I know, LHG, there are plenty of losers and users outside of the organization, also. My cousin, who left the org at 15, is that way. I did quite a bit to help her, including paying for car repairs, treating her to restaurants, and giving her money. Then I found her a job. She was hired on my recommendation. She ended up in jail, and got fired because she stopped showing up to work. The, when I saw her again, she had the nerve to tell me that, “I should be helping her, because she’s poor.” I wanted to give her a hand up, but she wanted a hand out. I gave up, and now she doesn’t talk to me. 🤷♀️
Reddit thread re Oct 2024 WT with picture of window washer - Theme knocking people who Planned
by LongHairGal 37 Replies latest jw friends
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LongHairGal
BIAHI:
Yes, that’s true that there are plenty of users/losers outside the JW religion.. The person you describe I would only help once.
The difference is that people outside the religion don’t knock and shun people who work like the JWs do. JWs are very bad with this mentality…JWs think they can demonize responsible people who work full time and still imagine these people would give them charity!!! Sorry, but not in my book.
Even though I’m Out a long time, it still gets me that older hypocrite JWs with cushy lives who pushed poverty on gullible young people - are not even around to help anybody they misled. Those gullible young people would be senior citizens today.
So Glad I never listened to anybody back then. Maybe my ‘worldly’ upbringing saved me.
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Beth Sarim
"Maybe my 'worldly' upbringing saved me".
Exactly. You weren't "unduly influenced".
Thats what the Borg preys upon. Is the low hanging fruit on the tree.
They want jws only marrying jws. So the craziness can continue.
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Balaamsass2
I clearly remember in the 70s a year after High School graduation being "counseled" by two elders and a Circuit Overseer on THREE occasions for "Materialism" i.e.: WORKING FULL TIME and not Pioneering, "because the end is any day now". At that time I was helping out my mom, grandparents, and trying to save a little for school. NOPE, not good enough if you want "congregation privileges"! So I buckled, believed I was wrong, started pioneering and eventually went to Bethel. Everyone but me profited and was happy. The Brothers who counseled me hired me P/T at a 30% discount (+no benefits) to what I had been making hourly from "Worldly employers" so I would have more "flexible" hours. THEY, the 2 elders benefited. Later, Bethel was happy because they got a skilled worker at a 90% discount of what I had been making and.. ZERO benefits. After a few years of worthless backslaps and hollow "honor", I quit the free/discount labor pool. Of course the Elders receiving the discounted labor were angry it ended, and Watchtower was angry the free labor tap was turned off. Bethel tried to pressure me to stay, claiming I was abandoning "Gods house" to go where the "greed was greater". Yep, no thanks for the volunteer labor, no kudos or thanks, ..just " you won't give us more free labor??!!".
Ten years later, in the 80s after attending JC. night school, and getting a job with a major Financial Corporation, a C.O. and two elders visited again to "council me" about my weekly contributions to the Company 401K pension, insurance, and an IRA. "This shows a lack of faith in the end being close!" "You are working in the center of Satan's Financial System!!!!" (My horrified first wife had shared my check stub w/deductions with the CO that "proved" I had no faith in the closeness of the END!)
Today, the two elders are are dead, their widows left in poverty. The COs are both dead, as are their wives. My overseers in Bethel ...DEAD... after being booted during Bethel downsizings. My EX wife, is a penniless 73 year JW "bag lady" who begs at Starbucks. The SAD fruits of those that ignore 6th grade math, simple logic, and the Bibles council to "go to the ant you lazy one".
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Biahi
I remember reading about you and your ex wife, Balaamsass. Such a sad story, your ex wife is homeless and penniless. The Watchtower must be so proud!
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Balaamsass2
Today 60 to 80-year-old JWs are facing other financial hurdles. In addition to the extra 20 hrs a week of "Theocratic" activities devouring there spare time for the last 40 years, they experience the difficulties ALL Baby boomer retirees face.
The most-read story in the Wall Street Journal today explains these issues:
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America’s 60-Year-Olds Are Staring at Financial Peril
A bruising recession and the disappearance of pensions have left many young boomers financially exposed" "Shauna Sharpes doesn’t travel and grows much of her own food at her home in western Washington state. The payroll manager for a local Native American tribal authority has meager savings and expects she will have to keep working for at least the next decade.
Part of her challenge: She turned 60 in January, putting her at the tail end of a baby boom generation that is hurtling toward retirement age in uncertainty. Born in a midcentury, postwar America brimming with promise, many of the youngest boomers are still sporting financial bruises from the 2007-09 recession and the nation’s steady shift away from guaranteed pensions.
“The most important things for me right now are a place to live indoors, water and food,” said Sharpes, who has about $3,000 in her retirement accounts. “And thinking about how I’m going to provide that for myself from now until I drop dead.”
By the end of this year, the youngest baby boomers will all turn 60. The birth dates of those in this generation—around 70 million strong, or one in five Americans—cover a 19-year span stretching from the aftermath of World War II to 1964, the year the Beatles made their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. " "Older Americans—including young boomers with retirement accounts powered by a booming stock market—remain a major force in the economy. Those 55 and up control nearly 70% of U.S. household wealth, Federal Reserve data show.
But that age group also includes older adults with little if any retirement funds socked away, or only Social Security to lean on, who are facing golden years laden with risk. For millions of younger boomers, who could live at least two more decades, a lost job or expensive medical problem could upend their stability while ramping up pressure on younger generations. " Older Americans—including young boomers with retirement accounts powered by a booming stock market—remain a major force in the economy. Those 55 and up control nearly 70% of U.S. household wealth, Federal Reserve data show.
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LongHairGal
BALAAMSASS3:
Firstly, I’m glad you stopped providing free labor when you were young. And, those elders trying to guilt you about materialism - were they wearing rags and starving? I doubt it. It’s also sad about your ex. I certainly would never wish this on anybody.
Again, I’m so Thankful I never listened and kept on working full time.. But, I did not have the undue influence of people born in..so I never cared what anybody thought.
It all just shows how damaged somebody can be by following what this religion says. The sobering thing is seeing how so many older JWs have passed away. They can’t help anybody and what does it matter what they said and what their opinions were.
I also read that article about how 60 year olds today are not prepared with savings/pensions. Of course,, this isn’t just Witnesses but others as well. But, let’s never forget that Witnesses actually criticize people who work - whereas non-JWs are looking for jobs and can’t find them!