Pro FSMs.
A subject near and dear to my heart.
I was Sea Org service org staff from the early 80s until the mid 90s. I worked on the Dissem lines and worked closely with both Div 2 and Div 6 staff. I knew all the FSMs mentioned in this thread personally; some of them very well. Ironically, out of all the Pro FSMs, Ty Dillard was probably my favorite. He was a really nice guy, and very grounded if you actually sat down and talked to him. It actually really surprises me, knowing him as I did, that he's still in. He has the brains to know better.
Anyway...
From what I know, the original purpose of FSMs was to get public into Scientology. They would disseminate to them, then route them to a mission or a lower org or a field auditor or whatever. In return, they would get a percentage of what the person paid for services.
This system depended on there actually being a ground level structure. Active field auditors, missions, field groups, Class V orgs delivering service.
Well, as we know, the ground level structure was ripped apart. Missions were decimated, field auditors eliminated, Class V orgs became barely functional.
It became quite obvious that it was a lot more lucrative to hitch yourself to a person who was already a Scientologist and "become his FSM" than it was to get new people in.
First of all, the more fucked up COS got, the harder it was to get people in. It was a lot of freakin' work that may or may not pan out. Second of all, the guys going to the AOs and Flag were going to be actually spending some money. And they were already on board with the game so there wasn't that major hurdle to deal with.
So this entity: the "Professional FSM" came out of this.
These were guys who were generally OT and had some training (some a LOT of training). Though the FSM I/C is technically a Div 6 post, the FSMs pretty much worked with the Div 2 regges. There was this weird symbiosis between the Sea Org regges and these people. They would sit in the reg office for hours every day and plot and plan who they could get money out of.
I don't know whether it's still going on, but in the '80s, during the "roll over" period (this had to do with public borrowing money off of other people's credit cards) the FSMs would work out who could borrow off of whose credit cards. Often Public A borrowed money/credit card credit from Public B, and they didn't even know each other. The FSM brokered the deal and picked up the commission.
Pro FSMs, like field auditors, mission holders and those outside the Sea Org box, had a volatile relationship with Scientology management. I saw missions come in to the org to "put ethics in" on the FSMs. They would scurry away like roaches when these people in Class As ordered them in for sec checks. The GI would crash. Another mission would come in to "get the FSMs productive". They would be lured in; their asses would get kissed; it was all good again. Back and forth.
The bottom line: these guys represent the cannibalization of existing Scientology public because there are no new Scientology public.
And this was the 80s.
You can only imagine how much worse it is now.
