So that's why what you would call the old timers are all gone, at least for the most part? There was the camaraderie and the good times up until the early eighties so when they felt that come on they would not accept such a drastic change. Ok, not the ONLY reason you all left but you get the gist.
I remember how excited everyone was when I think it was 1976 Charley and I drove to San Francisco to a theatre on Mission Street. The main speaker was Quentin Hubbard. Such a soft-spoken and charismatic guy. All of us in the audience we're extremely enthusiastic towards him. I'm glad I got to see him.
I guess I could be considered something of an "Old Timer" but I still feel like a late comer compared to the pre-70s batch. My first experiences went back to the early 70s and it was a kick. To hear Tory and others talk about it, those were the Good ol days. By 77 it was a very mixed bag and it got progressively more insane from there on out. I attribute everything to LRH. The guy was a micromanaging tyrant. It was impossible for him to not know what was going on. If it happened it was because he sanctioned it, it provided plausible deniability or he just hadn't gotten around to crushing it yet. The FBI raids were spun as government suppression against Freedom of Religion and unless you waded through entheta news and risked your good standing, who knew the truth?
But yes, while people were still having a great time in Class IV orgs and especially missions near colleges, the RPF at Big Blue was up to about 170 - 200 people, many of whom were highly trained vets from those good old days. We thought this was a bad phase and we would endure the hardships together to see a better day, but it never happened. I'm sure a lot of people left because of radical changes but also because they were worn down and disabused of any romantic notions over a period of time.
Scientology could have taken two paths - Fun or Guilt.
We think "Fun" would have been the more successful and financially viable route but it requires the free flow of ideas and information. There were always fundamental problems with:
• Revelation of LRH's location
• Revelation of LRH's organizational & financial control
• Revelation of LRH's real biography
• Revelation of what was really in the upper levels
• Critical assessment of the teachings
• Critical assessment of the organizational behavior
• Uncontrolled dissemination of information and material
• Uncontrolled media exposure
• Uncontrolled internal PR
• Uncontrolled interaction by disaffected members
•
Reasonableness with excuses to not donate money, volunteer or purchase services
• Challenges to internal disciplinary actions
That left "Guilt" and it only needed to last as long as LRH was alive.