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January, 1982 THE FOG by John P. Ries Dear Fellow Participants It’s not very often I have the courage to write an open forum
letter. I think It’s tied to the adage, “Speak like a common man, but write
like a scholar.” Speaking like a common man fits me; however writing like a
scholar is something else. If I’m to get my opinion heard, I must forget
whether it’s common or scholar. This letter is not intended to offend anyone,
and I hope it’s received in the spirit in which it was written - a desire to
see Stelle’s purpose accomplished. These are my own observations and opinions of that
“unknown” that has halted, slowed and sidetracked the entire Stelle community
for years. That “unknown can almost be likened to the FOG; you can see it,
but not see through it; you can taste it but not bite into it; you can feel
it, but not grab a hold of it; and yet it can permeate everything with such
intensity that you lose sight of your companions and reference points,
quickly losing your direction both individually and collectively. Trying to
understand this FOG or even just defining what it is has puzzled me for years
and even more intensely the past couple of years. So on this day, this is my
understanding of “The FOG.” THE PROBLEM (The problem is
not the fog.) The problem, as Al Rasche so pleasantly reminded us, is
really quite simple and is: A. The community is growing at a very slow
rate, if at all. B. The community is debt-ridden. C. Our industrial ventures continue to lose
money or barely break even. D. We have little to show for the money we
have spent. E. The community is far from being
self-sufficient or industrially strong. F. Cost of living in the community is high
and wages are low. Al
Rasche’s solutions to our problems were also very simple. A. Get out of debt personally and
collectively. B. Get focused in one industrial venture that
makes lots of money, “a cash cow.” C. Make Richard your leader. In Al's opinion, the root of the entire
problem is that we have not had a leader in over six years. I'm sure this was
as surprising to Richard as it was to anyone else. After all, doesn't Al have
the reputation for having the uncanny ability to perceive the core of
situations and problems? Maybe he perceives the Fog?
Is Richard the Fog? The Trustees appeared to share Al’s perception that
Richard is the root of the problem and immediately proposed to make him our
leader. Their assumptions appear to be that with Richard comes the
Brotherhoods and the three handshakes from Christ. Then all our problems will
either solve themselves or Richard will rally the group. Members will then
aspire for common brotherhood, cooperation and prosperity and solve their own
problems. I mean, Halleluiah, brother!!! Richard, however, appeared to
have a much humbler opinion. He appears disappointed that we haven’t solved
our own growth problems. He has said many times that we are capable and have
what it takes. However, it appears we have given up, so he is willing to step
back in and make it grow because of his prior agreements to Christ’s Plan.
The puzzling part is Richard’s request for 75% of the community to want his
return. Some see this as Richard wanting strong support. I would say its more
likely an indicator for Richard in judging the severity of the problem. Have
75% of the community really given up? THE
STORY (The story is not the fog.) On April 1, 1974, the Stelle
community was forced to go into a survival state. Richard, the father of the
group, had just stated he was leaving for bigger and better things and that
we were now on our own. He assigned ‘big brother” Jim and his “God-given wife
Gai1 to help guide us along. So the whole community geared for survival . It
was now sink or swim. Everyone jumped to their stations and swore we could
make it all the way to Philadelphia, even if we didn’t know where it was. We
took off like a shot---------for a little while. Then the idealistic images
of Richard, the divine marriage, the Brotherhoods, Christ’s Plan, Doomsday,
etc., the things that were keeping their dreams alive, were suddenly
beginning to pop, burst, and lose air. We began to take on water and sink
(and I mean sink)!!! Jim and Gail jumped right to the rescue and declared the
survival crisis was even worse than originally perceived. A national Stelle
emergency was in effect. The grip on the community had to be tightened to
maintain control and keep us from sinking. Then Jim sounded the alarm that
Richard was back, flying bombing raids over Stelle and blowing holes in the
sides of the boat.. He said that Richard had been captured by the forces of
Hell and was out to destroy the group. Jim then proclaimed the divine,
eternal, Brotherhoods’ torch had been passed to him and Gail assumed total
control of the group with a dictatorial government. (Incidentally, people
were jumping overboard left and A.
The EPA tried to
shut us down because we didn’t comply with state and federal laws. B.
