Cargo cults in modern Western culture

Posted by boneyfingers@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 44 comments

These are just a few thoughts I am putting in a letter to my cousin. I post them here on Friday because they are just a shadow of a full fledged idea, and maybe, if anyone comments, it might help me add something substantial.

I was reading about Cargo Cults in the Pacific Islands after WW2. The origins are older, dating from the beginning of colonialism decades earlier, but I was interested in the post war era. One feature of the war between the States and Japan was that huge shipments of supplies and material were airlifted into isolated island communities, and a great amount was given as gifts to locals, to generate good will. Then, when the war ended, it all stopped.

Here is the Wikipedia description of the local reaction to the end of the bounty: "In attempts to get cargo to fall by parachute or land in planes or ships again, islanders imitated the same practices they had seen the military personnel use. Cult behaviors usually involved mimicking the day-to-day activities and dress styles of US soldiers, such as performing parade ground drills with wooden or salvaged rifles. The islanders carved headphones from wood and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the landing signals while standing on the runways. They lit signal fires and torches to light up runways and lighthouses. In a form of sympathetic magic, many built life-size replicas of airplanes out of straw and cut new military-style landing strips out of the jungle, hoping to attract more airplanes."

Now, Wikipedia also gives an example of the typical Western opinion of these cults: "Primitive and confused people who use irrational means to pursue rational ends." This is not useful. It prevents us from seeing these cults as an expression of something universal, and present today in modern life.

Middle class life in neoliberal capitalist society is a Cargo Cult. The rules have changed, the bounty will not be delivered, and there is no going back. But, the ones who can't see or understand the changes still believe that, if they perform the old rituals, like voting, or getting a degree, or working an office job, and they obey all the norms that worked so well in years past, the bounty will return. They are angry and confused that their observance of all the correct rituals won't bring back the good times.

I can't tell whether this idea is worth the time it took to type it out. But, if you've made it this far reading it, I would be grateful if you shared your thoughts.