Witnesses of prior "generations" really believed in their message and lived with a sense of urgency. Today it seems as if everyone has mentally checked out. The door to door work is not effective partially because of the lackluster message but also because the people carrying the message don't seem to be convinced themselves of the importance of the work. Try to sell something that you wouldn't buy and see how many sales you make.
Many of the brothers and sisters are just pretenders trying to keep their social lives intact. The conventions and assemblies are predictable, expensive, and time consuming. Watching a stream of people heading for the exits during the last talk of the convention proved to me that many people would rather get out of the parking garage quickly and avoid the traffic jam than stay for the "bounteous spiritual feast".
The whole organization is burning out and dying out. The ones who are left are uneducated, unmotivated, and lazy. The new feature in the study article celebrates the history of the organization with articles on the sound cars, the rolling suitcase and things like that. Those people back then were convinced of the truth of their message and expended themselves. It is rare to see a modern day witness with the same zeal.
There is no comraderie anymore, instead there is a culture of fear as everyone walks on pins and needles trying not to stumble their brother in word or deed. If you screw up, the elders will be on you like stink on poop. This fact deincentivizes gaining close freinds in the organization. It is safer to remain acquaintances with a shallow level of interpersonal contact and not get burned.
This organization is a shell of what it once was. Time has run out. Prophecies have failed. there is no leadership, and everyone is motivated by fear and paranoia. They have nothing to sell anymore except for empty promises generated by some tool in the writing department.
SIAM