“Cult leaders are notable for the enormous amount of power they have over their group,” Ashlen Hilliard, a cult intervention specialist and founder of People Leave Cults, told HuffPost. “This power is what many look for when defining a cult, but it’s not the only aspect that creates a cult leader.
When you take a closer look, a cult leader often exhibits a classic set of traits and behaviors. Although there is variety in how these traits present, certain themes tend to ring true.”
We asked Hilliard and other experts to break down some of those common characteristics. Here’s what they said:
CHARISMA“Cult leaders are often highly charismatic and persuasive, with a magnetic personality that can attract and influence followers,” Hilliard said.
Cult leaders tend to be charming and clever, and use that charm to persuade people that doing what the leader commands is the best way to achieve their personal goals.
Trump refused to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery graves of Americans who died in WWI. “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” He referred to marines as “suckers” for getting killed.
“They would never have followers if they didn’t know how to make people feel special and like they’re actually the center of attention,” said mental health counselor and leading cult expert Steven Hassan.
They say the right words, but “it’s not genuine. It’s acting.”
Social psychologist and cult expert Alexandra Stein emphasized that being charming is not inherently toxic, however.
“Charisma is a personality trait that may be common amongst cult leaders, but if you know someone who is charismatic, that certainly doesn’t mean that they are on the pipeline to becoming a cult leader,” Stein said.
“I like to ask the following questions: How are they utilizing their charisma? Is there the potential for abuse? How would they respond to criticism of their actions?”
AUTHORITARIAN CONTROL“Cult leaders often have a strong need for control and may exhibit authoritarian behaviors, such as dictating the beliefs and actions of their followers,” Hilliard said.
The cult leader’s typical objective is to gain power over others, and to make their followers feel unable to break free.
“Coercive control is a pattern of behavior used to dominate, intimidate, and manipulate someone,” Hilliard explained.
“This can include a range of tactics, such as isolating the victim from friends and family, monitoring their movements, controlling their access to money and resources, and using threats or physical force to maintain control.”
When a cult group or leader applies coercive control to a follower, that person may be left feeling that their only viable path is to remain in the group ― even if unspeakable acts are committed.
There tends to be “a gradual escalation of abusive behavior,” as the leader employs psychological, emotional or physical tactics to maintain power.
“When a cult group or leader applies coercive control to a follower, that person may be left feeling that their only viable path is to remain in the group ― even if unspeakable acts are committed,” Hilliard added.
That’s why cults often operate with strict routines and particular eating and sleeping habits.
“Cult leaders even manipulate people into not having personal preferences,” said Robin Stern, a psychoanalyst and co-founder of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. “Some people who grow up in cults don’t even know how to recognize their own emotions because they were told what to feel and [that] certain feelings weren’t allowed.”
She added that most cult leaders are master gaslighters who assert their reality over the reality of their followers, sow divisions and undermine people’s perceptions of their own feelings and beliefs.
“It was a perfect phone call.”
INABILITY TO TOLERATE BEING WRONG“Cult leaders are not able to tolerate being wrong, nor do they want to have to take any responsibility for having wronged you,” said Rachel Bernstein, a licensed marriage and family therapist and host of the “IndoctriNation” podcast.
“So if you have been hurt by them, it’s somehow your fault, because you must have done something to deserve it, and it’s your weakness that caused their mistreatment of you to bother you,” Bernstein continued.
“They are ultimately emotionally protected and impervious.”
She also noted that cult leaders tend to answer to no one and live by their own rules. It’s their world, and others need to learn how to exist in it.
“They often feel they are above the law, are beyond reproach, and enjoy shaming those in the group who defy them, disagree with them or, in essence, hurt their ego in any way,” Bernstein added.
That’s why it’s difficult to try to confront or reason with a cult leader.
“When cult leaders are confronted, or somebody questions anything they’re doing, they are likely to turn it to blame someone else and say they’re thinking in the wrong way or they’re being influenced by an outside force, like a parent or loved one,” Stern said.
“Sometimes when followers have contact with [their] family members, they question what the cult leader is doing or asking [the cult follower] to do,” Stern added. “Often then, the cult leader is critical of the family and puts them down or tries to gaslight the cult member into thinking that their family does not have their best interest at heart.”
