Theos-Talk Archives (May 2008 Message tt00547)

You are right on the money.

I vaguely recall that HPB & HSO decided to move to HQ from NY to India due
to precipitous decline in the US membership.

I wish the election challenge was handled differently. We will have to see
what happens after the election. We may see a long-lasting effect on TS.
mkr


On 5/14/08, Drpsionic@aol.com <Drpsionic@aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> I think a couple of answers would be obvious.? Radha's act sells better in
> India.? In some ways she is a creature out of Bollywood, assuming that there
> are Indian horror films.? But seriously, her administrative style may not
> grind on India the way it does elsewhere.
>
> The reason that John is the only other candidate is that he is probably the
> only one with the nerve to challenge a sitting TS President.? Contested
> elections for that position are pretty rare and even more rare if the
> President is still in office.
>
> Chuck the Heretic
>
> http://www.geocities.com/c_cosimano
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kpauljohnson <kpauljohnson@yahoo.com <kpauljohnson%40yahoo.com>>
> To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com <theos-talk%40yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wed, 14 May 2008 9:23 am
> Subject: Theos-World Re: TS Membership Trend
>
> Dear Doss,
>
> I find it hard to contribute anything constructive to this
> discussion, and neither theos-l nor theos-talk seem inclined to
> discuss anything but the upcoming election. So it was probably a bad
> time to resubscribe, and I'll soon take another long hiatus until
> this is over. But before taking leave, there are some questions I
> have for anyone who might care to ask, which might be no one. These
> are elephants in the room that it seems useful for both sides to
> ignore.
>
> > the rest of the world had 24,448. Today, according to the 2007
> Annual
> > Report of the TS, the Indian Section has 12,444 members and the rest
> > of the world 16,570."
> >
> > This shows that in India, the membership has increased by 59%.
> > In rest of the world, it has declined by 32%.
> >
> Question: how much of that shrinkage is due to national sections
> losing membership, and how much of it is due to Radha's (high-handed,
> arrogant, secretive, unaccountable, IMO) treatment of national
> sections that were expelled?
>
> Question two: can anyone testify that John Algeo is any less high-
> handed, arrogant, secretive, and unaccountable in his attitudes
> toward the TS and its members?
>
> > population has grown. In addition, with the coming down of Iron
> Curtain,
> > there is more democracy in East European countries. In spite of
> this the
> > membership has declined. Why?
> >
> Question three: how much is the failure to capitalize on new
> opportunities (MOSTLY RUSSIA) for growth of the TS due to an innate
> conservatism, arrogance, high-handedness, and unaccountability of the
> leadership? Leadership that could not or would not be bothered to
> deal with any of the possible changes that an influx of new members
> might bring.
>
> > TS, internationally operated on a de-centralized model. The National
> > Secretaries, once elected, in spite of the National Board, seem to
> operate like in a fiefdom with board going along whatever the NS
> wants.
>
> A fish rots from the head. Having the OH of the ES as the PTS is so
> outright dangerous to the health of the organization because it sets
> a standard that the TS is essentially a front organization. The
> authority of the spiritual leader of the ES corrupts the
> accountability of the elected leader of the TS. It pervades all the
> relationships between the PTS and the rest of the organization, as
> Annie Besant demonstrated remarkably thoroughly.
>
> > At this rate, by end of this century, TS may disappear around the
> world except in India.
>
> Why has the presidency of Radha been so successful in terms of Indian
> membership and so disastrous most everywhere else? Might it have to
> do with consolidating what she sees as her power base and letting
> everyone else go hang? What has she done right in India? How could
> it be used as a model elsewhere?
> >
> And another question: if John Algeo is indeed the kind of person I
> have experienced him to be, and many other once-bitten twice-shy
> members or former members have reported, then why could the TS not
> come up with a single other nominee to succeed Radha?
>
> PJ
>
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>
> 
>


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