The Anticult wrote:

But if you are going to start a cult, FOOD CONTROL is a first step.

One of the first places anthropologists start in trying to understand how a social group forms, defines itself and functions is by studying its beliefs about food, food seeking, food storage, food preparation and the rituals that accompany food consumption.

Food taboos are important boundary markers--socially, and even religiously, in terms of identifying purity/impurity divides.

The more restricted your diet, especially if that restriction is chosen, rather than imposed by the tragedy of illness, is it complicates at best and at worst restricts your social horizons.

A voluntarily hyper resetricted diet requires eternal hypervigilence in a society where a wide variety of foostuffs is on offer.

"Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are" -

Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin.

Thanks for looking into it a bit. Okay, I think from further analysis that 30bad is not a cult. This is because I feel like Durianrider is actually coming from a good place (even though he is very lost and mentally unwell, I hear he is diagnosed schizophrenic). He does make money off of his followers but he relies more on his disability cheques, he doesn't make very much at all from this site/ his followers. He IS controlling and he does get people to join the diet by using controlling mechanisms and aggression, sometimes he is so controlling that people will stay on the diet even if they are having health problems, but at most he is a dangerous and controlling person who is very lost. Although a lot of people look up to him as their "guru", and although he does carry a lot of ego from this, I don't think he takes it into mind as much as cult leaders. So all in all, he looks like he is really trying to help people but is putting them in the wrong direction. Thanks guys! I had to put this out there on this board because there were some people who were questioning this site using the word cult, mind control, etc, I think it's good that this is on the site and comes up on google search on here so that people can make up their own minds.

Whether a group is a cult has nothing to do with belief system or personal intentions of the designated leader.

Whether something is a cult depends on whether it meets enough criteria identified as markers for cultic behavior.

Its like making assessing whether someone has a cold vs pneumonia. One uses diagnostic guidelines that have been utilized and tested and verified.

Such as these:

Quote

....You will see the criteria used to determine when a thought reform program of control is in use. Examples range from one-on-one cultic relationships to large groups.

[culteducation.com]

A list of articles.

This article here is a very good one to start with. It gives a chart that distinguishes
between Education, Advertising, Propaganda, Indoctrination, and Thought Reform


[culteducation.com]


You can read this and take a look again at 30 Bananas and see where it currently fits in.

Two very important ways people can be socially isolated is via extreme diets and avoidance of medical and dental care. Physicians and dentists are often distrusted by anyone who touts extreme diets.

And once you cut yourself off from consulting a physican or even a dentist, how will you find out in time if your health isnt benefitting but breaking down?

A pal neglected her teeth and was lucky enough to get to the dentist. An X ray demonstrated a cavity so deep that the dentist told her that she'd have needed a root canal had she waited another month.

Quote
corboy
Two very important ways people can be socially isolated is via extreme diets and avoidance of medical and dental care. Physicians and dentists are often distrusted by anyone who touts extreme diets.

And once you cut yourself off from consulting a physican or even a dentist, how will you find out in time if your health isnt benefitting but breaking down?

A pal neglected her teeth and was lucky enough to get to the dentist. An X ray demonstrated a cavity so deep that the dentist told her that she'd have needed a root canal had she waited another month.

For example, I have a friend who is a former long-term member (of over twenty years) of the Roberts Group, aka the Brethren, or the Garbage Eaters.

This is IMO one of the more controlling and extreme Bible-based groups on the cultic continuum, in terms of the physical isolation and indoctrination that the members are subjected to. It's a very small (less than 100 members, and probably fewer than fifty by current estimates) and VERY controlled and controlling group of people. And from what I know, it's ESPECIALLY controlling a group, in terms of diet and their means of procurement of foodstuffs. That's why some call them the Garbge Eaters.

My point is: then even though my friend has been out of the group for many years, he still is very food-phobic and though he is not strictly Vegan/fruititarian, he IS a fanatic vegetarian and refuses to eat anything that's not organic, hormone-free, "all natural", etc. I guess that's lacto-ovo? He still refuses to go to doctors (for anything other than a real emergency), and refuses to take so much as an aspirin. He was fruitatiarian juice-everything for a while, but admitted that that was too hardfor him to maintain as a steady diet. He is convinced that this diet can cure anything that ails you, and that the pharmaceutical industry is all one big scam.