MALIGNANT NARCISSISM Many cult leaders ”are malignant narcissists — those who have sociopathy and simply do not care about the pain they inflict, the damage they cause, and the lives they derail in order to get their very powerful ego needs met,” Bernstein said.
“They are insatiable in their neediness and no amount of devotion and sacrifice ever quite feels like enough.
So followers of these kinds of cult leaders often feel they are failing, and they need to work harder and sacrifice more of themselves each day.”
She said narcissistic cult leaders tend to lack empathy for others and may stop at nothing to get what they want.
[E]verything they did or were asked to do was in the service of the narcissistic needs of the cult leaders ― often their financial needs or sexual desires.Robin Stern, psychoanalyst.
“They often use doing charitable work or speaking about caring about others as a way to come across as loving, but ultimately it’s a way to launder their reputations,” Bernstein added. “When we look at the fact that most cult leaders are malignant narcissists, those with this disorder don’t often come with an ethical core that drives them.
They don’t think about how to make a difference in the world, but rather craft a world where they are the gods and others are to live their lives doing good for them.”
Cult leaders frequently make their followers feel as though they need to work hard to earn the leader’s trust, rather than the other way around.
“I’ve heard from people in cults that they felt their life was going really well and that they were doing something special in the world,” Stern said. “They felt seen, heard and understood.
But what they didn’t see for some time ― sometimes a long time ― was that everything they did or were asked to do was in the service of the narcissistic needs of the cult leaders ― often their financial needs or sexual desires.”
The multi-faces of Trump.
UNPREDICTABILITYUnpredictability is a common trait in cult leaders as well.
“A cult leader often benefits from members and outside authorities not knowing their next move,” Hilliard said.
“This can add to an air of divine inspiration or help convince devotees of [the leader’s] supernatural powers.”
By sowing chaos and uncertainty, cult leaders can establish their mere leadership presence as the only constant, even if their own behaviors are inconsistent.
Followers are left with the singular goal of pleasing their leader.
“They keep followers in an unstable relationship with them, walking on eggshells,” Stein said. “The followers never know if the ‘nice’ leader or the angry, cruel leader is going to appear at any given time.”
“Donald was abused by his father.” Mary Trump
INSECURE ATTACHMENT ISSUES“The latest theory amongst mental health professionals is that people with this level of disorder had insecure attachment in their first few years,” Hassan said.
He emphasized the power of loving caregivers. Growing up with someone who offers support and encouragement helps people develop a healthy sense of self.
“But these cult leaders have a hole where they should have a sense of self, so they’re always trying to compensate by getting people’s attention or feeling power over others, because they felt so helpless as a child,” Hassan added. “That’s a common profile.”
He noted that many cult leaders grew up in cults themselves and learned patterns of manipulation, control and abuse from adults, instead of developmentally appropriate, empowering and authoritative ― not authoritarian ― parenting.
DELUSION“Cult leaders may hold unconventional or bizarre beliefs that are not grounded in reality, and may promote these beliefs to their followers as absolute truths,” Hilliard said.
The role of delusional beliefs in cults tends to generate headlines.
Much of the recent attention on the Twin Flames Universe revolved around members’ fervent commitment to idea that they needed to be with one specific person ― even if it meant stalking that person or violating a restraining order.
Members of the Love Has Won cult consumed colloidal silver for extended periods of time, even after seeing the physical harm it could cause.
“Some cult leaders are suffering with a delusional disorder, but their charisma causes them to attract others who … believe their delusions,” Bernstein said.
They are the ultimate judge and jury, deciding who moves up in the ranks and who gets demoted on a daily basis, so everyone is on edge, not ever knowing where they truly stand or where they will stand tomorrow.
Trump sells digital (not real) playing cards of himself to followers for $99. Essentially, they get nothing.
SENSE OF GRANDIOSITY“When someone is beguiled into a cult, they’re working for the good, the pleasure or narcissistic needs of the cult leader, but they’re often told their work has some higher purpose and they’re going to find meaning and happiness in a way they’ve never had,” Stern said.
“It’s very effective, especially when the process of gaslighting and brainwashing is enhanced by tactics such as sleep deprivation, food control and isolation from their previous life.”
