The Inevitable Cult of Wealth

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A lot of wealthy people seem to be in cults, and I’m not just talking your standard Right Wing Christian Crap. As I write this in October 2026 we’re getting reporting on strange cults of Artificial Intelligence, rationalism, Antichrist obsessives, and more. People are looking at billionaires and going “what the hell did they say” and “what drugs are they on” (Ketamine of course, but also my guess is plenty of psychedelics). There’s surprise at this cultic behavior, and honestly there really shouldn’t be.

Imagine you’re wealthy for whatever reason. You can shape your entire experience to be whatever you want. People will do whatever you want because you have money (and possibly fame and power). You can exist the exact way you want with little to no pushback.

Oh you may think you’re not living an illusion, but unless you’re very careful, you will. If you can change the world with a transaction, people will like to you, suck up to you, or worse assume you’re right as you have money. Even if you’re careful, you’ll have to work hard not to delude yourself because others will help you do just that.

Being rich and powerful leads to an echo chamber and eventually a kind of cognitive impairment. Ever seen a Really Rich person just freak out at a random social media post? Someone living in a self-imposed bubble will loose their shit over something posted by some anonymous person with a handle like BannanaCannon420.

Now such environments will lead to cultic behavior – even if it’s a cult of one. You’re in your own self-created bubble. You’re creating a feedback loop. You’ve got people willing to tell you what you want to hear (often for money). That’s a cult.

But also think of these echo chambers these people live in. If a cultic behavior or set of ideas are introduced there’s a good chance it won’t leave and will be amplified. It just takes one doofus with the right (or wrong) idea, one self-published manifesto, to get into the sphere of some rich person and then the bad idea stays and grows. They may even share it with their friends, who are also wealthy and honestly probably kind of bonkers.

So yes, some of the uber-wealthy act like they’re in cults – they are. They exist in self-created echo chambers. Bad ideas don’t get flushed out. They talk to other people like them. And that’s not counting important questions like “is the economy structured so utter assholes easily take control.”

Honestly, once you add the asshole factor it gets worse. I’m being kind.

So maybe in our current state we need to consider the rich and powerful to be in some kind of cult by default until proven otherwise. And it’s another reminder of why consolidation of power of any kind is a problem – because culty behavior follows almost inevitably, even with the most charitable viewpoint.

–Xenofact

Systems Help Us Move Forward

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Last column I wrote about how spiritual and psychological systems are useful in many ways, but one way is seeing how kind of ridiculous we can be. When you see your flaws as part of some psychological model or flows of energy, they seem lesser, they seem kind of foolish. Not to discount the very real psychological work we need, but some issues look more ridiculous when you classify them, like realizing you could just oil that squeaky hinge.

Systems – psychological, mystical, etc. – help us see we can be better. Which is something I’d like to address.

Having a “System of Self” (I probably need to make my own term here) means that you are viewing yourself as a process. You’re not solid, not inevitable, not immovable. You’re a thing of inputs and outputs, processes and changes, evolution and decay. You can change – and will change.

You can also decide on the kinds of changes you want to make. Because you are a system – be it one of energy flows or psychodynamics – you can decide how to direct and correct that system. When you think in systems you have a way to see yourself and see where you can make changes. From releasing repressions to changing your elemental balance, you have a way to ask what do I change.

That is incredibly empowering. Your system is a way to think of yourself so you can heal, evolve, and grow. To have a good system is to have a way to rethink yourself and to develop. When you see yourself as parts, it’s easier to be whole sometimes.

For myself, the use of energy flow concepts from Taoist practice, and the psychological ideas of the Five Elements are helpful. When I really began evaluating myself, seeing myself as these changing processes, my perspective shifted into one of tweaking and adjusting.

As noted several times in my writing, I don’t even think the system has to be that good or accurate. It just has to be something to get you started so you can start thinking and learning – and something with the leeway to let you play and think. I mean there’s plenty of criticisms of Freud, but his initial ideas were simple enough to work with.

I think we all need A System to think about ourselves. We need that power to say “yes I can evolve and change.”

–Xenofact

The Joyful Ridiculousness Of My Flaws

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I’ve written several times on how having spiritual and psychological systems is useful to deconstructing oneself. Even contrived and ridiculous ways to visualize and understand ourselves at least make us think about ourselves differently. I wanted to share some recent related insights – that they also help us take ourselves less seriously.

There are plenty of psycho-spiritual systems out there. Chakras, the microcosmic orbit, Freudian models, multiple souls, and so on. I myself use a mix of Taoist/quigong (energy centers, meridians, and evolving “treasures”) and Five Elements psychology theory from the same origins. My goal is essentially psychological and spiritual health, using them as models to help me grow – and they tie into my other readings.

What’s interesting is that when you use these systems you start seeing yourself as not a stable or solid thing, but a process. My tensions can be seen as energy blockages, created by and reinforcing psychological stress. The idea of evolving “the treasures” (vitality, energy, spirit) helps me see where my growth is blocked. The Five Elements psychological theories have been very useful to see how my mind is a process – one that can be strengthened, blocked, and so on.

Yes there are centuries – aeons – of history behind these ideas. Yes, they are often profound and there’s enjoyable commentaries made on them. But also they help me realize how many of my habits and so on are kind of ridiculous.

A weird semi-conscious tension seen as an ‘energy blockage” not only gives you a way to address that tension, but “defuses” it as “just a process.” Seeing reactions to particular stimuli as “Metal weakening wood” takes a conflict and helps me see it as just another phenomena that I can adjust. In many cases it makes me ask “so why do I go on with these painful habits” as they seem silly.

It doesn’t mean whatever habit or obsession I’m examining doesn’t exist for a reason. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good reason. It may be fully legitimate and actually traumatic, something to deal with. But it’s also part of a “spiritual system,” it’s all flows of energy or forces, it’s correctable, and I might as well get to fixing it.

Honestly, I think really getting into a spiritual and/or psychological system is a way to go “time to fix this shit” and sometimes “why the hell did I cling to that?” It’s quite relieving to take myself a bit less seriously so I can move forward. I can take the origin of some of my bad habits and trauma seriously, while deciding the current manifestation is something to move on from and see why not addressing it was sort of silly.

So yes, these ways of thinking about ourselves are helpful. They’re tools. They help us re-see ourselves. But they also help us see ourselves differently, and take ourselves a little less seriously and move forward.

–Xenofact