Her Prophet Reflects
~I started reading Sci-Fi when I was a kid in the late 1950's, Tom Swift Jr. to be precise. But I moved up quickly and soon discovered one of the more prolific writers of The Golden Age, L. Ron Hubbard.
At this point I'd never heard of Dianetics, so I came to his work without preconceptions. And I loved it. His worldview was much like mine. He seemed to have utter contempt for the majority of the human race and could be quite brutal in expressing such upon the page. That he did this within the context of ripping good Space Opera yarns made it all the more fun for an adolescent boy.
So when I finally encountered Dianetics etc, I was bemused. This work did not at all sound like the man whom I'd known for years. As time went on, I heard this and that and came to my own conclusions about the whole thing; it was a Grand Human Behavioral Experiment.
I now believe L. Ron started the thing to prove his point that humans were, by and large, gullible fools who would buy into just about any line of bullshit if it was properly packaged. And I believe he planed to reveal that it was all a hoax at some point, though I suspect that point kept receding as it was making him a lot of money.
I believe that in the end, those actually running the organization got nervous about his possible 'dying intention' to reveal the hoax and 'helped him over to the other side' before he had a chance to ruin their rather sweet ride.
That was my first thought when I read his Obit in the NYT...the day after The Challenger blew up. “Ah yes, bet he's been on ice for a while and his death now will just slip past the Media in all this hysteria and grief.”
I suppose all that makes me a Suppressive Person. I've been called worse. But I'm not yet a big enough deal to be declared Fair Game. However I expect that such will come eventually.
It should be noted that none of his old work can be found anymore, just the later knock-off crap. No doubt 'they' bought them all up and burned them and have denied anyone the rights to reprint. Mustn’t let the flock be confused.
At this point I'd never heard of Dianetics, so I came to his work without preconceptions. And I loved it. His worldview was much like mine. He seemed to have utter contempt for the majority of the human race and could be quite brutal in expressing such upon the page. That he did this within the context of ripping good Space Opera yarns made it all the more fun for an adolescent boy.
So when I finally encountered Dianetics etc, I was bemused. This work did not at all sound like the man whom I'd known for years. As time went on, I heard this and that and came to my own conclusions about the whole thing; it was a Grand Human Behavioral Experiment.
I now believe L. Ron started the thing to prove his point that humans were, by and large, gullible fools who would buy into just about any line of bullshit if it was properly packaged. And I believe he planed to reveal that it was all a hoax at some point, though I suspect that point kept receding as it was making him a lot of money.
I believe that in the end, those actually running the organization got nervous about his possible 'dying intention' to reveal the hoax and 'helped him over to the other side' before he had a chance to ruin their rather sweet ride.
That was my first thought when I read his Obit in the NYT...the day after The Challenger blew up. “Ah yes, bet he's been on ice for a while and his death now will just slip past the Media in all this hysteria and grief.”
I suppose all that makes me a Suppressive Person. I've been called worse. But I'm not yet a big enough deal to be declared Fair Game. However I expect that such will come eventually.
It should be noted that none of his old work can be found anymore, just the later knock-off crap. No doubt 'they' bought them all up and burned them and have denied anyone the rights to reprint. Mustn’t let the flock be confused.