Old members
confronted us with lawsuits. C.
The Dept. of
Labor hit us with a big labor settlement for back wages. D.
Our immediate
neighbors organized against us, 150 strong, to stop us by controlling the
zoning laws. E.
The surrounding
banks, collectively, took a ‘wait and see’ approach and cut off nearly all
sources of financing. F.
Members went in
all directions, some actively wanted to rewrite the book, several wont back
on drugs, and the entire social and sexual behavior of the community was
turned over and over and over. G.
Several of
Stelle Industries, Inc.’s vendors were ready to throw us into bankruptcy
because thousands of dollars owed to them was long overdue (as far as 18
months). H.
The Stelle School
was constantly up for grabs; who’s teaching what next was the norm, not the
exception. I.
“Richard
Crises” were as common as the morning sun, but not always as cheerful. J.
The refining
process of self-government continued to require constant attention. The Stelle community was
essentially labeled unstable. We wore at total survival until the community
proved its stability. THE
FOG (Cause of the problem.) Somewhere between 1978 and 1980
the group shifted from survival to nonsurvival. The group had lived in spite
of many mortally dangerous occurrences and situations. The community had
obtained the status of being. It was now unsinkable. It had reached the state
of independence. Many people felt it in their bones and described it
essentially as, “we have arrived.” Malcolm described it as the shift from
dependence to interdependence. The ship was ready to sail , we were on the
launch pad. So start the The community’s no-growth
problems are directly caused by the survival management style being used
throughout the community. Survival management does not deal with, or for that
matter isn’t even concerned with, the long range outworkings of a given
problem. Survival management continually stays on the front line and does not
have time, nor sees the necessity to drop back and rebuild the foundations
for self-sufficiency and growth. The roadbeds for the next wave of growth
never get built. In short, survival management is excellent at starting and
applying first aid, but has no follow-through. The very, core of the problem
is, good start but no follow-through. Some examples of good starts with no
follow-through are as follows: 1.
Factory addition — Unfinished 2.
Housing
Cooperative — Made a strong, stable start. Almost
forgotten until a recent spurt of energy. The follow-up on the Co-op is so
poor—the last house (Castro’s) was forgotten on the doorstep of the Co-op for
almost two years before anyone realized it wasn’t officially in the Co-op. 3.
Credit Union — A huge sales program, it was to set the financial base for the
community. It is now barely supported by the community and even downright
criticized by some of the Trustees and other members. 4.
German Loan
Package — A huge, “get rich quick” scheme—survival management at its best. 5.
Commonwealth
Concept — Thousands of community man hours went into this. Several
extremely good and fundamental ideas and concepts were completely thrown out
because of personality conflicts and survival management’s inability to
follow through. 6.
Equity Accounts — Started and supported by several people in the community. The
concept has almost died out. Surfaced again by Al Rasche. 7.
Philadelphia
Fund — Presented as being absolutely
essential—forgotten by most. 8.
Housing Trust — Fast, strong start—losing momentum fast, the spirit is being
broken by survival management. There isn’t enough money to go around so
design, livability, and personal precipitations are placed at the effect. We
must settle for second-best. 9.
1981 Goals — Nothing happened in over 50% of them, and
to think in 1982 we have some different goals. We didn’t follow through on
‘81 goals, so why change the goals for ‘82? 10.
Firetruck — The community purchased an old fire-truck
to have around for emergencies. The engine quit running as it was driving to
Stelle. Several attempts were made to fix the engine. After about four years,
it was hauled away for scrap iron. 11.
Greenhouse — Our first attempt at greenhouses by the pond was a total failure
and a costly one at that. The current factory greenhouse is a success because
one person, Tim Wilhelm, personally stepped out of survival management and
into cause by taking responsibility over and above his normal activities. I
would like to acknowledge and thank him for this. 12.
The Ethanol
Plant — Tim, again, personally, (not the system)
stepped into responsible management (cause) and made it happen. 13.
The Pond
Landscape — A success because two people, the Roehms,
stepped into responsible management (cause). 14.
