Good points, Jourles!
We all know that No Army, no matter how big, can win when it comes to Guerilla warfare tactics from their enemy.
So I suppose, sooner or later, We Win!
Concerning Watchtower Cash and Possible Changes
by metatron 58 Replies latest jw friends
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metatron
In regard to the internet, ask yourself, How many Witnesses are "up in arms" about the UN scandal?
Or how many are viscerally upset about their coverups of child molesters?
Let me give the typical Witness response: "It's all apostate lies", "It never happened", "The UN thing is just
about a library card", "What scandal?"
So, what is the value of the internet? It is the critical catalyst that will bring the Watchtower down, eventually.
You'll never see a mass uprising against the Governing Body or the Watchtower - but you will see an End very much
like other recent dictatorships that find that their empires are too costly to maintain, in the face of deepening
malaise. Witnesses will never openly revolt - but they will ( and are) "voting with their wallets".
The internet is doing a wonderful job of warning converts away - and exposing the secrets of the organization
to public disgrace. It also is quietly eroding the Watchtower faith and practice of the Society's "nomenklatura"
- the few people in the organization left who actually retain any reasoning ability. The Society had to defend
their UN shenanigans to assembled elders in Europe. These are the sort of people they depend on to keep the
whole scam going - and the internet is getting to many of them.
metatron
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Jourles
Something that was written a while ago(prior to Awake cutback announcement):
To get a grasp on where the organization is heading, you first must put on your corporate thinking cap. Afterall, the WTBTS is simply a book and magazine publishing corporation.
If I were the CEO, I would first look at the numbers provided from years past and how it compares to the most recent data released. In industrialized nations, there appears to be negative or no growth, ACROSS THE BOARD. In 3rd world countries and also others known for not having easy informative access such as the internet, positive growth is a little more apparent. Less people coming in and more going out generally means declining revenues. Since the industrialized nations most likely carry other poorer countries in terms of revenue producing income, and without seeing individual country dollar figures, this area could be considered a wash.
So where does the money come in from? The largest portion comes in the form of direct donations from the publishers. The next major portion would probably be from donations to cover the costs of the literature. Wills, trusts, stocks, bonds, and real estate are nearer at the end I'm guessing. If my company's profits are beginning to trend downward, I need to attack that area, or areas, of declining revenue. What is causing it? I think we can all agree that "an informed witness is an ex-witness." The internet is wreaking havoc on the WTBTS. Too much sensitive and damaging information is getting into the hands of the R&F witness in the privacy of their own home. As the CEO, I know that I cannot put an outright ban on witnesses going on the web. The web is ubiquitous these days and is used extensively for business purposes. Many witnesses would rebel against a ban as more and more of them are getting computers and finding them very useful in everyday activities. If I cannot stop witnesses from getting on the web, reading about my corporation's twisted past and then leaving because I misrepresented my company, then I need to find other areas to trim back to stop or slow the lost revenue.
Where would I look to slow this revenue drop? The actual printing itself is one major area. If it takes 1,000 hours to produce one convert(increase that time for children of witness parents being baptized), then how many magazines are handed out without asking for a donation for every convert? Our company has already pounded and pounded the idea of the donation arrangement into every service meeting - at least the publishers are supposed to ask for a donation in their demonstrations. Should we cut back on the magazine distribution timeframe? How about combine the WT and Awake into one magazine? Instead of twice a month, how about just once? This alone would cut expenditures on printed materials by almost 50-75%. And the books? Well, we already did away with hardcover and we also cut the physical size of most books to roughly 50% of the older larger ones. Can we take advantage of electronic distribution? Would some witnesses prefer to print out Adobe PDF files of the magazines? Instead of offering the WT and Awakes at the doors, why not switch to using just tracts? Save the magazines for studies and witnesses themselves. Tracts would cost less to produce and effectively carry the same message as the magazines.
These are just a few ways to cut back on expenditures. Of course, we would need to mask these changes as being for the better good and to also show a progressive proactive stance so that the witnesses do not become disheartened as to the lack of spiritual food that they were once accustomed to getting. We can use words like: compressed, simple, cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and others that show we are trying to fit as much spiritual food as we can into one magazine without wasting the paper it is written on. If we see that donations continue to trend downwards, disfellowshippings must occur. We must always keep the fear of our God-given authority firmly entrenched into their minds. If they feel that they do not want to help towards to worldwide work, then they can leave. A non-donating witness is the same as a worldly person in our eyes. Dead money.
Ok, so the last part may not happen, but the rest very well could.
And another {guess} topic:
- Electronic Distribution - Allow downloads of the magazines/KM's from WT.org? How about letting those who have the means to pay for it distribute the magazine articles/KM's to the brothers and sisters that would like to help in keeping printing costs down for the Society? This could be a positive. Many brothers and sisters love to make meeting and assembly binders and then distribute them for free. This gives them the feeling of being important, needed in the congregation. Competition between brothers to "print first/distribute first" could be a problem though. E-Books? Pages can be printed out for personal or book study use. Shipping costs related to magazines and books could also be reduced exponentially.
- Magazine Placements - Since no known exact ratio exists with regards to magazine placement and to what ends up in the trash, I think it may be safe to guess that if 20 million magazines are printed, roughly 13-15 million are dumped within a 3 month period? Why not just scale back magazine production to cover one per publisher and roughly 1 or 2 for field service use - primarily for return visits or bible studies ONLY. If electronic distribution is used, 'encourage' the publishers to lower their magazine orders per month. Instead of focusing on magazines in FS, use tracts. Magazines are practically given away in FS without ever mentioning the donation arrangement anyways. Tracts are more to the point and generally give the reader the reason for the visit. Most witnesses offer the Awake by briefly mentioning an article, but then barely show the cover of the Watchtower and then they mention "and we're also offering it's companion, The Watchtower." The Watchtower is usually seen by the householder as a freebie with the Awake.
