I was listening to an unrelated video and something interesting came up. I know we have already established this but I thought I'd bring it up again:
Red flags for - you guessed it - cults.
1) Commitment and unquestionable loyalty: paypigs will bankrupt themselves while throwing money at him, as proven by the latest retard mod that got doxxed (commitment) and Phil's own video footage contradicting himself is to be discarded: only what Phil says at that particular moment is the absolute truth (unquestionable loyalty)
2) Feeling as though you're working towards a bigger goal: this is two-fold; not only are they working towards tip goals in the short-term, but they are also working towards the goal of pulling Phil out of financial ruin (can't feed his family until youtube pays him, etc etc)
3) Us vs them mentality: duh.
4) Critical thinking is abandoned by the group: you can't question any of his scams, even though there are huge red flags. Xbox series X "donation", WWE, cat reveal and it goes on and on. Anyone doubting these things is shunned.
5) I think it is well established that Phil's audience consists of people with no friends. They have no one aside of his "chat" and him, this being the reason of them crawling back when they have enough and try to pull away from the Goutsphere. This group is all (or almost all, aside of family) they have.
That is all.
EDIT: spelling