Perhaps my overly-nuanced point could be a bit too vague. I'll explain.
I contend that everyone on the "upper floors" -- the top SO management of Scientology -- saw a lot of stuff they weren't supposed
to see, read a lot of stuff they weren't supposed to read, and heard a hell of a lot during water cooler conversations over twenty years.
For example, Steve Hall wrote:
"One night, round about the year 2000 or so, we arrived in the CMO Int Conference room. COB came in followed by Marc Yager, CO CMO Int, and the other usual suspects like COB Secretary (Laurisse “Lou” Henley-Smith), ED Int (Guillaume Lesevre) etc."
That night, Steve got to see the infamous "OT8 document" and discuss it in the open with the group.
"The Cabal" ran in a pack, lived together, and worked together for decades. Back in the early eighties, some of the top execs and members of The Cabal were: Marc Yager, Norman Starkey, Ray Mithoff, Mark Ingber, Greg Wilhere, Guillaume Lesevre, Marty Rathbun, among many others. You don't see or hear from them anymore.
Steve Hall, more of a worker-bee speech writer in marketing, got to read more revealing stuff, some of it by accident:
"Incidentally, I was also one of the lucky few who actually got to read Danny Sherman’s unpublished LRH biography which admitted that Hubbard had been married to two women at the same time and other such-like problematic issues, which poor Danny did his best to explain away."
"For example, in the late 1990s I happened upon a paper copy of Hubbard’s damning “Affirmations” document of self-hypnosis from the late 1940s . . . ."
That's what happens in a workplace. There are no secrets and rumors are unstoppable. You eventually hear about and learn about everything.
Now years ago, I listened to about twenty hours of Michael Flynn's (attorney in the Armstrong cases re: LRH's private papers) various talks from the early 80's about what he had read and uncovered regarding LRH. Flynn got to go over most all of LRH's personal papers with a fine-toothed comb and knew them cold. Many of the papers were in LRH's handwriting or signed by LRH.
I found some of the stuff Flynn talked about shocking to horrifying. I was still in a semi-believer state of mind. It's always a pretty bad day when you realize you've definitely wasted a large chunk of your youthful years following a fraud. A true dark night of the soul.
Well, many of LRH's secrets and crimes were out in the open and I've got to think most of The Cabal saw or heard about all those materials and knew much of the truth. But The Cabal soldiered on.
View attachment 7338
The Cabal -- We had to cover up a hell of a lot over twenty
years to successfully amass $3 billion in our financial fraud.
Likewise, when LRH died from an assisted suicide -- don't say it wasn't -- there was a whole other layer of LRH reveals that surfaced and The Cabal learned about, discussed and had to cover up. This would include no OT8, which Mithoff had to invent, and no upper OT levels, which I wrote about in
a post above. LRH's dementia and descent into madness. But The Cabal soldiered on.
I guess that's why I wrote my opening post. I thought Steve Hall provided a wonderful example of how the "word got around" and that the "upper floor" of Sea Org management all knew quite a lot and had to hide quite a lot.
Now here's just one example, a personal example, of what I mean.
In the early 90's, I got a letter on RTC letterhead (Marty Rathbun was head of RTC) asking me to prepay $32,000 [$65,000 in 2020 dollars] for a limitied-time-deal, discounted OT 9&10 package. However, Marty knew something I didn't.
By 1988, Marty along with Monique Yingling, Greg Whilhere, Miscavige, six armed PIs, and quite a few others had raided LRH’s former ranch at Newbury Springs -- their 3rd raid on Broeker haunts -- and absconded with a treasure trove of LRH’s auditing folders and research notes. Marty and the other senior execs would have, should have known by then (with total certainty I’m guessing) that OT 9 & 10 didn’t exist in any way, shape or form. Also, that the promises of the upper bridge were essentially unachieved, so essentially a fraud, and that LRH came to ignoble ending -- per anecdotes by witnesses and probably by folder inspection.
Who else was part of that raid and knew the “truth” at the time?
Why did he and the other members of The Cabal sit on this information and not go public then? Seems like this was a pretty important revelation. Why kind of person knows the truth, yet reges for more money for "vapor-ware OT levels." Should tell you all you need to know about the black hearts of Marty and some others.
I contend this pattern of deceit and fraud was a known thing among many on the "upper floors" for decades. Hence, The Cabal.
Just like the whole Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and fraud was a known thing among many on his "upper floors" for decades.
I've written about this many times over the years. Why?
One, I just can't imagine the mindset of someone who would learn the truth and not become a whistle-blower or at least not leave immediately.
I had two events come up in my scientology career that crossed the line for me. Both times, I stood firm, put a stake in the ground, and spoke truth to power. The second time is when I left for good. (Sorry, can't say more without possibly identifying myself.)
Two, new people come by now and then and need to know about all this. Our passing parade of new folks checking in. Maybe they'll run across this thread. Maybe some will be saved from second-mortgaging their homes and having to pay it off for decades.
I'm OK. I got out early enough to rebuild a good life. I know others who haven't. It's a sad thing.
