Veda, Mate, it's tough discussing this subject of $cn . . . particularly for guys whose experience of it spans so long a time. We experienced so much change during our time with it . . .
I know in my case, the change I saw/experienced from 1957 till 1965 and the from '65 till '79 and then from '79 till the blow up of '82-'83 . . . and forget about what has happened since. And in my case even comparing the differences I saw between the ways in which the HASI's and AO's operated in different countries is quite amazing.
Even I have to shake my head at trying to align or reconcile the differences . . . and I lived it . . . and these were/have been very different "versions" and practices if $cn I speak of.
The whole parade has been one of deceit and sleight of hand. The amount of razzle-dazzle the "Old Man" threw at us is quite amazing when I look back at it: and all the time I/we thought it was the result of his brilliant research

But instead it was razzle-dazzle designed to dazzle and impress and misdirect . . . just like a clever and deceitful magician does: and you/we got sold the falsehood
Those who got in after the introduction of "standard tech" in '68 have no idea what it was like in the '50's and '60's up till '65 with the advent and imposition of the dazzler's admin and management "tech."
Oppression in management was elevated to an art form of magical proportions from 1965 onwards . . . those not in prior to '65 have no idea how different, and fun, it was prior to the management and ethics tech oppression introduction.
For staffers, after the intro of oppressive management in '65, attention was in essence a 7/24 fixing of attention on your job as staff with all the demands of being training, hatted and keeping stats up along with trying to additionally run a life and eat and pay rent. One did not have time for looking elsewhere for information as any cross reference to the story we were fed on the $cn system's party line.
I well remember, while at Flag for services, hearing and applauding the system's party line regarding MSH's and trial . . . only to later learn the truth: what a shocker!
In retrospect, all I have to say is that Hubbard certainly knew how to trigger the buttons we all have into believing such things as: we can be better; reach for your true potential; and to then misuse and misdirect those basic truths with pursuits such as: this is the only way; we have the only workable system; you have to sacrifice to succeed; being abused and punished and placed under duress is the way to toughness . . . and worst and most insidious of all is his introduced notion that anyone who doesn't agree with us/this evil and doomed, etc.
And that last is worst and most insidious because it separated us from truth and prevented us from receiving the truths needed to unravel the hoax.
Rog