Theos-Talk Archives (May 2008 Message tt00607)

Dear Anand,

If I could rewrite the rules, there would be a one-term limit on the 
presidency.  Seven years is plenty of time to leave one's mark and 
step aside to let another member take the job.

I assumed that Krishnamurti was very popular with Indian Theosophists 
and Radha's success in growth of the Indian membership might have to 
do with her association with him.  How rare or common among your 
fellow Indian FTS is your critical attitude toward K and his 
influence on the TS?

Paul

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Anand" <AnandGholap@...> wrote:
>
> Theosophical Society does not have functioning democracy. It is 
indeed
> surprising why only John and Radha are in race. I know the reasons 
and
> the reason is TS is not democratic. In America's elections in entire
> history perhaps nobody above the age of 75 got elected as President 
of
> America. There may or may not be exception. How is it that only two
> candidates are there in the race and both of them are above 75 ? 
Whole
> structure of ES, TS and Co-masonry is such that it makes TS
> non-democratic. Also one can see that in TS when once person gets
> elected, he/she remains President till  death. These things show 
that
> TS is not democratic.
> 
> Anand Gholap 
> 
>  
> --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, MKR <mkr777@> wrote:
> >
> > Few speak their mind, and you are one  of them.
> > 
> > mkr
> > 
> > 
> > On 5/14/08, MarieMAJ41@ <MarieMAJ41@> wrote:
> > >
> > >   Because, dear PJ, they did not want to. John controls many of 
the
> > > General Secretaries already because he is more unscrupulous than
> > > Radha....IMO. Perhaps she is more able to communicate with the
> culture that
> > > is India, and John is more able to communicate with the rest. As
> for ethics,
> > > in my opinion, John Algeo's ethics serves only himself.
> > >
> > > Marie
> > >
> > > 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
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: kpauljohnson <kpauljohnson@ <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
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > > 
> > >
> > 
> > 
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>