Water Treatment
Plant — The community’s true pride and joy, long promoted as a major
accomplishment. This major accomplishment has fallen prey to the survival
management system. I’m going to elaborate on the water treatment plant,
because it’s a good example of the survival management system’s inability to
understand and implement a fundamental, step-by-step growth program. The Community’s problem, no
growth, manifests very clearly in the water treatment plant. This is also
obvious in the new, approved budget. How can this be, you say? The budget
seems so logical and presented by honest and capable people. This is how it
works: The budget allocated $7,000.00 to replace only three of the seven permeators
on the Reverse Osmosis unit. This means we have committed to continue to send
good money after bad, by bandaging the R.O. unit and not solving the problem.
The problem is our high cost of water. The costs are high because the quality
of the raw well water is very poor. To purify the water a lot of expensive
equipment, electricity, labor, and chemicals are required. Essentially, the
community is placed at the effect of poor well water. The budget, a
manifestation of survival management, addresses a problem to a prior
solution (the R.O. unit) and not the real problem (poor well water). Five basic facts must be
considered in addressing the real problem: A.
The community
does not need water that pure; the R.O. unit was the most expensive,
uneconomical choice in the beginning. B.
The maximum
capacity of the present R.O. system is 250 to 270 people. Beyond this, a
major expansion or change must be done. C.
The maximum
sate capacity of our existing well is 1,000 people. D.
To continually use
the R.O. system only perpetuates higher and higher water bills. E.
If any
significant growth is to occur, the entire present system will need to be
expanded and/or replaced. The solution to our high water
cost is to find a better quality water source. In 1976, the community spent
$500 to hire a professional dowser to locate water for us. He located several
sites with excellent potential for lots of water. The well-drilling permits
were obtained, and everything was ready to go. But nothing happened. To think the solution to all our
immediate water problems could be solved with the drilling of one well—the
cost for drilling the well is $4,000 to $7,000. The cost of hooking up the
well, pumps, and pipes is extra. We are willing to spend $7,000 to bandage an
existing, high-cost mistake (the R.O. unit) instead of solving the problem by
finding a better water source. I know the new well is number 6 on the 1982
special projects list under physical development. But it’s also been on every
special projects list since 1976, and judging by what gets done on the
special projects list (i.e., 1981 is a prime example) it will still be on the
list in 1999. Look at what is before the well in the priority list:
educational equipment, sludge, drying beds, sidewalks, maintenance garage;
these are all luxuries compared to the water source, the very foundation on
which every city and home is built. This is insanity and clearly reflects
lack of planning. These
are just a few examples of no follow-through by survival management. The
manifestation of no practical grounding is everywhere. For example, the
cover to the proposed goals for 1982 (attached) is typed in the shape of an
inverted pyramid which is balancing on the word, ‘Philosophy”. The pyramid is
the ultimate structural symbol of stability, and we have it up-side down. So what happens when you try to
nail a ship with a survival management style? The ship constantly goes in
circles, because survival management’s only goal is to protect and defend,
and therefore is constantly at effect. When someone or something attacks the
group or system, the direction of the entire ship turns to fight. When the
next attacker (or apparent attacker) comes along, the entire ship turns to
fight that, and around and around it goes. You see how easy it in for one
person or small group of people to completely control, sidetrack, or change
the direction of the survival management teat. and ultimately the group. This
happens because survival management cannot stay focused. When you are in survival, it’s
very important that you don’t let anyone know, because this exposes your
vulnerability. You are constantly on the lookout for the next attacker. At
the first glimpse of an apparent attacker, survival management organizes a
quick offense and attacks first, because.......... everyone knows the best
defense is a strong offense. This is done because it is absolutely essential
that no one finds out that you think you are in survival and only one step
away from death or failure. This fear or being found out will build such a
facade and smoke screen that survival management will even launch massive
growth plans and spout huge goals to continually cover up the fact that it
thinks it’s in survival and is vulnerable. All those growth plans and goals
die. They are loft hanging with no follow-through because the entire
direction of the ship continually turns to protect and guard against the
next possible attacker. The entire survival management system is fueled by
fear. The fear of failure and the fear that someone might find out that you
are vulnerable. No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to sail a ship
using survival management. If there are no attackers, than
what happens? The growth plans and big goals still cannot be accomplished
because the management will not venture too far from home. They think we are
still in survival and must be constantly prepared to rush back home and ward
off any attackers. Survival management will never venture out as far as its
