Wild Wild Country

Incredible documentary series on Netflix. Trying to sort out how I feel about it.

The most I can say is that a 'guru' tried to establish a city in Oregon; the locals didn't like him or his beliefs or his followers' behavior; things escalated socially and legally to the point that hatred and paranoia boiled over to bombings, murder plots, and wiretaps; and in the midst of it all there really was a crazy impressive utopia that was created on some utterly batshit beliefs built on a cult of personality.

In other words, a perfect storm.

Not to spoil anything (which sounds weird to say, because as fantastic as the story is, this all really happened and anyone could look it up instead of sitting through several hours of footage and testimony) but I wasn't totally convinced of the 'righteousness' of the locals, nor the actions of the government. At least, not initially. Their dogged attempts at getting rid of the Rajneeshes bred the paranoia that led to some of the uglier outcomes. Rednecks with guns. The exploitation of legal loopholes. The Rajneeshes didn't acquire guns until their fucking hotel was bombed.

I also admit to having a grudging respect of Ma Anand Sheela. Is she remorseless and does she lack empathy? I think so. Is she evil? I dunno... She's certainly made some critical mistakes. But she did everything under a structured value system. She's a firebrand. Fearless. Fiercely protective of the things she finds important. I can respect those qualities.

Basically, if the world ended, I'd hope to have a Ma Anand Sheela in my corner.

I'd keep my eye on her though.

Comments

[Cynewulf]

White people with guns is the best and also stupidest way to start a bush war