She pointed to the way many leaders create steps and levels of ascension into power for their followers ― and then use that system to make their followers feel important and recruit even more members.
“They are the ultimate judge and jury, deciding who moves up in the ranks and who gets demoted on a daily basis, so everyone is on edge, not ever knowing where they truly stand or where they will stand tomorrow,” Bernstein said.
“This is a way to get people to be working day and night to prove their allegiance in order to keep themselves safe in the group and liked by the leader, the person whose approval matters now more than anyone else’s.”
She noted that cult leaders tend to get “drunk with their power of being a Pied Piper.” As their following grows, so too does their self-importance and their craving for even more admiration and attention.
“They lie, build grandiose life stories, often with a kind of ‘once was blind but now I see and therefore have all the answers’ narrative,” Stein added.
Trump had to pay $25 million to followers who believed this scam.
EXPLOITATION“Cult leaders may exploit their followers financially, sexually or emotionally, using their position of power to gain personal benefits at the expense of their followers,” Hilliard said.
They exert undue influence on followers ― meaning they pressure or persuade people to do things that they wouldn’t otherwise do and that often run counter to their own best interests.
“For instance, a cult leader may convince a follower to sign over properties, businesses, or financial assets to the group to show their commitment,” Hilliard said.
“Once those exchanges take place, the follower may feel that they have to remain in the group or risk losing everything.
Undue influence can be difficult to identify, as the person being influenced may not be aware that they are being manipulated or may feel too intimidated to resist.”
She highlighted the many crimes committed by notorious cult leaders like Charles Manson and Jim Jones ― murder, terrorism, sex trafficking, sexual abuse, fraud, drug smuggling and more.
“It takes more than charisma to convince people to go along with ― or commit ― acts like these,” Hilliard said.
Stern stressed that people in cults usually lose their sense of personal identity.
“They often stop what they were doing before they met the leader ― going to school, having a job, being connected with friends and family,” she explained.
God said the election was stolen. There is no evidence, but we believe. We believe.
“They are often seduced into a psychological state where they are disinterested in anything other than working for the cult and the promise of the cult.”
Democracy is the antithesis of a cult. The MAGAs have been led to believe they are making their own decisions.
The reality is that they have surrendered their judgment and willpower to Donald Trump.
He decides. They believe and obey.
Evidence does not support what the cult leader says.
This tension between belief and reality creates emotional pressure on the followers, leading to extreme hostility and anger.
That is why Trump’s MAGAs so often are filled with hatred and outrage, leading to violence.
He has filled his followers with so much misinformation they quite literally have lost their minds.
Admirably, President Bident wishes to narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest of us. I agree with this sentiment because the current Gap, very simply, is bad economics and bad for humanity.
Wide Gaps negatively affect health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, freedom, and virtually every other issue in economics and the human condition.
To narrow the Gaps, Biden proposes changes to federal law. In broad strokes, he has just three options:
Increase taxes on the rich (“rich” by any arbitrary measure).
Reduce taxes on those who are not rich.
Provide supplementary income and benefits to those who are not rich.
All three would narrow the Gap, though in different ways. From the standpoint of the U.S. economy, as measured by Gross Domestic Product, #1 would have a dramatically different effect than #2 and #3.
Increasing taxes on the rich (if the rich actually paid those increased tax levels) would take dollars out of the economy. #2 and #3 would add dollars to the economy). In short, #1 is recessive, and #s 2 and 3, would grow the economy.
This is demonstrated by the formula:
GDP = Federal Spending + Nonfederal Spending – Net Imports.
If the rich paid more taxes (#1), Nonfederal Spending would decline. The amount of the decline would be determined by various factors, most having to do with how much the rich actually pay.
History indicates that payment would be less than anticipated because of existing loopholes and/or new loopholes the rich would bribe Congress to enact.
Considering that the top tax rate in the 1950s was 90%, the rich did not pay much more in that period than they do now. And some of the richest among us pay little if anything.
For example, Donald Trump paid no income taxes at all, during ten of the fifteen years, 2000-2015, despite being a billionaire. Tax laws, favorable to the rich, gave him the ability to claim losses on investments that an ordinary taxpayer may not look at as “losing” money.
