Daily Archives: January 23, 2010

The church of disaster capitalism?

On September 12th 2001 DM called several Int Execs to his LA office on the eleventh floor of the HGB.  He had them “working with” he and Dan Sherman on his now-infamous issue “Wake Up Call.”  For days he tortured the execs with his inimitable “conference” style. He gets a draft from Dan in his personal office down the hall from the conference room where the execs are confined. He takes his sweet time, maybe watching a ball game, the news, or playing with his stereo for a couple hours. He then storms into the conference room and tears into whichever exec whose facial expression doesn’t sit right with him. Real vulgar dress downs. Nobody dare orginate anything because anybody who does gets annihilated by DM. Then DM throws a half hour tantrum or two about how nobody originates anything. This goes on for days, until DM and Dan have DM’s issue.

During the entire cycle, the only concern expressed by Miscavige about 911 was how it would be exploited to the corporate church’s benefit. Not once, not one single time, did he express the slightest concern about the victims of the crime, their families, or even for what it meant for the security of the country. Pure single-minded greed.  He wanted first to position himself as the save-the-day-hero, second to milk the catastrophe for as much PR as possible, and third relished the “fact” that the Church always does well when conditions are bad in society.

I never thought I’d see the day when such self serving exploitation of the misery of others would hit a lower ebb. Well, DM has now proven me naive once again. I invite you all to read the letter below being sent to Scientology public around the world from the Pubs orgs.  Please also read the response that one alert and aware Scientologists wrote back to Bridge Publication Inc in reply to it. It is now not enough to merely exploit the downtrodden for PR, the misery of others must be converted into a quick buck (actually lots of bucks).

DM has now driven the church into the ranks of what author Naomi Klein calls  the Disaster Capitalists, probably the lowest order of suppressive person this world has so far produced. You can get a primer on what Disaster Capitalism is all about in Klein’s article in the Nation at this link: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050502/klein

If you are intrigued by the subject and want to learn more I highly recommend Klein’s book The Shock Doctrine.

If you get the book realize while reading that the Dr Ewen Cameron, whom Klein credits with developing the mind control torture techniques used by Disaster Capitalists, is the same Dr. Ewen Cameron who was one of the first monkeys with “credentials” to launch sustained attacks on LRH’s Dianetics as “nothing but bunk.”

Gee Dave, strange bedfellows.

But you don’t need an extensive study in history and politics to see what the Scientologist who received this letter saw; letter and response follow:

Hello _______!

As you know just several days ago there was a 7.0 earthquake in Haiti.

As a direct result of this catastrophe tens of thousands of people
have died and an entire nation has gone into total chaos.

The Church of Scientology has started to ship out dozens of Volunteer
Ministers to give aid to the tens of thousands that need it. Similar
to the situation when 911 hit the USA, we need to get as much
Scientology technology into the hands of the Haitian people.

As we steadily increase the number of VMs being sent, so must we also
increase the amount of Scientology tech into the hands of people.

Right now we (Bridge Publications Inc.) are requesting that every
single Scientologist lend a hand in this. We will be shipping
thousands upon thousands of Scientology Handbook booklets and other
various basic Scientology tools to the VMs on site. They in turn will
distribute these to the public on the ground while hatting them on
how to use the tech.

All donations for fully tax deductible.

I am asking you for a donation to this cause. The minimum donation
being asked is $500. Any one making a donation of $3,000 or more will
receive a very special commendation that will go directly into their
ethics file.

To make a donation, call directly to (323) 899-1034, or email me back
your information.

You can also make your $500 donation on-line here:

http://www.lrh-books.com/new/donation_to_haiti

Thank you in advance for your support!

Sincerely,
Patrick Howson
Mail Order Manager
Bridge Publications Inc.
(323) 888-1034
Patrick,

I hate to say it, but this feels like opportunism.  These people need
food, shelter and emergency supplies.  How are they going to read a
booklet if they are DEAD?  To take the money that could be helping
them to survive and siphon it off into books – well, I view it as
revolting.  I can’t just sit back and say nothing about this.  It’s
blatently unethical.  There is no “greatest good for the greatest
number of dynamics” being calculated here.  Maybe your stats will be
up for the next few weeks, but did that put food in a dying child’s
mouth or dress his wounds?  Please look at Albert Maslow’s famous
Hierarchy of Needs.  I don’t think giving out booklets would be at the
top of the list.

    1) Physiological: hunger, thirst, bodily comforts, etc.;

    2) Safety/security: out of danger;

    3) Belongingness and Love: affiliate with others, be accepted; and

    4) Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition.

    5) Cognitive: to know, to understand, and explore;

    6) Aesthetic: symmetry, order, and beauty;

    7) Self-actualization <http://personcentered.com/selfact.html>: to
    find self-fulfillment and realize one’s potential; and

     8) Self-transcendence
    <http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/%7Egreg.c/psych.html>: to connect to
    something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment
    and realize their potential.
    Patrick – think about what you are doing and confront the ACTUAL
    situation that is going on here.  If you pulled over to a car
    accident and saw a dying person behind the wheel, would you hand
    him a “Cause of Suppression” booklet?  No, I didn’t think so.