- Books - Keep the smaller format coming. The larger size chewed up too much in printing costs. Going paperback was brilliant. The small size also helped reduce weight related shipping costs. Instead of offering one new book each year at the DC's, mix it up a little and offer a brochure(already doing this). Every few years bring out a new book to excite the publishers. A brochure can say just as much as a book can when it comes to "new light."
- Kingdom Hall for Sale - In larger cities, if the KH is not already being used by 3 or more congregations, think about consolidating the region/area to do so. Dedicated publishers will drive a little extra to be at the meetings. Real estate is where the money is at. KH's, with property, can be sold for $200-300k in most areas. If the money crunch really comes, then do as other religions do - meet in people's homes. Book study groups could remain the same for all meetings. A new meeting format would need to be created if this were to happen. If congregations are instructed to sell off their KH's, then that will be the sign of the end for the WTS.
I honestly cannot see the WT surviving without incorporating some of the above recommendations. They seem to be trying very hard to operate strictly in a brick & mortar mode. As is the case with many companies today, if you do not have an online presence and your primary revenue generator is sales of goods, you won't last long. The WTS will have to include online "sales" of their literature. Not "sales" in the traditional sense, but getting their money without having to print a page. And this is another area I would be wary of. If your average publisher prints out or downloads his private study literature, will he feel oligated to donate for it since he paid for the paper and internet access?
The WTS is running out of options, and fast. With the 100 year anniversary of 1914 approaching, things are not looking too good. And that's good for us!
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juni
I agree w/you Gary because I can't dispute the fact that this IS how they operate now.
Juni
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metatron
Good point, Gill
This is a guerilla war and the Watchtower can't win. They are like the Imperial Japanese in WW2, who hoped for
one great decisive naval victory that would defeat the US. It never happened. The Watchtower hopes for Armageddon
and sees their empire wither away.
Chat rooms mentioned at the assembly? I'd say that supports my ideas about the internet rather than contradicts
them. It's just lonely Witlesses getting into romantic trouble, not encountering evil apostates.
metatron
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Jourles
I wonder who 'GETS IT ALL' all the billions they have away should they ever be disbanded?
Any ideas! I understand that there are no 'shareholders' and would be fascinated to know what would happen to all that money if Armageddon ever comes for the WTBTS.
According to the tax laws that govern 501(c)(3) entities, if an organization disolves itself for whatever reason(or is forced out of business), all assets must be passed on to another 501(c)(3) organization. This is the backup plan that the WTS probably had in mind when they split the org into many corporations. Just keep moving the money around.
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Jourles
Chat rooms mentioned at the assembly?
Not only mentioned, but incorporated into the recent resolution at the DC:
We will resist with all our strength the spirit of the world manifested in such things as materialism, unwholesome entertainment, overindulgence in food and alcoholic beverages, the plague of pornographic material and the curiosity or temptation that lures one into association with outsiders through internet chat rooms. Our resolve is to be no part of world as we ‘carry on worship that is clean from the standpoint of our God.’
The WTS has always defined "chat rooms" as any form of written communication that can be made over the internet with the exception of email. It includes forums such as JWD.
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garybuss
The Society might want to give the impression they're not worried about Witnesses using the Internet, but when I look at their behavior . . . they're seeing the Internet as a HUGE issue. A search of the 2005 CD shows the word Internet used 618 times since 1997.
The Watch Tower Society invited the public to their convention this summer and then presented the visiting public with a resolution containing an Internet warning. That's hardly indifference.
Naaaa! I'm not buying it! These guys have Internet phobia. We hear it at meetings, in committee meetings, in private conversations. The Witnesses speak what the Society believes. What do the believing Witnesses say about the Internet? -
Jourles
And if you're one of the lucky ones to get a shepherding call from the elders due to your lack of effort, what is the first question they ask you if you bring up one little doubt?
Brother so-and-so, did you read that on the internet?
This is their standard MOP these days when dealing with anyone who might ask an "apostate" type question. If you say yes to the previous question from the elders, you might as well brand that scarlet A across your forehead now and get it over with.
If the internet wasn't a big deal to them, they would never ask the jw's if they've been visiting "apostate" websites. But according to the WTS these days, if a jw goes off the deep end, most likely the internet was the cause of it.
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metatron
Guys, read your provided quote about the internet carefully. What are they expressing concern about?
Going to evil apostate web sites? Reasoning with us? looking up "jehovah's witnesses" on google and ending up
Nope, just chat rooms. I can almost guarantee you that they are getting reports about Joe Elder running
off with Tiffany Bigmelons , after he got into a chat room.
I'd say the chat room quote is the exception that proves the rule: Are they worried about doctrine? or scandal?
Guys like Cano raise eyebrows for awhile - but you know what the average Witness will say about it.
"Jehovah is keeping his organization clean by exposing this".
Don't get me wrong - I came here via the internet and its exposure of the blood issue but then again, I have
a brain and think , unlike most zombie Witnesses! ( and so do you!).
Chat rooms? It ain't about doctrine or scandal - it's about lonely, horny Witnesses making stupid decisions
based on their fantasy mind set. This is the Society's primary worry about the net - and they nearly said so...
metatron