long story short, a friend of mine around the same age as me is df'd.
she's from another city.
we met up a few months ago with other exjws.
Questions to determine if he stays an elder include:
Is the congregation disturbed by the brother's action? Have a number lost respect for him?
That's just a invitation to gossip and bully people when they're down. "Poor souls" claiming they have been "stumbled" by the brother's actions. For crying out loud, how infantile.
i think plenty of JWs were "disturbed" and "lost respect" for Geoffrey Jackson over his ARC performance, so I wonder when he is going to step down?
i've received the following news from a reliable and trusted source: .
the demise of printing literature in the u.k. is being brought forward by one year - to march 2018. graphic design and printing support will go too.
large numbers of "disposable" bethelites will now have to make their own way in the world, when their "mother" abandons them.
It's hard to see how they could eliminate printing altogether.
But on the other hand, it just occurs to me that, when cutting costs, a 90% reduction in printing doesn't simply produce 90% reduction in expenditure, nowhere near it. So there's a certain futility to all the cost cutting unless they go all the way. Because whether they produce 100 million books a year or just 1 million books, they still need the presses, the buildings, repairs, the personnel, the expertise, the methods of distribution: the whole structure remains necessary, whether it's 100 million books a year or just 1 million. The only saving they are making is on paper and ink, and whatever other variable costs. The more substantial overheads remain.
So at a certain point won't they conclude that, if they have cut production by 90%, why not cut the final 10% and make the final savings? They could stop printing altogether, contract a few items to outside companies and that's it.
In the olden days how many books did the WT produce a year?
I reckon many publishers would get 2 copies of the new release, a yearbook, a day's text, possibly the bound volumes as well, a couple of copies of the primary study book for placing on the ministry, and every few years maybe a new Bible or song book, and occasional special items like Insight books, Bible stories books, Proclaimers, indexes, KIT, reference Bibles and so on. So I think a reasonable estimate is about 10 books a year per publisher. And considering some JWs placed a lot of books, that's probably a conservative estimate.
How many books do JWs get a year now? Well even the release at the convention was treated as a "special request". I'm curious if they will even print the yearbooks next year? It's down to next to nothing. They seem to have an abundant supply of Bible Teach books for the carts, but when they run out? They could get publishers down close to zero books a year at this rate.
I really think they are winding down in quite dramatic fashion.
september 6th, 2017: a just released research survey shows once again that jehovah's witnesses are among the least educated people in the united states: .
america’s changing religious identity.
it is also interesting to note how jws rank in the categories of: income, insurance coverage and homeownership.
Interesting, thanks for posting.
i was looking at the footnote in the 3rd ed.
of weymouth's nt (1912) on an unrelated topic and i happened on the phrase "the passing away of the present system of things" (p. 659 n. 2).
when i was in, i remember reading that the nwt "committee" (= f. franz) came up with that "system of things" rendering of the greek aion from john parkhurst's very old lexicon.
Very interesting observation. I can't recall any other particular dependence on Weymouth in the NWT off the top of my head.
But it seems possible this is the source of the phrase since Franz was eclectic in the places he gathered NWT idiosyncrasies. When I've got time I'm going to look at WT literature from the 1940s and 1950s to look for references to Weymouth, explanations of this "system of things" phrase, and the background of NWT peculiarities generally.
i've received the following news from a reliable and trusted source: .
the demise of printing literature in the u.k. is being brought forward by one year - to march 2018. graphic design and printing support will go too.
large numbers of "disposable" bethelites will now have to make their own way in the world, when their "mother" abandons them.
Yes?
;-)
in response to this thread.
i've put forward the argument that i believe that the 'organization' is financially effectively bleeding itself dry - it is actually financially imploding.. i believe that over the last 45 or so years, in particular, it has evolved from a relatively 'lean machine' into what is now a huge unwieldy organization.
as an organization grows i would expect increased efficiency through by both economies of scale, and advances in technology.. how has the watchtower organization fared?....
In fact they operated with fewer than 3000 in 1973. I reckon 1975 was a real boost for revenue and they increased personnel accordingly.
in response to this thread.
i've put forward the argument that i believe that the 'organization' is financially effectively bleeding itself dry - it is actually financially imploding.. i believe that over the last 45 or so years, in particular, it has evolved from a relatively 'lean machine' into what is now a huge unwieldy organization.
as an organization grows i would expect increased efficiency through by both economies of scale, and advances in technology.. how has the watchtower organization fared?....
Sorry I just read the first page and all the sources! Excellent.
i've received the following news from a reliable and trusted source: .
the demise of printing literature in the u.k. is being brought forward by one year - to march 2018. graphic design and printing support will go too.
large numbers of "disposable" bethelites will now have to make their own way in the world, when their "mother" abandons them.
darkspilver what is your opinion on where WT is headed in terms of book production and branch personnel?
in response to this thread.
i've put forward the argument that i believe that the 'organization' is financially effectively bleeding itself dry - it is actually financially imploding.. i believe that over the last 45 or so years, in particular, it has evolved from a relatively 'lean machine' into what is now a huge unwieldy organization.
as an organization grows i would expect increased efficiency through by both economies of scale, and advances in technology.. how has the watchtower organization fared?....
I find it amazing that they operated their worldwide publishing empire with fewer than 4000 branch employees in 1975, which must have been something of a peak in production, what with the blue Truth book, NWT in various aditions, Aid book, KIT, and numerous hardcover books in print, combined with the frenzy around the 6000 years.
Yet 40 years later they needed 26,000 employees at a time when book and magazine production was in steep decline. It shows how bloated the organisation had become.
Maybe when all the cutbacks are done they can shrink down to under 1000 bethelites worldwide?
By the way, are the sources for these figures listed anywhere?
i've received the following news from a reliable and trusted source: .
the demise of printing literature in the u.k. is being brought forward by one year - to march 2018. graphic design and printing support will go too.
large numbers of "disposable" bethelites will now have to make their own way in the world, when their "mother" abandons them.
Like others have said, production of physical books and magazines is down dramatically. The question is, what will they do when they've cut production by 90% or so? The last 10% production of books and magazines is going to cost a disproportionate amount to preserve. The variable costs (paper, ink and so on) are cut, but the fixed overheads remain. So when production reaches such a low, won't the temptation soon be to eliminate production altogether?
So I think they may halt printing altogether, publish online and contract a few items (Bibles and tracts) to outside printers.
At its peak the worldwide "bethel family" was, what 26,000 or something? How low can they go? Maybe a couple of thousand in 5 or so branches? United States, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, and Germany. A thousand in the United States and less than a hundred in each of the rest. Something like that?
