LBV,
Thanks for the great post! I have 2 questions.
1) Would you take the time, at some point, to descibe an "Int Seance" in detail?
Please? Under a new thread?
2) My basic humanity wants to help get people out of there. Short of joining a "Hemet Liberation Army" what can I do? I have aleady publically announced my disconnection from DM to my local org, but I'd like to empty the base.....any ideas?
Thanks
Hi Div6,
Since the seances were covered by Jeff H over on XSO, I'm taking the liberty to quote him here (original is message#29995 on XSO and is from January '07). I seem to recall reading a more detailed description of it as well. When I have some more time, I can tell it from my viewpoint.
Re: Free PR for David Miscavige
I posted on this at some length, but here's a summary for those recently arrived.
If memory serves, I believe it was in 2003 that DM began asserting that Exec Strata and CMO Int "had no org board" and therefore no one could be posted, as there was no org board. This despite the fact that they seem to have functioned for years. But it became a big deal that the org boards and postings had to be figured out for CMOI and Exec Strata, and proposed to DM, and approved by him. There were various attempts then made to propose org boards and postings. all of which would inevitably, of course, be disapproved by DM. He routinely disapproved anyone proposed for an Exec Strata posting or a CMO Int posting. This was routine. When I left in early 2005, this had been going on for about two years. I recently heard, from someone who left a few months ago, that it is still going on, and in fact, some people who WERE on post when I was there (Dave Bloomberg on MEI, Greg Hughes on GIEI) were no longer on post. The only people officially "posted" were Guillaume on ED Int, and Yager on CO CMOI.
But, as I also posted earlier, they are just figureheads. In the last few years that I was there, they (and Mike Rinder) spent much of the time on the decks, cleaning out the swamp or the septic tanks in boiler suits. Then they were pulled off the decks for an event, cleaned up, put in suits and made to read a DM-prepared speech off a teleprompter. On recent events, it doesn't even look like DM is bothering to do even that.
Then in 2004, DM got rid of most of RTC staff, sending them all to CMO International. This included Greg and Sue Wilhere, Norman Starkey and a host of others. About all that was left in RTC was DM's personal staff and some Sec Checkers. I had occasion to work up in "Building 50" (the RTC building) for about a week on a project before I was busted, and it was a big, deserted, echoing mausoleum. Echoing mostly with DM's rants. His staff told me that it was great to have SOMEONE working in the building as it was so empty.
The RTC staff went to CMOI and, of course, got caught up in the "un-posted" morass. In early 2004, DM declared the entirety of CMOI and Exec Strata Suppressive. They were forbidden to leave the Base, and in fact were forbidden to leave their office building. They literally slept on their office floors for three months, never leaving the building. And they all did their "A to Es" in a big conference room. This was also when they started having these "group seances" which were very, very crazy. This even trickled down to Gold and Gold held two of them. They were brutal. Staff had to get up and "confess" their "Suppressive Op" (operating basis) to the rest of the group. The rest of the group heaped abuse and even at times physical violence on the person confessing. I am not kidding or exaggerating, this was done. Since being out, I have read of similar tactics being used in Chinese prisons as a mind control technique. It certainly wasn't any Scientology I ever heard of. But it was a complete, utter nightmare. I saw people mentally and emotionally broken during these things.
On one occasion, DM played "musical chairs" with the execs. Literally with music. And he said that anyone who didn't get a chair would be offloaded. Fun and games, right? It drove senior executives to desperation, and in some cases, tears.
And yes, the whole of Exec Strata and CMOI was assigned at one point to clean out the septic tanks on the Base. For weeks.
The end result is that DM has completely de-powered any semblance of Scientology management, and brought it under his control. There is NO ONE who will stand up to him or challenge him. Anyone who even so much as hints at it is gotten rid of fast. Threat, emotional abuse, and physical abuse is the order of the day. That is how DM runs things.
That's the state of International Scientology Management. To call it psychotic would be an insult to psychotics everywhere. And if general Scientologists or lower level staff knew even a fraction of this, they would desert the C of S in droves. Many already are.
None of this is exaggerated, insane as it sounds. The truth is, I probably only know a fraction of what really went on, as I was not in CMOI or Exec Strata. I am sure more and more of these sorts of horror stories will surface in future. The days when they can hide away in Gilman Hot Springs and commit insanities like these in secret are rapidly drawing to a close.
Jeff
And as a postscript to the OSA spies, you can just ignore all this and report it as "SP lies". It's all lies, right? Right? People at Int don't REALLY do these sorts of things, do they? Do they? And don't start entertaining notions that any of this is factual - it will just come up on your Sec Check, won't it? Don't think too hard about it. Just go back to sleep.
