Every iteration of the self-improvement, self-actualization, get-rich, get-happy seminar scam. Landmark Forum, EST, Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki, MLMs, etc. They all make liberal use of brainwashing and manipulation techniques you also routinely see used by cultists, and their goal is the same: to exploit desperate people for financial gain.

Flatearthers

Scientology - look up Xenu. Hawaii did not even exist 75M years ago. L Ron Hubbard was nuts. Yet Scientologists believe this shit. I can't believe Tom f**king Cruise believes this shit. Anyone says they are a Scientologist, avoid them like the plague...Bat Shit Crazy.

Whatever the Duggars are. Creepiest bunch I’ve ever seen.

I don't quite know how to explain it, but once a fandom reaches a certain point, it's almost embarrassing to admit that you like the show/movie/book/etc because you automatically get lumped in with the super cringe and toxic portion.

Silicon Valley tech companies are not a cult.

However, there is a subculture within Silicon Valley tech companies that is a cult.

Here are some things to watch out for:

Sleep deprivation. If your team wants you to do overnight on-call, and overnight pages happen more often than once every seven on-call shifts, your team is a cult.

Training vs. guilt. If your team assumes that you already know all the details of the tech you work with, and dumps weird guilt on you when you don't know an obscure fact, your team is a cult.

Rich lifestyle vs. actual returns. If your team encourages you to pick up expensive hobbies (sports cars, piloting, ski trips), but the company doesn't actually pay enough to afford them without skimping on your regular expenses, your team is a cult.

The “Entrepreneur” Lifestyle. Many people are encouraged to put aside pleasures of life in the tiniest hope that if they just “grind” hard enough they’ll be billionaires.

Oh also, while caring a lot about your money and how you spend it, buy my $500 plan to help you make money faster.

Gwenyth Paltrow's GOOP

Westboro Baptist Church

People who are way too invested in the college they attended.

Workplaces that tout "we are a family"

I've seen too many people fall into that and get ostracized by the "family"

MLMs but especially Mary Kay. I went to a convention once as the guest of a consultant because she was trying to get me to join. It was very Stepford housewives. Also, she didn't tell me you were expected to dress up so I showed up in jeans and a hoodie

Boarding schools for “troubled teens”

The Prosperity Gospel

Chief's Mess in the US Navy, which comes complete with "initiation", something no other branch (enlisted or officer) has and that this somehow forms an eternal bond of "blood by family", that includes eating food out of trash cans and sabotaging uniforms for the "greater lesson".

Then "private" meetings that have grey areas/secrets of what happens in those meetings. Specifically anything related to punishments or review boards.

The fact that it takes two chiefs talking behind closed doors to get anything accomplished is also proof. People notice though it's implied that it's not noticed.

Primerica. Worst cult vibes ever.

Working at In-N-Out was a bizarre experience I would liken unto a cult.

They damn near worship the owner Lynsi too, when I went to the company picnics she would perform on stage dancing, once she did this weird sexy aerial dance in a floating cube. And the associates go CRAZY for her. Like, nuts. One of my coworkers and I were sitting there so uncomfortable while everyone screamed and grabbed at her like she was the damn Messiah, literally snot crying over not getting a t-shirt signed by her. Like… that is the billionaire heiress who employs you, not f**king Beyoncé.

Then, of course, all the in-n-out culture, like the specific language you have to use (not just with customers, with each other too), the extreme Christian standards… it was nuts and after working elsewhere (it was my first restaurant job when I was in HS until last year) I realized exactly how culty the whole company is

Crossfit

Genuine love of a single politician. Yes, maybe this person is legitimately good, or is doing positive things in certain areas and perhaps negative things in other areas. It’s largely subjective. If it weren’t, most countries’ citizens would just be happy. But listen, if “this” person is the best and we’re going to harp on about it forever, and in the reverse harping on hating said person forever, then you’ve got yourself a cult. If you love a politician, you’re an embarrassment. They’re certainly not as perfect as you think. We can acknowledge those imperfections and vote based on policy, but making a single one of them out to be perfect (or imperfect) means you’ve just chosen a side and you’re likely not even going to try to open yourself up to altering opinions.

Within the cancer community, there’s a political group who have all read (probably) Chris Beat Cancer and it’s a bullshit book telling you you can cure cancer by changing your diet. Sugar is the main villain. You can fight me all you want but SUGAR DOES NOT CAUSE CANCER. Listen to your oncology-approved dietician and get the f**k off Facebook.

Just this past weekend I had lunch with my friend’s dad who is also terminal and his wife has banned him from sugar because of this bullshit. The dude is dying and he’s not even allowed to enjoy himself in moderation. Because she heard about it on Facebook.

Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Qanon

Pentecostalism. They tell everyone they are the true original Christian church, but in reality, they just control people.

Most of their churches have tons of rules, women can't cut their hair at all, or wear pants or jewelry.

Watching TV or movies is either discouraged or outright forbidden. Any type of alcohol consumption is forbidden.

That's just the beginning of it, highly recommend doing some research into the movement, crazy bunch of people.

Mormonism. I grew up as a young girl in the Mormon faith. Not only is that brand of Christianity completely brainwashing, but I also grew up with strict rules and the understanding that God designed men and women differently and because men are visually stimulated, that modesty and my sexual purity was a god-ordained gift to protect through modesty. If you commit sexual sin, like masturbation, for example, you must confess to a bishop who is generally a middle-aged man. I confessed to my Bishop that I masturbated. He asked for disturbing details. Being ashamed as I was taught to do, I answered every question he asked, hoping God would forgive me if I was just honest. I met with him, week after week updating him on when I had sinned this way, and he asked too many detailed questions every time. I was uncomfortable but thought I needed to confess everything he asked for God to forgive me. I was fucking 14 years old and didn't realize until my mid-twenties that no one else (specifically males) was ever asked questions like I was when confessing to masturbation. So basically my cult allowed a closet pedophile to violate my privacy and my comfort for the sake of his sick pleasure. Those questions should never have been asked. Even if God was in the Mormon church, that man made me unwilling to ever trust that creepy cult again.