It's like he left the Roberts group and took up this vegetarian-all-organic-natural-foods-cult lifestyle.

Control the diet, control the mind.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2012 02:41AM by zeuszor.

Since I have posted there has been a lot of exposure about this site. A whole new site has popped up, determined to show the site and the characters who run the site, for who it/they really is. I can now say that this is closer to a cult/scam than a legitimate forum. The goal of the character running the site is to make a profit. While they may not make the unbelievable piles of money that some cults make, they make a fair bit for being an internet cult, enough to live on. There are multiple proofs of the "guru" and the many ways that he attempts to keep his members at this site, 30bananasadaysucks.com

There are a lot of detailed threads on 30bananasadaysucks. One thread documenting death threats that the head of 30bananasaday has sent to those who talk about the website in a negative manner. Another shows how Durianriders (the user of the lead "guru" of the 30bananasaday site and diet) creates multiple fake accounts to sway the opinions of the general population on his website. As people are rapidly banned from 30bananasaday, and I mean RAPIDLY, it becomes clear that 30bananasaday IS indeed an internet cult. Despite the fact that it seems extremely silly, it is potentially harmful to become involved with this group, as it may have temporary or even permanent effects on your health or your life's direction (you may lose your job, or may be encouraged to ditch all of the friends and/or family that does not support your wacky diet...Or perhaps your job, be persuaded to get your tubes tied for the greater good of humanity, or etc.)

A lot of the users experience the signs of brainwashing, becoming rigid in their opinions and having no tolerance for questions or differing opinions.


Let's run down the warning signs...
X=yes 0=no

Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader.
X Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
X No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
X (as far as I know) No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
X Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
X There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
X Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
X There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
X Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
X The group/leader is always right.
X The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.

Ten warning signs regarding people involved in/with a potentially unsafe group/leader.
X Extreme obsessiveness regarding the group/leader resulting in the exclusion of almost every practical consideration.
X Individual identity, the group, the leader and/or God as distinct and separate categories of existence become increasingly blurred. Instead, in the follower's mind these identities become substantially and increasingly fused--as that person's involvement with the group/leader continues and deepens.
X Whenever the group/leader is criticized or questioned it is characterized as "persecution".
X Uncharacteristically stilted and seemingly programmed conversation and mannerisms, cloning of the group/leader in personal behavior.
0 Dependency upon the group/leader for problem solving, solutions, and definitions without meaningful reflective thought. A seeming inability to think independently or analyze situations without group/leader involvement.
X Hyperactivity centered on the group/leader agenda, which seems to supercede any personal goals or individual interests.
X A dramatic loss of spontaneity and sense of humor.
X Increasing isolation from family and old friends unless they demonstrate an interest in the group/leader.
X Anything the group/leader does can be justified no matter how harsh or harmful.
X Former followers are at best-considered negative or worse evil and under bad influences. They can not be trusted and personal contact is avoided.

Ten signs of a safe group/leader.
0 A safe group/leader will answer your questions without becoming judgmental and punitive.
0 A safe group/leader will disclose information such as finances and often offer an independently audited financial statement regarding budget and expenses. Safe groups and leaders will tell you more than you want to know.
0 A safe group/leader is often democratic, sharing decision making and encouraging accountability and oversight.
0 A safe group/leader may have disgruntled former followers, but will not vilify, excommunicate and forbid others from associating with them.
0 A safe group/leader will not have a paper trail of overwhelmingly negative records, books, articles and statements about them.
0 A safe group/leader will encourage family communication, community interaction and existing friendships and not feel threatened.
0 A safe group/leader will recognize reasonable boundaries and limitations when dealing with others.
0 A safe group/leader will encourage critical thinking, individual autonomy and feelings of self-esteem.
0 A safe group/leader will admit failings and mistakes and accept constructive criticism and advice.
0 A safe group/leader will not be the only source of knowledge and learning excluding everyone else, but value dialogue and the free exchange of ideas.


Internet Cult = CHECK!

Beware this site, and if you're interested in helping to provide an alternative for those who are currently involved in the site, visit 30bananasadaysucks.com . Great site, fulfills all of the "Ten signs of a safe group" checklist.

