Leaderboard

(I want to apologize in advance…I may have exceeded the limit on how many analogies one can use in a single post) I wanted to elaborate on the two ideas discussed on this thread - TWI's quick demise and yet it still lingers on; It brings to mind yet another Titanic analogy; it's not sunk yet – but it is slowly sinking - we look upon the scene long after it had struck the iceberg - back in '86 ; (hereafter TWI will be referred to as the TWI-tanic).....as we observe from the helicopter we can see there's some offshoots in lifeboats who will carry on VP's delusion of having the most accurate handle on truth. Case in point, see Don't Worry's post # 70 on The Latest Garbage from TLTF thread: Don't Worry's post # 70 One of VP's faux gems in Lifelines - - - - nothing happens without leadership - also comes to mind – it does reveal the recipe for the secret sauce of continuity. Like the commercial that said good soup comes from good stock – VP's corps program essentially was about cooking down the individual participants to form a homogenized power source to fuel his madness. Yup – the TWI-tanic runs on Soylent Green…and in case you haven't realized it yet…Soylent Green is made of the way corps. The essential thing that kept this living, breathing, chair-stringing mix of folks corralled and operational as a ©ruse ship * was the ironclad rule of oligarchy. The commotion over the passing of the patriarch was the iceberg that breached the TWI-tanic's iron hull, just below the waterline. Surly the impact must have registered with the passengers on board who were not totally asleep…and if they looked over the side they would have seen precious fuel leaking out. == == == == * note: with deliberate intention to have a play on words i originally typed "cruise ship" to read ( c ) ruse ship - ("ruse" as in an action intended to deceive, a trick) - i thought it would be a clever way to say TWI's cruise ship is really a ruse ship ; here in this note of explanation i put a space on either side of the "C" that is between the parentheses - but in the "original text" when i typed the parentheses and "C" all together my word processor changed it into the copyright symbol; i thought that was even better since the PFAL material does have the registered trademark; yes their ruse is copyrighted! (…and to dredge up and reconfigure an old joke in PFAL) the reason GeerHead and LCM did not deal with keeping the TWI-tanic afloat was because they fought over the deck. Ba dum bum tsssss….I'm here all week folks.) (edited for clarity)

It's obvious his methods were all consistent with operating primarily as a business, because every single program was designed to operate AT A PROFIT. People never paid COST for anything-they paid RETAIL. He wanted money to come in, and after a certain point he became more interested in OBEDIENCE and BLIND LOYALTY than in simply raising numbers or even raising more money. It's really shocking to hear some of the stories-like vpw claiming to buy the furniture used to film pfal- then returned it and claimed he was unsatisfied so he could get a refund. Naturally, twi still recommends this type of strategy- "buy" a big TV for "the class" then return it when the class ends. Most people consider these "shameful" things for Christians to do-but vpw was big on never feeling guilt about things. Small wonder he was fine doing so many shameful things when he considered NOTHING to be truly shameful so long as you're not caught. Of course, vpw had no experience in managing, and absolutely no background in any type of leadership training program. That's why he claimed that a leader is someone who is followed blindly and never questioned. His view of leadership NEVER included the RESPONSIBILITIES for a leader, just the perks.

Yeah.....wierwille and his lieutenants had a box, but I didn't live in it. :anim-smile:/>/>/> When they did meetings and stuff.....yes, the monotony was sheer drudgery. I despised it. But....when I got to oversee things then I had a different way of doing things. In 1994 and 1995, as a limb coordinator......I had annual limb meetings at the lake. With two ski boats, we had a whole afternoon of water skiing, beach volleyball, games, and lounging around. We fired up the grills for a variety of meats, served plenty of food and snacks....and later, s'mores around the campfire. Some even set up tents and camped nearby for the night. Heck, I even told people that they didn't need to bring their bible. I really think that I stunned a few of them with that one. lol I violated every checkbox from my corps training.....and our numbers just kept increasing. Surprise, surprise. .

WOW So glad I ABSed all that $ that I couldn't spare to help "move the Word."