. They still parrot the mantra “PROJECT FEAR” — even though what intelligent people cautioned about for years has come to pass.

Their denial is reminiscent of cult members. I was lucky enough to research cults and apocalyptic religious movements in the postgraduate phase of my anthropological studies, which happened just before UKIP gained prominence, before the rise of Trump, before the far-right tried to rebrand itself as ‘alt-right’ and before rabid drivelmongers, like Alex Jones (the ridiculous man, not the nice woman), came to be seen as sources of information.

One of the most intriguing and tragic topics anthropology students hear about is cargo cults. These movements, emerging in newly colonised lands, emerged after locals saw wondrous goods…

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Will Black
Will Black

Written by Will Black

Will is an anthropologist, journalist and former clinician. He is the author or Veneer of Civilisation, Psychopathic Cultures and Beyond the End of the World

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