it discusses the Synanon cult that was born out of AA, how it related to MKULTRA and 60s psychiatric research, and how it birthed the modern troubled teen industry.
also i finally learned what the fuck Deleuze meant when he talked about rhizomes
I have a lot of experience with AA and it’s not good. It used to be very cultish when Bill W. was alive and since it’s become more decentralized but still maintains a lot of cult like approaches like being shunned for leaving the program, having to cut off family and friends who are active in addiction or not supporting of the program, and weird power dynamics between sponsor and sponsee that lead to things like sexual abuse. iirc the success rate of aa is real low, like single digits.
I think hexbear sent me here: https://elan.school/. Graphic novel about a troubled teen abuse camp stemming ultimately from Synanon. Content warning: this sent me into a funk for like a day.
Yes that’s the kind of thing Brace had to endure
The Elan School was like the worst of the worst, kids dying, fighting rings, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was being studied by some government institution while it was around.
Learning about the Elan School is a legitimate cognito hazard. Every time I think about it and get doomer about it all over again.
I was cynical coming in because these child torture chambers are just American imperialism aimed back at the homeland, on a small and individually tragic scale. All the atomization and dehumanization of our country, perfected and performed on purpose.
Elan is despicable, but it’s nothing new.
I think it’s the “individually tragic scale” that really activates my empathy. On a conceptual level of course shit like napalm bombing Vietnam or blowing up important water infrastructure in Iraq is much worse, but the story of a kid’s parents signing him up to get a black bag thrown over his head and driven across country to be physically and emotionally abused for years feels like something that could have happened to me if things had turned out slightly different.
The sheer sociopathy that late stage capitalism encourages and permits in parents is revolting on a fundamental level.
