I have read before people say that about mainstream religion but I would further the idea to apply to western capitalist/materialist society as a whole.

People might say 'mainstream society is closer to reality' but I don't think so.

So many nonsense 'traditions' that people will do all sorts of irrational things just to keep their precious rituals, just because that is what they were told to do so it must be continued no matter what. Christmas, Valentine's Day, Bonfire Night, New Year's Eve, to name just a few. What rational purpose do they serve? They are merely 'canon' that adherents of the Western culture must observe or else face being called 'weird' which is the same as what cults do to ostracise their members if they do something they consider in poor form.

You can say no one is forcing you to do those things which is true but if you don't get involved in at least some you are considered 'odd' Xmas being the one with the strongest peer pressure to conform.

Yes some cults behave in reprehensible ways like abuse or militant action but how much of history has been whitewashed of similar actions - just like how cults do damage control, so too does mainstream society. Watergate being an example. Many predators in the entertainment industry which were an open secret until they reached critical mass where they were forced to acknowledge it and suddenly condemn it.

I have been watching a documentary on the Children of God cult and pretty much everything would apply to the cult of capitalism/materialism that the West loves so much.

I have made no secret here that I hate capitalism and think it is the cause of most of societies ills.

Cults indoctrinate by sending out propaganda with their embedded beliefs. Capitalist society does just the same with the media industry and all the tropes of earn as much money as possible (far beyond is necessary for a comfortable life) and you will have all the trappings of success. The fast car, the big house, the perfect family, the perfect woman/husband.

Even if not everyone tries to be the next Gordon Gecko/Wolf of Wall Street, the message is still instilled that more money = better. Just like not every woman tries to be a supermodel, just seeing what is put on a pedestal in society instils beliefs in what the lay person should aspire to.

Why are millions/billions on anti-depressants because they hate their life and so much money poured into this? To keep the worker bees productive. Also all the science is bent on 'disease' models where things 'just happen' without there being a root cause. I would propose this is just propaganda to cover up that the root cause is the rotten capitalist society that it must protect at all costs. Science will only observe what it has been funded to, which is decided by politics, so it will be biased only for particular results.

It is like Nietzsche used to write "the victors write the history books". It is not some triumph of the enlightened west why it is so popular. It is just they managed to subjugate most of the world by might and now what is considered 'normal' are just their arbitrary cultural practices as 'might is right' and so they say what goes into the history books and becomes tradition and law and acceptable ideals.