own goals and plans, giving them the support and follow-through required to
make the successful. Fear holds them back. Survival management is absolutely
essential when you are in survival. When survival management is used when
you are not in survival, it. becomes a steel trap that ends up in an ultimate
battle of the management team fighting to save the survival system. This
is how the steel trap works. Survival management’s sole purpose is to
survive, to protect, to defend, and show stability. All activities must
support that end. When the ship is not under attack and there is no immediate
fear of being found out, the survival management team gets bored! Not
realizing that boredom[1]
is a fairly high state of consciousness, they create an activity or conflict in
which to fight or defend. If activities are not created, the team fears they
will lose their job, status, or maybe even their personal goals, because they
think they will no longer be needed. The creation of these activities and
conflicts is what begets bureaucratic governments—loaded with thousands of
nonconstructive programs and activities. Look at Stelle and all the money
that has gone for nonconstructive activity Lies in the past three to four
years. Consider all the issues that have come before the community and have
taken thousands of man hours to discuss, little of which went toward our
direction, self-sufficiency, or industrial strength. The community’s time is
either spent discussing or arguing who created conflicts (i.e., Richard’s
life, beards, are you a believer? dress codes, unwritten policies, etc.) or
creating endless safeguards which result in rewriting bylaws, membership
criteria, procedures, and policies. Incidentally,
policies (written or otherwise) are a very effective way of keeping a
conflict alive. They rarely represent the majority or they would be laws;
therefore, when the policy is used it immediately causes resistance. Recent
membership criteria discussions are a prime example. What
is not so obvious is the Fact that policies, created conflicts, Trustee
executive sessions, Stelle’s sluggish, bureaucratic government, Stelle
Industries’ Financial problems, etc.—all of this is created solely out or
fear. The fear of failure or of being found out. The survival management team
fears the group will find out their errors, their weaknesses, and that the
survival management system is no longer needed. Therefore they go into
personal survival to save the survival management system. (i.e., “To leave
Stelle is to fail your incarnation.”) The entire “around and around”
process continually takes a heavy toll on the members. Frustration sets in ,
because goals are never met, the created conflicts continually get more petty
and even more of an irritation. Eventually, members just give up and say to
hell with it all, “I’ll be back when the group gets its act together.” Like
attracts like, and so the community continually attracts many people who are
in survival, looking for a free lunch, a nice place to be, many or whom are
lacking skills, professions and financial stability. This attraction must
eventually be counteracted with a major purge, with several people being
asked to leave. However the process is doomed to repeat itself. Thus the
constant turnover continues. Sadly enough, the most destructive thing about
this entire process is that everyone slowly loses their confidence and
self-esteem, because so many of their goals and plans aren’t accomplished.
This is the bottom line of the steel trap—you no longer believe in yourself
and your ability to accomplish your goals. So in one last attempt you cry for
help, a savior to bail you out (i.e., Richard, Brotherhoods’ petition). The
Ultimate Frontier states: (page 52) “When the student is ready , the
teacher appears” (page 50) “Strictly speaking, the Brotherhoods and Their
members do not in any way control the activities of human beings or their
institutions. Never will the Brotherhoods interfere in the affairs of
a nation. Neither will they operate in the environment of any individual
without expressed invitation to do so, and even then They help only if the
person who has invited Them has done his very best to help himself and can go
no further without aid.” Have we really done our very best, and can we go no
further? To think all of this happens out of
survival management trying to run a stable ship. Survival management is
founded in fear to survive. The entire bottom line is “FEAR” Fear is the fog. SOURCE (What causes the
fog?) Why does the group continually cling
to the survival management system? The answer to this is the source of the
fear, the very context within which the entire community operates. The source
of the fear (fog), is the assumption that we are on a. survival mission until
the year 2001. This assumption generates the fear in people, that we will not
make it and that our ideals, our dreams and the very reason for life itself
will be crushed, snuffed out and die. This assumption is in error. The Stelle Group is not in survival
until the year 2001. The group shifted out of survival in 1978-79. The Group
is a being, it has been created, it will not die. The Stelle Group and the
Stelle mission are two separate things. One is a being, the other an
activity. Confusion continually hangs over the community because these two
are viewed as one. The Stelle community has two major storms to go through,
namely the economic collapse and the catastrophic events at the turn of the
century. These storms have always been viewed in the same context as the
1974-1978 survival mission of The Stelle Group. This is the error. The Stelle
Group went through survival like all children must do when they leave home.