In summary, using federal taxation of the rich to narrow the Gap is bad economics. History shows the rich would find ways to avoid paying higher rates.
But, even if the rich were forced to pay more, the higher rates would take dollars out of the economy and recess the economy. Option #1 is a “heads-you-lose (the rich don’t pay more), tails-you-lose” (GDP falls) plan.
Sadly, that is the plan Biden seems to have chosen, and it will cost him the November election.
The electorate may be ignorant about economics, but the rich would make sure the voters understood that raising taxes — anyone’s taxes — would hurt the economy.
It’s simple math. The more the federal government takes out of the economy, the less the economy (GDP) has.
Reducing federal taxes and/or providing supplementary benefits to those who are not rich, (#2 and #3) are the sole economically sensible ways to narrow the income/wealth/power Gap.
Sadly this sensible approach is blocked by the non-sensible belief that federal deficit spending is “unsustainable.”
That’s associated with the equally wrong belief that “excessive” federal spending or an “overheated” economy cause inflation. The fact: Inflation is not caused by “heat” (whatever that is) or by federal spending.
All inflations are caused by shortages of critical goods and services, most often oil and food. Inflation can be cured by additional federal spending to acquire and distribute the scarce goods and services.
Here is what the right-leaning Tax Foundation thinks:Details and Analysis of President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal
March 22, 2024, By: Garrett Watson, Erica York, William McBride, Alex Muresianu, Huaquin Li, Alex Durante
11-Year Revenue (Trillions)
Long-run GDP
Long-Run Wages
Long-Run FTE Jobs
+$2.2T
-2.2%
-1.6%
-788k
In plain English, the government would remove from the economy, an additional $2,2 Trillion. This would cause GDP to fall by 2.2%, wages to fall by 1.6%, and Full-Time Equivalent Jobs to shrink by 788 thousand.
Because the Tax Foundation has a right-wing agenda, one may doubt the specifics of their calculations, but I believe they are on the right track. When the federal government collects more taxes, the economy loses money.
When the economy loses money, the GDP, wages, and jobs all shrink. It’s straightforward math.
The tax changes Biden proposes fall under three main categories: additional taxes on high earners, higher taxes on U.S. businesses—including increasing taxes that Biden enacted with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—and more tax credits for a variety of taxpayers and activities.
The combination of policies would move the tax code further away from simplicity, transparency, and neutrality while making the U.S. economy less competitive.
The increase in the corporate tax rate and the additional taxes on top earners would result in U.S. top marginal tax rates on income that are among the highest in the developed world.
The federal government is running short of money while the private sector has too much money.
The middle- and lower-income taxpayers will not understand that taking dollars from the economy is recessive, and instead will happily vote for a “soak-the-rich” administration.
The ignorance and cynicism of these beliefs cannot be overstated. Biden seems to believe that taking the populist approach will gain him votes.
But, it is such government deceit that keeps you from:
The end of the FICA tax deduction from your salary
Comprehensive, no deductible Medicare for every adult and child.
Social Security benefits for everyone of all ages
Food cost aid
Free college for those who want it
Free public transportation
Housing aid
And a myriad of other benefits our Monetarily Sovereign government easily could afford, while preventing recessions and inflations.
Biden could beat Trump in a “truth vs. lies” competition, but he will not be able to out-lie Trump.
If he tries, he will lose.
Narrowing the Gap is good economics, but doing it by taxing businesses and the rich is a lie.
It may be a good time to repeat a few facts:
•Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
•Any monetarily NON-sovereign government — be it city, county, state or nation — that runs an ongoing trade deficit, eventually will run out of money.
•The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
•Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
•The single most important problem in economics isthe Gap between rich and poor.
•Austerity is the government’s method for widening the Gap between rich and poor.
•Until the lower 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will continue to rule.
•Everything in economics devolves into motive, and the motive is the Gap between the rich and the rest.
The following article appeared in the June 7 edition of THIS WEEK Magazine:
A riptide of economic ignoranceAmericans can’t possibly be this ignorant about the economy, can they? Asked Catherine Rampbell of the Washington Post.