Thanks for the update.
Yes, what they are running is a type of internet scam, that uses various cultic techniques on people.

There seem to be MANY people in the "vegan movement" who are using these techniques on people.
Ching Hai [forum.culteducation.com] uses cult techniques, and exploits veganism as part of her pitch.
And some in the veganism movement turn a blind-eye to Ching Hai's scams, as she is supposedly promoting veganism.

Just because someone is promoting veganism, doesn't mean they are not a scammer.
There are some in the vegan movement who criticize vegan scammers, but not many. they generally seem to say...oh well at least they are promoting veganism.

But the means doesn't justify the ends.

It could be that some people who believe in "veganism" go out and study cultic persuasion techniques to use on people to try and "convert" people to change their diet.
And they seem to be doing this without any shame.

A greedy dishonest cultic vegan is no different from a greedy dishonest cultic meat-eater.

Some of the vegan cultic people seem to be worse in fact, as they are so self-righteous and believe their cause is so just, that they can use ANY means to achieve it, including deception and cult techniques.

In fact, they ultimately damage their cause, by linking up with vegan crooks.

Thirty Bananas a Day aka 30BD has a subsection for devotees interested in a conspiracy group, The Zeitgeist Movement (TZM)

TZM has been discussed here.

[forum.culteducation.com]

Heavy duty diet combined with fear driven conspiracy theory plus TZM movies-- thats a heavy burden to carry.

[webcache.googleusercontent.com]

Quote

The Zeitgeist Movement
Created by V
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Information
The Zeitgeist Movement
A 30BAD outpost for "members" of, supporters of, and activists for the Zeitgeist Movement. (How about making your adherence to a HCRV diet, whether 100% or not, known on the official forum, and thus influence the movement?)

Website: [www.thezeitgeistmovement.com]
Location: Global
Members: 91
Latest Activity: 45 minutes ago


Like
15 members like this
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Introductory material:

www.zeitgeistmovie.com
www.thevenusproject.com
www.thezeitgeistmovement.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/peter-joseph
www.youtube.com/user/TZMOfficialChannel
www.youtube.com/group/TZMOfficialGroup
www.youtube.com/user/thevenusprojectmedia
www.zday2010.org



www.twitter.com/zeitgeistmvmnt
www.twitter.com/tzmedia
www.twitter.com/ZM_Chapters
www.twitter.com/TheVenusProject
Discussion Forum
Reflection on the Safety of a Technocracy
Started by B . Last reply by John Jasper Feb 13. 2 Replies 0 Likes

For years, I've been a supporter of the ZeitGeist Movement and the idea of Resource Based Economy. I'm certainly for a major change in the political-economical paradigm that the world is currently…Continue

Tags: venus, rbe, technocracy, corbett, zeitgeist

Review of the first Zeitgeist film
Started by A . Last reply by vegan witch Ⓥ Feb 12. 4 Replies 0 Likes

Hi guys, A review of the first amazing film has gone up on my website here: …Continue

Tags: films, video, review, movie, the

Ideas for community thread:
Started by X Last reply by Rus Talis Apr 1, 2011. 1 Reply 0 Likes

So Prad recommended starting an informative thread on zeitgeist, TVP, to help organize and educate more ppl about the movement. He suggested adding a topic a week to give ppl time to 'digest' the new…Continue

Automation of fruit/berry/veggie planting/tending/harvesting
Started by X . Last reply by S Feb 25, 2011. 8 Replies 0 Likes

This thread is for posting things that are relevant to an "80-10-10 version" of a TVP|RBE society when it comes to food cultivation, tending, harvesting, transportation, storage as well as food…Continue

Tags: fruit, robotic, robots, berry, tree

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Comment Wall
Comment

You need to be a member of The Zeitgeist Movement to add comments!
Comment by X on March 11, 2012 at 3:49am
happy z-day. whoa!

Comment by X on February 14, 2012 at 8:25am
Nicolas, thanks for the tip. Left in the Dark is an amazing book with a hypothesis that, IMO, will one day be considered mainstream knowledge. It may take a few centuries but you cannot hold down "truth" forever.

