Cowboy, you mentioned flashes of brilliance in Ron. Could you explain what you meant, there?
Sure. I had the same question earlier and meant to answer it. First, LRH had the insight to form a religion, with all the tax advantages and freedoms that entails. As Dianetics faded out, he morphed into Scn, expanding a belief system so that he could attract more adherents, even leaving the borders of countries to avoid the restraining laws.
He could play into people's desires, and dexterously manipulate them. Who doesn't want to be a spiritual being in command of the 8 dynamics? He was a student of other religions and history, and could wield that knowledge to manipulate human nature.
But, first hand brilliance; He knew how to use the legal system. Unfortunately, whoever has the most money and attorneys wins, and used that to great effect against the enemies of the church. I saw him use that, a winning strategy, many times, and, to give him credit, he called a spade a spade and explained that was exactly what he was doing. In fact, the church follows that guideline to this day.
Money was power. He played the game. Buying off people was part of the game. His goal was to win. So he used the resources he had.
The whole marketing scheme was brilliant. He continually refreshed people's orientation toward God-like powers, keeping them focused on that, to avoid dealing with minor details... such as the tech didn't work.
The CMO was brilliant. Why do armed services start people at a young age? The same reasons he started his messengers young, they were impressionable. He could mold them into what he wanted them to be.
He maintained a safety net of fallback positions where he could retreat to, always planning, like a chess game, several moves ahead. I mean that physically. Locations he could shift to if the FBI came knocking.
He created enemies that you could hate. Psychiatrists. SPs. Xenu. FBI. Squirrels. And, like armed conflicts through history, he sought to make them objects of hatred devoid of humanity.
Like a magician, if you watch his hands, you would be so busy that you would miss what he really didn't want you to see or question.
And most of all, by setting himself up as a deity, there was no questioning his statements. He was, after all, delivering messages from the holy mount.
Messengers, and I hate to say this, cause I was one, were like dogs at his feet, luxuriating in his slightest word of praise. And so, we too, closest to him, fell into his grand scheme. This was not by chance.