^ (R.B.C. was the Regional Building Committee, responsible for building kingdom halls and assembly halls)
Why the hell would anyone in their right mind choose to go to Bethel now?
I mean, at least before you might have the chance of living out your retirement in relative comfort in a quiet office job with your bed and board paid for, but now you might be kicked out at 50, with possibly no "real world" work experience, meaning little chance of salaried employment much above minimum wage, and no state pension and no retirement fund.
It's basically signing yourself up to a lonely, poor, early death, surviving on the dole.
Also:
- Based on above, the branch is appointing external companies to do the bulk or major building work
- Several brothers have been approached to send their bids for the construction work
From my own experience, if they're looking for volunteers relatively locally who the don't have to find accommodation for, then there is no way they will find enough skilled brothers under 50 for construction (especially when they get to the specialised stuff like plumbing and electrics - almost all the current RBC specialists in those areas are over 50+). That probably means that the new bethel facilities will almost certainly be built by "worldly" companies! So much for "Jehovah's blessing" eh?
- Some of the flats will get built and then will be sold for the public
They're not even being subtle about it anymore, are they? They are a full-blown declared property investment company.