Me, a kid who was told I'd never graduate from high school, did in fact graduate in the pivotal year of 1975 while many of my JW contemporaries were dropping out of school to Pioneer because the end was so near. If anyone would have said back then that the system of things would still be here in 2016, they'd have been branded as an apostate or at the very least, someone of weak faith.
I went to Bethel and I sat at the Governing Body table for all of my meals. I realized back then that these somewhat "well meaning" men were just that....ordinary men. Although I continued as a JW for many decades, thankfully I had that eye opening experience and knew better to bank on what they said.
My Bro in Law and his wife have been in Bethel since they were in their
20's and if they're laid off, will have nothing to fall back on.
My Son was told that he'd never graduate but in fact he did graduate in the year 2000 and has recently given us our first grandchild. I'm 59 and about to retire relatively young, in a few months with a full pension. Thank goodness I didn't put all my eggs in one basket as I was instructed to do. I'm hearing about the different JW guys I knew who were a few years ahead of me who now have nothing to live on in their old age. Knowing how much I'm looking forward to stepping of the "tredmill", it saddens me to think of them not having a way out when one was so available.
When predicting the "end of the world", no one (other than Nostradamus) predicts it will happen after they've died. They are all worried about it coming in their lifetime or like the JW's are hoping it will come in their lifetime so they won't have to grow old. It's easy for them (especially young ones) to dismiss the failed predictions of the past. We all think the time we are living in is the most important and different time period of all and things will somehow be different than the times past.
I can say all of this as someone who lived through the 1975 fiasco and saw how easily my youthful trust, hopes and life's experiences the have been readily dismissed by the current batch of JW's who think it will be different for them. I did the same thing when I was younger in regard to the JW's who came before me and who counted on the end coming in their lifetime.