I loved Simon's comment.
It truly is a social network. That's why my mother join back in the early 1950's. She was a spiritual orphan, with no friends or family (at least ones she like). She went to the KH and was loved bombed and was called "Sister Norma." Plus the good news, her and her new friends would soon be on a paradise Earth, after god would kill off millions of bad people.
Yes, welcome to the "great/in crowd".
Yes, Simon is right the witnesses are not going away anytime soon.
There always be will plenty of social misfits, spiritual orphans and structure junkies to fill their ranks and files. I do believe they are losing their children trying to sell this program to them. Kids are so much smarter today then my generation..... thank god both my kids are out.
As to "saveathome's" question
In the 1970's Bethelites could have out side jobs. It was frown upon but legal. They only paid us $22 a month in 1974 and $14 of that went for subway tokens. If your folks weren't sending money that $8 didn't go far. So guys went out and worked 5 to 10 hours a week most of them at the minimum wage of $1.45 an hour. They made more in one night then they made at Bethel working there for a whole month.
Because of people like my friend Dave abusing the G jobbing thing sometime in the 1980's or 1990's they made it illegal to do outside work. Instead they bumped up their wage to $100 a month, or about $.50 an hour.