Comment by Xon February 10, 2012 at 11:07am
Supporters of the Zeitgeist movement have been fond of proclaiming that there is no "human nature". Depending on how one looks at it, I think that statement is a bit of a half-truth; Other than basic, primal instincts, that can be controlled at least partially with one's cultured personality, I'd say there might be a variety of "natures" one can bring out in people, on the phenotype level, that then remain more-or-less fixed. I recommend that everyone here check out the account of human nature that this thread is about, and that you all, once you've grokked the relevant data, consider supporting the research and its "message".


Comment by Raw Zombie on January 4, 2012 at 4:08am
@reese loving the huxley comparison !!! totally feel it

Comment by A on October 29, 2011 at 3:23am
A friend shared this with me today: [www.breadwithcircus.com]

Comment by B on August 25, 2011 at 8:48pm
For documentaries an excellent site is the following:

[www.truththeory.org]
Comment by A on August 25, 2011 at 12:47am

Just want to add that sprword.com is a fantastic resource for this type of thinking. It has Zeitgeist, of course, and a slew of other documentaries related to foreign policy, health, society, economics, etc. It's awesome. I highly suggest bookmarking it!

Comment by X on February 13, 2011 at 6:31am
Well it sounds like you're doing pretty good. You should be proud of yourself. It's so much more rewarding to learn than to simply make money and spend it. Especially learning about things that actually interest you, rather than learning for a boring job who's only there to make profits for a company that offers a boring service or product (and often useless).

Comment by X on February 9, 2011 at 8:09am
I've been thinking a lot about Zeitgeist lately, and my suggestion is to get as many people as possible to stop buying all this crappy packaged food and non-organic products. If enough people did this, the system would collapse and the government would be forced to consider alternatives.

Businesses cannot survive without our dollars, so we really have all the power to change things if we really want to. people need to get over their addiction to crappy products and start cooking. Of course there's a lot of other things we can do, but i think this would be a big step in the right direction. A way of putting the power back into our hands. After all every time we buy something we're keeping these company's alive. Of course this could lead to a big messy transition, but what else can we do? Our government doesn't seem to care about our well-being.

Comment by X on February 9, 2011 at 7:57am

Y, that's funny you should mention this, because I was thinking animation would be better than a still image... although i don't really know how to do animation, but maybe i could figure out how to combine comics with some animation. hard to explain but i have some ideas. my boyfriend knows enough Flash to help me out. thanks for reminding me. :-)
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Donations help 30BaD thrive

This is not to say each and every 30BAD adherant will become involved with TZM, but documents that there is an interest in TZM among some of the 30BAD adherants.

Public service announcement:

HCRV (High Carb Raw Vegan Diet) Whether it is raw or not, this diet is not advisible for anyone with a known family background for early onset heart disease and or Type 2 diabetes. This type of diet can cause great increases in blood glucose. In genetically susceptible persons, this could increase risk of eventually developing chronically elevated insulin levels, which can set the stage for early onset coronary heart disease (CHD). If this persists, insulin producing cells in the pancreas can wear out and eventually, a person on such a diet can develop Type 2 diabetes.

If you want to follow this kind of diet, whether its 30 Bananas a day or some other high carb vegan diet, whether raw or cooked, please arrange once per year to have your blood pressure, your HDL (good cholesterol) and your triglycerides checked, via a blood test. Also add a blood test called the Hb1AC -glycosylated hemoglobin assay. This last test indicates how efficiently your body is metabolising glucose.

In between the yearly tests, have your blood pressure checked at health fairs or at markets or chemist shops that have blood pressure machines. Experiments by Gerald Reaven at Stanford University, California have shown directly that elevated blood insulin levels immediately elevate blood pressure.

If your blood pressure levels rise above safe levels after beginning this diet, you are taking severe risks with your health and vitality. This is not a purifiction process. It is a sign that the diet is, in objective and testable terms, not good for you.

If you are showing signs of insulin resistance, your blood pressure will rise, your triglycerides will rise, and your HDLs will drop. All of this is a signal to consult a dietician and change your diet.

I realize this is an older post, but I thought it still worthy of comment. Durianrider earned abut 20 grand from YouTube last year (2012). It's not enough to live on, but it's a nice chunk of change for spending your days bashing meat-eaters. His followers do seem rather cultish and he censors comments like a cult-leader would.

20 grand from Youtube is a lot for one year!!
Is there a reference for that?