According to a recent Harris-Guardian poll most Americans (55%) think that the country is currently in a recession.
The poll “also found that roughly half (49%) of Americans believe the unemployment rate is a day 50-year high“ and that the stock market has been down since the beginning of the year.
On all three issues, the truth is almost completely the opposite.The economy isn’t shrinking: “by virtually every benchmark, we’re exceeding grow expectations“ and outperforming most other advanced economies.
Unemployment hasn’t been this low for this long since the Nixon administration and the S&P 500 is up more than 10% is year.
Why are the bad “vibes“ still here? Commentators are quick to “blame the media for the public’s economic illiteracy, “and I agree that the journalist “generally give more play to bad economic numbers than good ones,“ but if the media has a bad news, bias is because our audiences do, too.
“People are more likely to click, watch, listen to, and share content that induces outrage“ – a bias for negative news amplified by social media.
The most useful thing you can do to help the general public grow more informed is to reward good news with your attention.
The conclusion is partly correct. People do pay more attention to negative news. The old, “If it bleeds, it leads” expression has been a mainstay of newsrooms for eons.
But there is more to it. Who are the people most likely to believe we’re in a recession, unemployment is up, and the stock market is down? The same people also believe:
the election was stolen
January 6 was not an insurrection; it was a normal tourist day
Obama is not a citizen
vaccinations cause disease and death
vaccines implant microchips
Trump helped create vaccines
Biden orchestrated NY case against Trump
Trump is innocent of all lawsuits
COVID was a Chinese hoax, then a Chinese plot
Wearing a COVID mask is unpatriotic
Hillary Clinton runs a sex-trafficking ring in the basement of a fast-food restaurant
global warming is a Chinese hoax
FBI was ordered to kill Trump
Biden/Ukraine/Shokin/ Burisma false scandal
the deep state and the New World order are threats to America
QAnon postings
Population control via secret methods — Agenda 21 death map
The claims of Alex Jones, David Icke,Jim Marrs, Judy Mikovits, Jerome Corsi, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell, Tucker Carlson
The honesty and impartiality claims of Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Sam Alito.
Every judge in Trump’s trials is dishonest and takes orders from Biden to weaponize the law (while Trump himself has claimed a long list of people who should be investigated, convicted, jailed, or worse.)
These are just a few of the crazy ideas believed by the conservatives in America, particularly the MAGA branch.
Why is the right wing susceptible to so many obvious lies? They follow a leader like this one.
1. They’re narcissistic Cult leaders believe they’re special and are on a special mission to lead humanity to the light. They have fantasies of unlimited success and power. They’re constantly seeking the admiration of others and enjoy being the center of attention.
2. They’re charismatic Charisma is the ability to draw people to you by your charms and personality. Cult leaders tend to be highly charismatic. They’re masters at expressing their feelings and making their followers relate to them. Their social skills are above par.
3. They’re dominant As discussed earlier, projecting dominance is key to becoming a cult leader. Nobody wants to follow a submissive leader. A big part of dominance is putting down other dominant figuresof society so you can look better than them.
This is why politicians, who share a lot of traits with cult leaders, demonize, belittle, and defame their competitors.
4. They demand obedience Projecting dominance helps cult leaders create a power imbalance between them and their followers. They’re high status, and their followers are of low status. If the followers obey and do as they’re told, they can raise their status too. They can be in a better place too.
In this way, cult leaders prey upon the low self-esteem of their followers.
5. They claim to have supernatural powers Cult leaders do this to highlight the power imbalance. “I’m special. You’re not special.” Cult leaders may claim magical powers like talking to aliens, healing, or telepathy.
(Or having special influence over dictators like Putin and Kim.)
6. They’re arrogant and boastful Again, to remind their followers that they’re above them and to reinforce their high status.
7. They’re sociopaths/psychopaths (See: “A psychopath slipped into the White House . . .“) Lack of empathy is the hallmark of sociopathy/psychopathy. These tendencies make it easier for cult leaders to harm their followers without remorse.
8. They’re delusional Some cult leaders may suffer from mental illnesses like schizophrenia or temporal lobe epilepsy. These mental health conditions can induce psychosis or hallucinations. So, when they say they can talk to aliens, they may genuinely believe they do.