Stelle is now a stable adult with a meaningful life-purpose. The Stelle Group
is not in survival, even though a few survival tactics will be required when
in the heart of the two big storms. The Stelle Group will be around until
doomsday, whether Stelle’s mission is accomplished or not. The Brotherhoods
could completely withdraw Their support, and The Stelle Group would still be
here, just like the Lemurian Fellowship or the other mundane schools. The
entire community management system must be shifted from survival of The
Stelle Group and into action and implementation of Stelle’s mission and
purpose. ACTION The following is just a few of the
action steps I feel must take place if Stelle is to grow and accomplish its
purpose. Some of these might seem radical at first; however, this community
must become lean and efficient, for we have much to do and a long way to go.
There is plenty of time left in which to do it, but there is no time to be
sidetracked. Here are some of my action steps: A1. The community must release the survival
management system presently being used. A practical step—by-step responsible
management system must be implemented. Management must stay focused on
physical growth, self-sufficiency, and industrial strength. A2. The community’s industrial activities must become self—
sufficient. These activities must move to the forefront of the community until
self-sufficiency and industrial strength are obtained. The “cash cow” Al
Rasche talks about must be created and made self-sufficient. A3. The 1982 Stelle Group budget must be
completely reworked so at least 30% or about $110,000 or all Tithe and donated
money goes for physical expansion of community projects and self—sufficiency
projects. This will require a detailed look at all present TSG activities. We
must ask ourselves which programs are essential, which programs can be eliminated,
and which programs can be handled by volunteer labor. A4. An organized volunteer work program must be
adopted by the community in which each member contributes. This program is
essential to re-establish a strong financial base and facilitate physical
growth. I
personally enjoyed Al Rasche’s address to the community; however, I feel Bob
Machiz has misled Al into believing that members have not offered to help
Stelle Industries. Almost every member has gone to help Stelle Industries on
several occasions. Whenever S.I.I. calls, many people came running. The
people in Stelle want to help; they want to get involved. The failures
reported with volunteer work parties has always been the result of poor
organization and management and not because of unwillingness to work. A5. The
community must stay focused on the physical activities required to build a
city. This is critical for precipitation to work. The steps of precipitation
are constantly scrambled by survival management because the direction and
focus of the community constantly changes. To accomplish this constant focus
on the physical plane, I think it will be necessary to have two community
meetings a month - one dealing with physical construction, self-sufficiency,
and industrial strength. The other
dealing with nonphysical activities such as bylaws, membership criteria,
education, new proposals and concepts, etc. Richard’s open house could be
incorporated into the nonphysical activity meeting. The meetings must change
from social, sharing sessions to real problem solving interchanges where
members’ creativity, integrity, and responsibility are utilized. This will
help rekindle the feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment in the
community. A6. An accelerated
debt-reduction program must be implemented. This is essential for many
reasons, four of which I feel are very important. a.
The community
has land-locked itself by mortgaging almost every available acre of land.
(Even some of the developed lots of Phase #1 are mortgaged.) b.
The community
has several loans, that are on floating interest rates; some of these will
double when the mortgages are refinanced. c.
The
astronomical amount of money the community pays toward interest continually
exhausts our resources. d.
We must create our
own capital base, to create the exponential growth curve needed for us to
accomplish Stelle’s purpose. Exponential growth is impossible with rented
equipment and borrowed money. e.
