The change they made in the 1990s with literature might have started them on the path that they find themselves on now. I think a major reason for these changes is the decrease in income, which wasn't a problem when they were 'placing' millions of books and magazines and receiving payment for each one.
They could afford to advise the rank and file to eschew higher education and better-paying jobs when they could raise money from literature sales. And it was simple greed that ended the practice; they didn't want to pay taxes on literature sales, so they figured they could dump the responsibility on the individual publishers and get around it. That did not turn out the way they hoped.
Now they are looking to open the doors in the hopes that people will join and provide a quickly-growing base from which to collect donations. I don't think that will go very well for them, but it should be interesting to watch.
Hmm, I'm looking at my analysis in light of the topic we are in, and it almost seems an appropriate comparison. Make bad decisions based on personal desires, and watch as things start to fall apart...