WTWizard - “…do they really want life to be a complete drudgery?”
When I was younger, I thought maybe the WT leadership figured that since secular infrastructure could be initially problematic in the New System (for a number of obvious reasons), the rank-and-file might be better off not letting themselves become overly dependent on technology.
These days, I think they just never wanted the average JW to be too comfortable, lest they pine for the New System a little less… and let’s face it, life these days is arguably more comfortable than back in, say, the 50s and 60s.
Similar to how they never seemed to particularly want overly good-looking members. I always found the sheer blandness of young people portrayed in JW media was depressing AF… I’d be like, “this is how a ‘righteous’ kid is supposed to look?” 😟