The following quote from page
210-211 of The Ultimate Frontier sums up Stelle’s lack of growth and
financial problems very accurately. “The plainly evident ambition of the
vast majority of today’s young Americans is to acquire a huge fortune without
expending much effort. Many pursue this childish dream as though it were a possibility,
and they have combined this vain pursuit with infantile images of glamour and
fame. Since America has become dedicated to the idolization of adolescence,
it has opened itself to the tyranny of aggregate childishness on a national
scale. The principal tenet of this attitude is to satisfy each desire
instantly without prudent concern for tomorrow or for what is best in the
long run. The childish personality is the slave of its whims; it does not
have the discipline of intellect to govern it. The child wants to quit high
school before graduation in order to avoid the effort of schooling but in so
doing dooms itself to poorer paying jobs for the remainder of its life. The
childish town votes for new streets now and issues municipal bonds which require
high taxes instead of saving five years and building streets with accumulated
savings, The childish tycoon exploits his retail markets for a quick killing
by flooding it with highly advertised but questionable merchandise instead of
developing a long-range demand for a dependable article which will rightly
earn much greater profits over many years. A person marks himself a child when
he will settle for a cheap substitute now instead of waiting and preparing
for the genuinely worthwhile article.” A7. Land (5 to 10 acres) must be set aside for
agricultural self-sufficiency. This land must be developed and cultured into
a total organic living organism. Good organic soil is a living organism which
takes years to develop. The hop scotch locations of the present community
gardens must stop. The gardens are now located on industrial property. My
emphases is on the development of organic land. I am not addressing the
efforts or the community’s garden project. Corn and soybeans can continually
be grown on this land while it is being developed organically. Good organic
soil must be ready for gardens when needed. A8. The
Credit Union must be reviewed, overhauled, or whatever, so the community
accepts it an the financial institution of the community. Every business and
person should conduct their business there. The fact that our money is all
over the country does not create Stelle’s inner economy nor keep our
resources focused like a laser beam. A9. Equity Accounts - Some level of minimum financial investment
must be required by all, participants. This is essential to refuel the
financial base lost by Stelle Industries. A10. The Mart and distribution system must be
further developed. The book clearly states, “The success of the economy of
the community will rest upon the mart system of distribution. One mart will
be operated by a producers’ cooperative which will sell all items at a
mark-up of twelve percent.” (P. 113) Presently the purchasing power in the
community is scattered. For example, the Stelle Mart, The Stelle Group,
Stelle Industries, Inc., Illinois Storage Foods, Stelle Trading, Stelle
Construction & Supply, Big Star Builders, Pete Heist, Mark Gilbert, BMW
Co., Big Sky, etc. are trying to buy wholesale and sell retail, overlapping
in any areas. From the outside, this must look like a circus. This entire
mess must be organized before the community will benefit from this Lemurian
principle. STELLE
INDUSTRIES, INC. A11. The
community must accept responsibility for Stelle Industries Inc. and address its
real problems. S.I.I. is a delicate situation and I. worthy of your
attention. Whether we like it or not, S.I.I. problems are our problems. For
all practical purposes, if you consider contingent liabilities, Stelle
Industries is bankrupt. S.I.I. losses have the community in a financial mess,
and yet S.I.I. also has the potential to reverse that situation. Richard
selects the board of directors and for almost two years has been Chairman of
the Board. During this time, S.I.I. activity level has improved considerably
and progress has been made, especially in plastics. Essentially, the bottom
line is this: S.I.I. is almost $l,000,000 in debt. With the present
operations. if Stelle Industries has an excellent year this year (I mean
excellent! We have never had an excellent year), the realistic profit to be
made is $100,000. At this maximum production performance, it will still take
ten years to get out of debt. This was the meat or Al Rasche’s talk. He
addressed the entire community because this is a community problem. Stelle
Industries’ problems are rarely discussed at the community level. Thu
community has already spent almost a thousand man hours talking about
Richard’s role and not one word about our financial problem. Why in the
community always side- tracked with created conflicts and philosophical
issues which will never address or solve the problems? Why is the community
so afraid to discuss the problems? To me the answer is based on survival and
fear, S.I.I. problems are kept under wraps because of fear. Fear that if the
problems are discussed, someone’s feelings might get hurt,
someone’s goof-up might get exposed, someone’s parade might get rained on,
and on and on the list goes. It
has always amazed me that one side of the community (S.I.I.) is in very
serious financial trouble and the other side of the community (The Stelle
Group) acts like the problem doesn’t even exist. I repeat, S.I.I. problems
are community problems. The S.I.I. story is an excellent example of the
survival management team fighting to save the system in which they hide. The
S.I.I. story is a long list of people not addressing the real problems. When
real problems are addressed, people’s errors, mistakes, shortcomings, lack of
experience, etc. are exposed, and this hurts. To avoid the hurt, the problems
are continuously covered up by borrowing more money. To me this is part of
the fear the Brothers talk about which the group must shed. The fear of
taking responsibility for our financial problems. The fear of confronting
your fellow member when he hasn’t held up his end or stuck to his agreements.
