One of the things that cults do is carve off people from the wider populace. It’s them that say “everyone is against you” it’s them that say that “there’s no way back, so you might as well throw your lot in with us. We are the only ones that understand and accept you. As long as you behave in a way that we feel is acceptable, or do something for us”.
Staying in the cult starts off the easy path rather than seek to change yourself. Then, after a while you start falling for the sunk cost fallacy. It’s that, that keeps you in the long term even when times get tough.
But, there is always redemption, a way out. And blaming your whole life on other people isn’t a particularly efficient tactic. Again, personal responsibility.
Even for Nazis getting Nazi tattoos, there’s redemption. A way out. But there has to be a willingness to take that first step. The tragedy of the comic strip is that the person getting the tattoo and shaving their allows themselves to be defined by others. And it’s not just the normies and the left that’s doing it. It’s a grotesque, sure but for those on the outside, it kinda looks like that.