The FDS is ME!
Yes, that's right Recovery, I have been appointed by the master over all his domestics. Now all you have to do, is mail me a check for as much as you can scrape together, and you will survive Armageddon! I guarantee it! Actually... JEHOVAH guarantees it. He said so in the bible.
Seriously though, why are you so stuck on this? The entire idea of applying this PARABLE to a person/group came from a reader of the early Zion's Watchtower. He/she wrote in to Russell, suggesting that this PARABLE could be applied to Russell himself. While he sort of made light of it at the time, he certainly never denied it. After his death, Rutherford declared that it was an indisputable fact! That Pastor Russell was th 'faithful and wise steward' mentioned in Matt. 24. To doubt this was to doubt the Lord himself!
Today, as you of course know the FDS is referred to as the entire collective body of the 'anointed remnant' even though these are NEVER called on for their opinions or beliefs. The GB does not consult their fellow "brothers of Christ" at all. So how can this be?
The simple fct of the matter though, is that when the evidence is weighed, the evidence for this just being a goddamned PARABLE and not a prophesy, not referring to a person, group, church, system or anything FAR outweighs the support for the WT current view, or even a variation thereof.
Piaf after your personal consideration of the bible account in context, and the points that have been presented you by the great minds on this board, you need to take a closer look at your own confirmation bias. We've all had to do it, even when we didn't know what it was. Maybe it's your turn.