Watchtower Society: something terribly going on - scenarios

by Gorbatchov 35 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Gorbatchov

  If an (aggressive) real estate fund is stopping it's operations directly,

  and if an publishing house is minimize the portfolio,

  and if a member of it's board of directors is telling the costs are higher then the profits,

  than we now there must be something going terribly wrong.

  So, with the urgent and haste of changing plans in a U-turn, we can conclude that the WTS has:

  1) put their assets safe on the Caymans Islands, protecting it for legal reasons (Australia, VS lawsuits).

  or

  2) have made a terribly mistake with options, high risk investments or theft by one of it's financial advisors.

  or

  3) did have no clue about their assets and made expansion plans without financial advise, now a emergency stop is made.

  So, what do you think, are these reasonable scenarios?

  Gorby
• 

  konceptual99

  My gut feel is that somehow they have simply let the pace of change get the better of them and failed to count the cost properly.

  I suspect that have estimated that costs on projects could be covered but then had one or more variables change such as:

  - increased costs of projects through repeated works, unexpected employment of contractors etc.

  - recognition that income from property sales will not come in quickly enough to ensure suitable cash flow

  - concerns over the real income to be realised through donations in perpetuity

  - ring-fencing of funds in expectation of legal obligations (e.g. pedo payouts)

  - cash flow simply not meeting demands

  - some kind of issue with investments.

  I don't think anyone is under some illusion that the WTS is about to collapse financially but I've not seen anything like this before. I just wonder if the pace of change over the past few years has simply brought some chickens home to roost.
  
• 

  millie210

  While all your options listed are possible I tend to think it is number 3.

  I dont think they had no financial advice I think they listened to the wrong advice.

  That would indicate a huge power struggle is going on high up and they listened to the wrong team.

  OR they listened to the right team but something BIG has blown up (indicated by taking down the pictures of Warwick from their website) and they have to conserve funds.
• 

  done4good

  Immediate insolvency type issue? Not likely. Long-term sustainability concerns? Oh, they have those for a certainty. Is the current stop on a dime changes related to that? That would seem a bit extreme. So it is anyone's guess...

  Something is up for sure. That something might be something else other than a financial concern altogether. I don't much care for blind speculation, but the pieces don't quite fit on this one, after giving it some thought over the last few days. While the anecdotal evidence points to something financial, I am not so sure that is a given. They would have to have been way off in their forecasting to cancel almost all projects. I will use the same reasoning I did on 9/11 when taxiing on the tarmac in Huston towards the gate on a business trip, when over the PA it was stated, "all connecting flights have been cancelled, as all airports in the USA are shut down, due to the 'incident' in NY...". My first thought was, "That never happened before in the history of aviation, what the hell just happened?". Likewise, the WT never cancelled all major construction before. Something is up, and I don't know that it is just about immediate finances.
  

  I would theorize that something much bigger could be in the works. As Orphan Crow pointed out on another thread, it could be something anticipated, however not necessarily planned for. I would not go as far as an ordered shut down, (at least not internationally), maybe something more localized, but equally upsetting to the R&F, if they were to discover it. Creating a financial issue smokescreen could be just the distraction needed.

  I would go as far to say that all of the changes over the last few years might have something to do with this. There is some serious re-branding and re-positioning taking place. Maybe that is not such a coincidence after all.

  Time will tell.
  

  d4g
  
• 

  sir82

  I'd vote for (3), maybe modified to "Nitwit GB members overrode the recommendations of their financial advisers, and are now stuck with a mountain of debt".
  
• 

  LevelThePlayingField

  Option 3, because they basically told us in a borgcast that the Kingdumb hell loans they cancelled no one is actually paying back their lotted sums anymore and they are really hurting from that. And the donations in are less than expenses out, and this must have been for a while now.
• 

  John Aquila

  I don’t believe they have a financial problem. They have billions not millions and a large volunteer army who would fall on a grenade for the organization.

  I wouldn’t even be surprised if the GB are just as much in the dark as the dubs, perhaps just one step above in what’s actually happening.

  These guys are shrewd. They haven’t stayed in business over 100 years selling invisible crap because they were dumb. They know how to play the game of deception and they play it well. They wave their hand in front of your face and while your attention is on their hand, they kick you in the balls.

  We will find out as time goes on.
• 

  Vidiot

  Number 1 was already confirmed last month.

  Number 2 and 3 are both likely, because they're the sort of things that happen when you base all your decisions on a fundamentally flawed ideology.
• 

  Vidiot

  millie210 - "I dont think they had no financial advice I think they listened to the wrong advice."

  Easily done when you surround yourself solely with people who are only ever allowed to tell you what you want to hear.
• 

  kairos

  I think there is very good chance that the top, all long time or born-in JWs, really believe YHWH is guiding them. They are "all in".

  They are finding that this is not the case, and confusion is setting in, paving the way for the mass exodus from Watchtower. Sadly, I expect some long time bethelites, DOs or COs, special pioneers, missionaries will commit suicide after they learn that it was all a for profit ( not prophet ) cult. This truly worries me.

  It may start slow, but will gather momentum when WTS leadership enters prison, is paying millions in lawsuits, goes bankrupt or all of the above.

  Many of our old "friends" will need our help and comfort after years of them shunning us. I'll forgive the humble...