Some economists have called communism "the largest cargo cult the world has ever seen", but we needn't look as far as the former Soviet Union to see cargo cult in practice.
The term 'cargo cult' was first used by Australians in the then Protectorate of Papua & New Guinea after patrols into the central highlands of New Guinea had been resupplied by air drops.
The natives, having observed this, built rough air strips, imitation radio antennas made of rope and bamboo, indeed whole dummy planes, to attract their own cargo from the sky after which all the harsh demands of life would miraculously disappear.
Don't judge them too harshly. We have our own 'cargo cult' in Australia. We call it Centrelink.