The fear of confronting the management when major mistakes are made and
hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost. How long is this community going
to sit with its head in the sand? As
I said in the beginning, S.I.I.. is a very delicate situation, The problem
must be handled in such a way as to not disturb the progress and momentum
gained. S.I.I.
has two major activities to do. First is to get the existing companies to a
profitable base, (Stop going backwards). Bob Machiz and the staff have made
some progress in this area, The second activity is to do some strategic
planning and move the industries into areas with high profitability and in
line with the community’s purpose. It is the job of the chairman of the board
to do and/or see that strategic planning is accomplished. Strategic planning
not only evaluates potential new businesses but also evaluates the validity
of existing businesses. To my knowledge very little planning has been done. A12. The
Stellwood Company. The Stellwood Company has a serious problem that must be
addressed and solved, because it continually loses money. Stellwood is
officially owned by a partnership consisting of Al Piel, Al Davis, David
Castro, Spencer Keyes, Bill Wilson, and George Blackman, which only further
complicates the already serious situation. This partnership acquired an SBA
loan for $195,000 in 1978-79. It was necessary that S.I.I. cosign for the
partners so they could get the loan. Some of the
$195,000 was used to pay off old S.I.I. debts, the remainder was lost by the
partnership. In 1980, S.I.I. took over the operations and agreed to purchase
Stellwood because the partnership appeared headed for bankruptcy. S.I.I.
would have inherited the problem anyway in the case of bankruptcy, because
they cosigned the loan. The operational problems are still not solved and
Stellwood Company continually posts huge losses. This entire complicated
situation must be cleaned up. The responsibility for the losses must be
determined and proportioned among the partners and the community. These are
the facts. Get ready for a financial bloodbath. In December, the very month Al Rasche reported the
financial hemorrhage in the industries was stopped, Stellwood lost $18,091.09.
This brings Stellwood’s losses for the year 1981 to $46,409.53. Stellwood’s
total assets are $147,273.42. Their liabilities are $429,404.87. The
Stellwood Company is bankrupt almost three times over. How much of
the $282,131.45 loss is yours? It is your problem. The longer this continues,
the more costly and complicated it becomes. I would like to quote Richard’s response which was
written on the back of the Trustees’ special Public Hearing announcement 12/18/81:
“I’ve striven too hard to encourage self-responsibility on the part of the
group to do anything other than have you solve your problems as a group and
direct your own fate while having you accept the karma of your decisions. You
must democratically rule yourselves, and I insist on your doing just that.” I feel the community must learn that failure is an
imposter. Going through the experience of closing down the wood shop and
accepting responsibility for the losses will teach us just that. I feel the
following quote is apropos. Page 39, The Ultimate Frontier: “Be courageous to teach that which must be taught.
To be persecuted for one’s convictions seems inevitable. Yet, to allow
yourself to assume a persecution complex or a martyr complex is self-defeating.
Trust others, for it is better to be fooled occasionally than to be
suspicious. Weigh your actions carefully before you act. After you’ve made a
decision, don’t be afraid of failure. Failure is an impostor; and when, like
Lincoln, you have learned this thoroughly, you may pursue righteousness with
confidence. Your greatest opposition will come from those closest to you.
They will be the ones most ambitious for you to be successful by the
standards of the times. If you are too much influenced by your family and
friends, you will belong to the world instead of to Christ. A13. The
community wage-scale should be set by the industrial side of the community,
not The Stelle Group, which has been the case in the past. Personal
prosperity and the community prosperity are in direct proportion to our
ability to produce more than we consume. The community has not yet learned
how to produce high-quality products efficiently. S.I.I. losses are proof of
this. Our present system is against natural law because tithe and donated
money is used to raise personal standards of living higher than our productive
capability warrants. This imbalance continually erodes our base, because The
Stelle Group and Stelle Industries are one. They are only separated for tax
purposes. A14. The
independent business and cottage industries must be coordinated and
supported. I feel that there will always be room for independent business.