What’s interesting about this is that they can pull other people into their psychosis. As a result, the followers, driven by the conviction of their beliefs, may also see things that aren’t there. This condition is called shared psychotic disorder.
9. They’re persuasive Cult leaders are excellent marketers. They have to be, or they won’t be able to gain followers and raise their status. They know what makes people tick. They know how to cater to the basic needs of their followers.
10. They’re authoritative and controlling Cult leaders tend to control every little aspect of their followers’ lives. What to wear, what to eat, what to say, what not to say to keep the followers in line and reinforce their low status and power.
Some cult leaders also use fear and blackmail to control and retain followers.
Jim Jones, a cult leader responsible for 900 deaths, forced his followers to sign fake confession documents of criminal acts to blackmail them and deter them from leaving.
11. They’re exploitative The goal of all that authoritativeness and control is exploitation. Cult leaders make their followers submissive and weak to exploit them easily. Intelligent cult leaders exploit their followers that the followers don’t see as exploitation.
For instance, a cult leader may demand sexual access to female followers, making a ridiculous claim such as “This will purify our souls” or “It will bring us to a higher plane of existence”.
12. They’re underdogs Who is desperate to boost their status in society? Of course, low-status people. This is why cult leaders are often underdogs. They are rejects who failed multiple attempts to raise their status and are now resorting to desperate and unethical measures.
Who can relate to an underdog? Of course, other underdogs. Other low-status people. This is a big reason why cult leaders attract so many followers.
Cult leaders and followers band together to ‘overthrow the system’.For this to happen, the cult leader must act like an underdog so his followers can relate to him, but he must project dominance at the same time. An unusual mixture of being low status but projecting high status.
13. They’re intolerant of criticism Cult leaders can become enraged when they’re criticized. To them, criticism is a threat to their high status. That’s why they resort to extreme measures to prevent any criticism. Those who criticize are severely punished, humiliated, or even eliminated.
14. They’re visionaries Cult leaders infuse their followers with inspiration and hope for a better future (high status). They claim to take their followers to a better place, blissful and better off than non-followers.
Familial isolation: Relationships outside the cult are minimized.
Obsession with the leader, intense focus on the leader
SUMMARY
To be a right-winger — a Republican today — requires one to be a Trump follower. There are no current Republicans who will admit to opposing Trump, for any such are banished from the Republican party (See: Liz Cheney)
Thus, the entire GOP has taken on the characteristics of Trump: Psychopathic, dishonest, and illogical. They have become cult followers, who subscribe to the most ridiculous conspiracy theories, beliefs that normal people would laugh at, but are ardently accepted by the right wing.
Before World War II, and during its early stages, the German people adopted Adolf Hitler as their cult leader. His claims were similar to, and no less ridiculous, than Donald Trump’s. His followers were no less devoted and hypnotized.
They claim devotion to America, espouse patriotism, and wave the American flag. Simultaneously, Trump says soldiers are “suckers,” his followers attack Congress, and defend monuments to the ultimate unpatriotic act in American history: The rebellion by the southern states.
Today, sanity has returned to Germany. There are no statues of Hitler in Germany, and very few Germans will admit that they and their families worshipped that psychopath.
Eventually, sanity will happen here, too. One only can pray it won’t be too late.
There is a penalty for ignorance, and our fragile democracy is paying for it.
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary SovereigntyTwitter: @rodgermitchellSearch #monetarysovereigntyFacebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell;MUCK RACK: https://muckrack.com/rodger-malcolm-mitchell
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The Sole Purpose of Government Is to Improve and Protect the Lives of the People.
You are a good person. You feel compassion for those less fortunate than you.
You give to charity, even when it isn’t tax deductible (Under current law, charity only is tax deductible if you itemize, and if your total deductions exceed your standard deduction.)
You are accustomed to doing for them. It’s what you always have done.
If a friend or relative asks you for help with a project, you’re ready to get your hands dirty.
You are a good parent. You supported your children during the first 18, or 21, or 25 years of their lives.
You love them and you do your best to make their lives even better than yours was at their age.
Now, they are adults. They are out in the real world, and they want to start a business or improve the business they already own.