The best way to empty the base would be to get outside information in. When on the base, you have almost no idea of what is going on in the rest of the world, even if you think you do. There's no TVs. You can listen to the radio and you can read USA Today. A number of people have internet connections and email, internet connection goes through OSA security filter, email is monitored by HCO. You have no phone lines outside and can't take outside calls unless they are from a pro you are working with and reception knows about it. Sometimes, at least before people lived on the base (I assume by now all do), you could get other magazines and newspapers, but even that is no longer possible except for special post needs such as PR and Marketing, Cine and event research.
It does not appear, when you are inside, that you are cut off from comm lines as much as you are; you sort of have the apparency that you are only protected against enemies, entheta (what a joke -- DM alone can create more entheta in a day than you get from a lifetime of reading newspapers and watching TV), and other suppressive elements. Despite this apparency, I can tell that most people consider they are being "over-protected" and dislike especially how difficult it is to be in contact with family. More often than not, you just give up the contact or settle for writing letters -- the only acceptable means of communication to family outside the base (and, of course, only to those in good standing or not in Scientology).
The most difficult barrier to overcome is the indoctrination. You could contact people inside and gain nothing because the communication was from an "SP." That indoctrination is only overcome in the case of very close and important relationships. Only in those cases people will see through the disconnection propaganda. As sad as it is, it is nevertheless true that you best friends will turn against you in a blink of an eye when DM says you are an SP. The reasons for this are many, but one of them is obviously self-protection: Continued communication with an SP makes you either an SP or, at minimum, PTS, so immediate handling by ethics authorities await you if you do so.
Thus, there is very high likelihood that even the best of efforts will result in nothing. This is a factor in the reality of the situation, not a reason to be discouraged.
Okay, I'll give you something to consider. You'll have to take the viewpoint of a person who works on the Int Base to see how you could get through to them:
(These are the "supposed to's" that I think most base staff try to follow)
Rigorous schedule with no time for slacking off. There is no other time in the schedule but production, really. You are supposed to always think of production and nothing but. Weekly and daily battle plan targets done, COB orders complied to, strategic progress, program and project targets. Shortened meal breaks, just enough time to be studentable (unless it is before an event, which is about 50% of the time, when sleep matters little). Do your basics (graph your daily stats, do your weekly BP, cleaning, handle your hardcopy comm, merc traffic) attend every muster, march (or run) to meals and to berthing. Iron your uniform. It is flat out, just like that, day in day out, for most people. Add to that that you are likely in ethics trouble (99-100% of people are), more or less, so may not have canteen privileges, may get yelled at for looking slack when you are reading your comm in the comm center or stop to talk to another staff member, even if about your post business ("Put it in writing! Get on post!") You get ethics chits and even one chit may be a reason for a court or Comm Ev, if your division is in the State of Emergency. All this and more to make you concentrate on production, production, production and not even have time to think about anything else. The future of the planet, every man, woman and child on it depends on what you do today...
Now, imagine in the middle of that you get a message or communication that seems "suspicious" or critical. Most likely it will take you about 20 seconds to notice it is so and decide what to do with it. Most likely you will A) not read any further and shred it or B) write a KR on it, attach it and send it to HCO. That is 80-90% likely.
80-90% will go through virtually anything to remain on the base. They have no other life and, for most, Scientology is their only salvation. (Although DM is doing a good job making Scn delivery on the base an impossibility so most people left there are doing the job not for their own benefit but for those people they think they are helping. God! -- it is such a fallacy it's hard to write these words without being emotional about it.)
So, we'll go with the 10-20% that won't do so, who have had more than enough and would be ready to call it quits if they only knew they will survive after it.
That is the main problem for the majority of people who would otherwise leave: The world outside, that they know nothing about, is (so they've been told) a cold, uncaring and dangerous place. And they will be SP declared automatically, whether they route out or blow. And:
Where to go?
Okay, so the odds are against you. Still, I believe a minimum of 10-20% would get out of there if they could get real information about the world outside.
Even more would, if they could talk to their family, honestly, without the constant idea that you have to forward Scientology PR at every breathing moment whether it is true or not, and without HCO listening on the line. I dare say if that was possible, the figure could be over 50%. Unfortunately, it isn't.
So, what to do?
I let you think about that. The key to the answer is seeing it from the recipient's point of view.
When you think you have some ideas, PM me. We don't need to expose the ideas publicly to OSA (Hi Gloria, sorry but that part's not for you...)
(For that matter, anyone can feel free to e-mail me with their ideas. My PMs fill up pretty fast, so email would be better. I'll either answer or I won't, depending on what you write...)
Wishing you all the best,
Victor