Drinking the Kool-Aid

For the Veronica Mars episode, see Drinking the Kool-Aid (Veronica Mars).

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" is a metaphor, used in the United States and Canada, that means to become an unquestioning believer in some ideology, or to accept an argument or philosophy wholeheartedly or blindly without critical examination. The phrase can sometimes have a negative connotation, or can be used ironically. The basis of the term is a reference to the November 1978 Jonestown Massacre,^[1][2] where members of the Peoples Temple were said to have committed suicide by drinking a "Kool-Aid"-like drink laced with cyanide.^[3]

Evidence gathered at the Jonestown site after the incident indicated that Flavor Aid (a similar powdered drink mix), not Kool-Aid, was used in the massacre. Some survivors of the incident object to the link between blind faith and the deaths of members of the People's Temple implied by the phrase, because some victims were murdered—forced to drink at gunpoint—rather than being convinced or forced to commit suicide. In addition, Jim Jones had previously had many rehearsals for the event in which the drink contained no poison, which led to cult members believing the drink was harmless on the day that it did contain poison^[4]

Objections notwithstanding, the phrase is commonly used in a variety of contexts to describe blind, uncritical acceptance or following.

Use

According to scholar Rebecca Moore, early analogies to Jonestown and Kool-Aid were based around death and suicide, not blind obedience.^[5] The earliest such example she found, via a Lexis-Nexis search, was a 1982 statement from Lane Kirkland, then head of the AFL-CIO, which described Ronald Reagan's policies as "Jonestown economics," which "administers Kool-Aid to the poor, the deprived and the unemployed."^[5]

The widespread use of the phrase with its current meaning may have begun in the late 1990s. In some cases it has taken on a neutral or even positive light, implying simply great enthusiasm. In 1998, the dictionary website logophilia.com defined the phrase as "To become a firm believer in something; to accept an argument or philosophy whole-heartedly."^[5]

The phrase has been used in the business and technology worlds to mean fervent devotion to a certain company or technology. A 2000 The New York Times article about the end of the dot-com bubble noted, "The saying around San Francisco Web shops these days, as companies run out of money, is 'Just keep drinking the Kool-Aid,' a tasteless reference to the Jonestown massacre." Because the People's Temple was located in San Francisco before it relocated to Guyana, there were many connections between the Bay Area and the massacre, making the reference more resonant and familiar in that location, and perhaps more offensive. ^[6] In business, it has also led to the spin-off expression "drinking your own Kool-Aid", meaning a strong belief in one's own company and products.^{[7][non-primary source needed]} That phrase is most likely a hybrid of "drinking the kool-aid" and "eating your own dog food", a phrase that refers to companies, generally in the software business, using their own products internally.

The phrase or metaphor has also often been used in a political context, usually with a negative implication. In 2002, Arianna Huffington used the phrase "pass the Kool-Aid, pardner" in a column about an economic forum hosted by President George W. Bush.^[8] Later, commentators Michelangelo Signorile and Bill O'Reilly have used the term to describe those whom they perceive as following certain ideologies blindly.^[9] In a 2009 speech, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham stressed his political independence by saying, "I did not drink the Obama Kool-Aid last year."^[10]

Jonestown massacre

Main article: Jonestown

In the Jonestown cult suicide, Jim Jones, the leader of the Peoples Temple, had persuaded followers to move to Guyana and found the commune of Jonestown. In November 1978, faced with exposure of some of his misdeeds, he had the visiting U.S. Representative Leo Ryan killed and ordered the residents to commit suicide by drinking a flavored beverage laced with potassium cyanide. Those unable to comply, such as infants, and those unwilling to comply, received involuntary injections. Roughly 918 people died.