Or they want to buy a house or a car or furniture.
Or perhaps take an expensive vacation, go to a school, or invest in something.
They don’t have enough money right now, but soon will.
They ask you for a loan to tide them over.
You hesitate for only a second before you agree. After all, they are your children. You can trust them.
They’re sure to pay it back in a month or a year, or over time. You know they will do it. You love them. You would do anything for them.
You write the check. It’s for $1,000, or $10,000, maybe even a million or more — whatever they need.
Your children are so grateful. They smother you in “Thank yous” and hugs and kisses. You’re the best.
Eventually, repayment time arrives. You ask about the promised repayment, but things don’t work out as they had planned and promised. They don’t have the money. The repayment doesn’t turn out to be affordable. They need more time.
You understand and agree to wait a while longer.
Time passes. You ask again. They still don’t have the money, and now they are upset with you. “Why do you keep asking? Surely you must realize that if we could pay you we would.” And anyway, you have more money than we do, so why are you pressuring us?”
The “Thank yous,” hugs, and kisses are forgotten. Now your children don’t even want to talk about it. You are the worst.
The family is split. You don’t even get to see your grandchildren, who have been told you are selfish and mean.
What you thought was a loan has become a gift. Had you simply given them the gift in the first place, they still would love you, but because the loan became a gift, they resent you.
If you lend money to strangers, it’s documented in a loan agreement, and if they fail to pay, you can sue them. But they probably won’t fail to pay, because the vast majority of people pay their loans on time.
People generally pay their mortgages and their credit card debt without objection. It’s what people do. And when they don’t pay their debt, the bank or credit card company charges penalties and then sues. Credit ratings plunge. It’s expected.
Only when loans are given to family and friends, and especially to children, does not paying become a viable option. Only then does the borrower take umbrage that the lender dares to even ask about payment.
And that, dear friends, is why you shouldn’t lend money to friends and relatives, and never, never, ever lend money to your children.
If they ask you for a loan, decide whether you wish to make it a gift. If not, don’t do it, because it may become a gift whether you like it or not.
If you don’t mind it being a gift, you can be magnanimous and say, “Why don’t I simply give you the money. That way you won’t have a debt hanging over your head.”
Rather than the loan becoming a gift, you took charge of your money and made the loan a gift.
Oh, how the “Thank yous,” hugs and kisses will flow. You’ll feel good. They’ll feel good. And your family will bond even closer.
Yes, I know. You’re one of the few who had a good experience lending to your child. But, trust me, on this one: Don’t lend to family and friends, and especially don’t lend to your children. The risk isn’t worth the reward.
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary SovereigntyTwitter: @rodgermitchellSearch #monetarysovereigntyFacebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell;MUCK RACK: https://muckrack.com/rodger-malcolm-mitchell
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The Sole Purpose of Government Is to Improve and Protect the Lives of the People.
d.
Considering that the top tax rate in the 1950s was 90%, the rich did not pay much more in that period than they do now. And some of the richest among us pay little if anything.
For example, Donald Trump paid no income taxes at all, during ten of the fifteen years, 2000-2015, despite being a billionaire. Tax laws, favorable to the rich, gave him the ability to claim losses on investments that an ordinary taxpayer may not look at as “losing” money.
In summary, using federal taxation of the rich to narrow the Gap is bad economics. History shows the rich would find ways to avoid paying higher rates.
But, even if the rich were forced to pay more, the higher rates would take dollars out of the economy and recess the economy. Option #1 is a “heads-you-lose (the rich don’t pay more), tails-you-lose” (GDP falls) plan.
Sadly, that is the plan Biden seems to have chosen, and it will cost him the November election.
The electorate may be ignorant about economics, but the rich would make sure the voters understood that raising taxes — anyone’s taxes — would hurt the economy.
It’s simple math. The more the federal government takes out of the economy, the less the economy (GDP) has.
Reducing federal taxes and/or providing supplementary benefits to those who are not rich, (#2 and #3) are the sole economically sensible ways to narrow the income/wealth/power Gap.
Sadly this sensible approach is blocked by the non-sensible belief that federal deficit spending is
Why is the right wing susceptible to so many obvious lies? They follow a leader like this one.
