Possible Economic Defeat of the Watchtower

by metatron 22 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  metatron

  The organization collectively owns a lot of property. However, I believe they are thinly 'financed', if you will.

  Since contributions have sagged so badly in recent years, it leaves them vunerable to many different factors.

  For one thing, I think that the organization was strongly protected from lawsuits by Witnesses - or their relatives

  because such a thing was considered unthinkable, something you didn't do. However, with so many drifting away

  or getting Df'd - and the exposure of the internet - the possibility of somebody sueing a Kingdom Hall isn't unthinkable anymore.

  I wonder how many settlements it would take to 'break' the average Assembly Hall, if such only cost 2- 3 million bucks

  to begin with - and would cost much more to rebuild today. It's possible they may suffer more from these 'whiplash' style

  lawsuits than any connected with child sexual abuse, unfortunately - although the scandal connected with the latter

  is useful in exposing them.

  At some point, Circuit Overseers must become a burden to the organization, both financially and legally.

  They are the vital link that joins the Society to the misdeeds of local elders. I imagine they'd cut missionary expenses

  before they let C.O.'s go - if they haven't done so already!

  They can survive for awhile by selling off some property here and there. Maybe they can get a variance and dump the

  factories in Brooklyn too, if they're lucky.

  Ultimately, they will be 'chipped away'

  metatron
• 

  stillajwexelder

  they can also sell some of the less important Branch Offices - I think Britain, Germany and Japan would stay and possibly one in South America -- but many of the others could be done away with -- and what a great excuse for even more central control -- BTW I agree, Missionaries and Special Pioneers would go first (after a massive reduction in Bethelites) -- District Overseers next and COs would have more congregations under their control and be COMPLETELY financed by the congregations rather than the Society -- Assembly Halls could then be sold and used rented accomadation only and cut out the Special Assembly Day - or even go down to one assembly/convention per year. They have plenty of moves yet before they go under

  And if they plead with the Brothers and make some concessiosn they could get more donations for a while
• 

  metatron

  The big question is: how long this can go on before Joe Publisher catches on. For some ex-Witnesses, pointing out

  the economic slide of the organization could be more effective than any other argument they could make.

  metatron
• 

  gitasatsangha

  the end of that path is that they would have new light and encourage the remaining witnesses (almost certainly all of them left would be hardlinder families and the nutcases) to move to Witnesses communities. They'd be a step or two behind the Amish and Jonesville, but they could make up for lost time.
• 

  stillajwexelder

  It could go on as long as 10 years -- I tell you why - because they could also cut costs by going to monthly magazines - do away with the calendars -- massively cut down on new releases - they still have a few moves ahead of them - Joe Publishere suspects something ios not just quite right alraedy IMHO -that is whay hours are down and other figures continue to fall and why there are constant Local Needs items on Meeting Attendance
• 

  stillajwexelder

  giant waterfront building owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses in Brooklyn Heights could soon go on the block - with an early estimated price tag of $120 million.
  The potential sale of the nearly 1 million-square-foot building at 360 Furman St., a structure that many expect would be converted to luxury lofts, has local Realtors abuzz. Some 400 to 500 condominium apartments could have views of Brooklyn, Manhattan, New York Harbor and the East River. "The potential gross sellout price as condos could be half a billion dollars," said one appraiser, who asked that his name not be used.

  JUST SOLD SEE NEW THREAD
• 

  RunningMan

  A few lawsuits and a general drying up of the waters under the old whore would go a long way toward a wake up call.

  I can already see the signs of financial distress. In times past, donations were barely mentioned. It's different now. At last year's district convention every single announcement began with a detailed explanation of how to donate. There was even a half hour talk about donating. When I was an accounts servant in the late 90s, it would not be unusual to remit less than $100 to the Society for a month's worldwide work donations - that would only cover about 20% of the prior face value of the mags.

  My wife was talking to her mother today. At yesterday's WT study, there were 23 in attendance. When I was in that congregation in the early 80's the attendance would routinely top 100.

  And, every time they turn around, they are getting stung by locusts - child molestation lawsuits, tax problems in France, bans in Russia, a traffic accident settlement in the US, and of course, e-watchman is taking them down with a letter writing campaign.

  Undoubtedly, they still have some pretty good resources at their disposal, but they must be starting to hurt.
• 

  metatron

  120 million? maybe so

  But that half a billion will go to the building's developers! -the guys who sell the lofts.

  Magazines may turn into a disaster. People used to send in 5 bucks per subscription,

  so maybe 6 million Witlesses generate 60 million a year for individual subscriptions

  to the two magazines. Now, they often lay there at the Kingdom Hall, until they attend another

  meeting. Maybe they glance thru them during a boring talk - and maybe a few stalwarts

  toss a few bucks in the World Wide Work box.

  I think they may be hurting ($) in every press run of the Watchtower they crank out!

  They may be screwed in this. This is likely why you see so little literature these days,

  except for cheap little tracts or a few paperback books.

  metatron
• 

  Elsewhere

  Has anyone recently looked at the number of mags printed that is listed in the front cover page?

  I'm wondering what that value is now.
• 

  boa

  possible....we'll see

  can anyone give anything concrete about donations being and worldwide attendance being down. I've seen it here is BC canada but mostly one lone guy's observation...

  boa