I watched this and found it a bit disappointing since it was largely a review of major newspaper articles going back to the 1990s, and with some interviews of ex-NXIVM members thrown in. Unfortunately (though not surprisingly) it didn't include interviews of Allison Mack, Marc Elliot, or Ivy Nevares. An interview with Nevares could have yielded very interesting results pertaining to Raniere's use of and attitude towards philosophy since she was his long-time editor and translator, and was involved in the production of all of the articles in the Mexican journal Conocimiento that were then bundled into Raniere's two books for use in NXIVM "trainings".
There were only two references to Raniere and his use of philosophy as a mental and moral manipulation tool: one vague one to the "philosophical components" of his pitch, and another to his "toxic philosophy". But no details or explanation of what that meant.
Once again, people concerned with what Raniere did and how he accomplished it completely fly by his fundamental use of pseudo-philosophy and its central role in his marketing and techniques of manipulation as well as its function in replacing the value systems of NXIVM members with a system of values oriented to achieving his own goals. Why do they suppose that Raniere himself so often referred to his own "study" of philosophy and went to such lengths to get the endorsement of the Dalai Lama?
This "American Greed" program was well done, but disappointing in remaining at the shallow level of investigation and detail it provided of the belief and "moral" systems underlying Raniere's view of the world and how these were employed to attract and manipulate members of NXIVM.
Re Ch. 10 in False Wisdom:
ReplyDeleteCult Expert and Deprogrammer Rick Ross on NXIVM, Founder Keith Raniere, And the Many Tactics Cults Use to Exploit the Unwary
Re Ch. 10 in False Wisdom:
ReplyDelete"American Greed" episode 1/25/2021 on Keith Raniere
I watched this and found it a bit disappointing since it was largely a review of major newspaper articles going back to the 1990s, and with some interviews of ex-NXIVM members thrown in. Unfortunately (though not surprisingly) it didn't include interviews of Allison Mack, Marc Elliot, or Ivy Nevares. An interview with Nevares could have yielded very interesting results pertaining to Raniere's use of and attitude towards philosophy since she was his long-time editor and translator, and was involved in the production of all of the articles in the Mexican journal Conocimiento that were then bundled into Raniere's two books for use in NXIVM "trainings".
DeleteThere were only two references to Raniere and his use of philosophy as a mental and moral manipulation tool: one vague one to the "philosophical components" of his pitch, and another to his "toxic philosophy". But no details or explanation of what that meant.
Once again, people concerned with what Raniere did and how he accomplished it completely fly by his fundamental use of pseudo-philosophy and its central role in his marketing and techniques of manipulation as well as its function in replacing the value systems of NXIVM members with a system of values oriented to achieving his own goals. Why do they suppose that Raniere himself so often referred to his own "study" of philosophy and went to such lengths to get the endorsement of the Dalai Lama?
This "American Greed" program was well done, but disappointing in remaining at the shallow level of investigation and detail it provided of the belief and "moral" systems underlying Raniere's view of the world and how these were employed to attract and manipulate members of NXIVM.