Present-day descriptions of the event often refer to the beverage not as Kool-Aid but as Flavor Aid,^[11] a less-expensive product reportedly found at the site.^[12] Kraft Foods, the maker of Kool-Aid, has stated the same.^[13][14] Implied by this accounting of events is that the reference to the Kool-Aid brand owes exclusively to its being better-known among Americans. Others are less categorical.^[11] Both brands are known to have been among the commune's supplies: Film footage shot inside the compound prior to the events of November shows Jones opening a large chest in which boxes of both Flavor Aid and Kool-Aid are visible.^[15] Criminal investigators testifying at the Jonestown inquest spoke of finding packets of "cool aid" (sic), and eyewitnesses to the incident are also recorded as speaking of "cool aid" or "Cool Aid."^[16] However, it is unclear whether they intended to refer to the actual Kool-Aid–brand drink or were using the name in a generic sense that might refer to any powdered flavored beverage.

Alternative meaning

The expression has also been used to refer to the activities of the Merry Pranksters, a group of people associated with novelist Ken Kesey who, in the early 1960s, traveled around the United States and held events called "Acid Tests", where LSD-laced Kool-Aid was passed out to the public (LSD wasn't illegal in the U.S. until 1966). Those who drank the "Kool-Aid" passed the "Acid Test". "Drinking the Kool-Aid" in that context meant taking LSD. These events were described in Tom Wolfe's 1968 classic The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. However, the expression is never used figuratively in the book, only literally.

See also

• Gullibility
• Irrationality
• Skepticism

References

1. ^ "'Jonestown': Portrait of a Disturbed Cult Leader". Day to Day. October 20, 2006. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6353579. 
2. ^ Paul McFedries (1998-10-27). "Wordspy article on the expression "Drink the Kool-Aid", October 27, 1998". Logophilia Limited, www.wordspy.com. http://www.wordspy.com/words/drinktheKool-Aid.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
3. ^ "Cult's survivors sought in jungle". The Ledger (Lakeland, Florida). 21 November 1978. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zY4sAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9foDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6704,6145800. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
4. ^ Hatfield, Larry D. (8 November 1998). "Utopian nightmare. Jonestown: What did we learn?". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1998/11/08/NEWS4041.dtl. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Drinking the Kool-Aid: The Cultural Transformation of a Tragedy, Rebecca Moore, American Academy of Religion/ Western Region, St. Mary’s College of California, 26 March 2002
6. ^ Fishburne, Rodes (April 29, 2000). "The Shadow in Silicon Valley". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504EEDC1739F93AA15757C0A9669C8B63. 
7. ^ Lavenda, David (September 8, 2009). "10 Common Mistakes That Startup and Small Companies Make". Fast Company Expert Blog. http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/david-lavenda/whatever-it-takes/10-common-mistakes-startupsmall-companies-make. 
8. ^ Arianna Huffington (August 16, 2002). "Wacko in Waco". Salon.com. http://dir.salon.com/story/news/col/huff/2002/08/16/waco/index.html. Retrieved August 16, 2011. 
9. ^ "Feeling Sorry for O'Reilly". Fox News. 2005-09-09. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168887,00.html. 
10. ^ Finch, Jake (April 1, 2009). "Newsweek editor addresses Reagan Forum". Ventura County Star. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/apr/01/newsweek-editor-addresses-reagan-forum/. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Eric Zorn (2008-11-18). "Change of Subject, "Have you drunk the 'Kool Aid' Kool Aid". Chicago Tribune, www.chicagotribune.com. http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2008/11/have-you-drunk-the-kool-aid-kool-aid.html. Retrieved 2009-08-27. 
12. ^ Krause, Charles A. (Dec. 17, 1978). "Jonestown Is an Eerie Ghost Town Now". Washington Post. 
13. ^ Martin Khin (2007-12-19). "Don't Drink the Grape-Flavored Sugar Water...". Fast Company, www.fastcompany.com. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/92/debunk.html. Retrieved 2009-08-27. 
14. ^ Al Thomkins (2003-11-13). "Al's Morning Meeting, "Thursday Edition: Clearing Kool-Aid's Name"". The Poynter Institute, www.poynter.org. http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=54353. Retrieved 2009-08-27. 
15. ^ Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
16. ^ "Guyana inquest". http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/PrimarySources/GuyanaInquest.pdf.