There is also a good possibility that independent businesses will play a
major role in the industrial activities of the community. However, these
businesses must be coordinated into a unified network, working in harmony
with the community purpose. The problems caused by scattered directions and
overlapping activities which now exist must be ironed out. A15. Malcolm
needs to be removed as president of The Stelle Group and as Trustee for at
least one term. This is absolutely essential, because he has created and
continually spearheads the survival management system which remains unfocused
and continually sidetracked. Malcolm personally refuses to address the real
problems in the community by clinging to what does not work. The transition
required will be much more difficult if he is a part of the new management
team. However. I am not saying Malcolm’ s usefulness is over. HEROS In the old order system, heroes are
a big deal. Statues are made, books are written, and stories are told. As
time passes, most heroes slowly fade away and many times are forgotten..
However, in the new order heroes are just acknowledged, given a new and more
responsible task and then quietly sent along to do their work. A good example
of this is on page 30 of The Ultimate Frontier when Richard asks why
the tasks ahead are unloaded on him. Dr. White’s reply was, “Because you have
earned the right to work hard as a reward for hard work well performed in the
past.” We have several heroes in the
community, three of whom I would like to acknowledge: Richard, Malcolm, and
you. RICHARD Richard founded this community as
Malcolm so clearly pointed out, from nothing but an idea. He nurtured it
until 1974 when he released it to become its own being. Since 1974, he has
worked in the background, leading the community and setting direction so we
stay in step with Christ’s Plan. Richard has said, he can accomplish his
goals with the present positions that he now holds. If this is the case,
there is no need to change his status. If Richard feels he needs a different
status to accomplish his goals, I suggest that he just say so. The group can
then address his needs directly. Richard is the leader, and that’s what is.
What we acknowledge is irrelevant, be still is the leader. The Trustees’ proposal to
acknowledge what is might be nice, but is really meaningless. What is, is, I
want to acknowledge and thank Richard for creating Stelle, for being our
leader and for his hard work well performed in the past. The recent proposal,
“Make Richard the leader,” is just another example of the survival management
team hiding behind the survival system. Al Rasche made several clear points.
The Trustees addressed a possible solution (Richard) because this creates an
internal conflict. To address the problem would expose the survival team.
Therefore, the internal conflict must be created. This conflict is, “do you
believe or don’t you, do you trust or don’t you, do you agree or don’t you?
When dealing in this context (belief-trust-agreement) people must use
personal examples and situations which will always surface some part of
Richard’s personal life and habits. People’s feelings and the way they
express themselves are then instantly labeled non-virtuous, character
assassinations, and most recently culminated in the word, “crap.” The team
then actively asks members to leave because they obviously do not believe.
The saddest part of the entire drama is that the survival team is usually
unaware that they created the conflict and that the conflict must be created
for their survival. Richards personal life stories have
been a continual irritation to this community for over ten years. I feel
Richard must accept responsibility for this and give up the “poor me”
syndrome and stop playing the victim that “everybody is always picking on
me.” If he will do this, all these stories will drop back into their proper perspective
of being incidental and irrelevant. The problems and stories will then just
clear up in the process of life itself. Richard is Chairman of the Board of
Stelle Industries and is in a position to have a direct and powerful
influence over the Industries’ activities. To me, Richard has a job.
There is ample room and need for him to move here now and do it. This job
must be done. S.I.I. needs strategic planning now! The current staff
does not have time for it. If Richard does not want to do this job, then I
suggest someone else be allowed to do it. MALCOLM Malcolm is a hero in the highest
sense. Anyone who sets foot in this community for the next 20 years will be
indebted to him. The full credit for the mastermind and strength required to save
this community between 1974 and 1979 must be bestowed upon him. For those of
you who weren’t here, Malcolm was truly an inspiration and joy to work with.
I want to acknowledge and thank him for his hard work well performed. What do you do with a hero who is
temporarily out of touch and out of step with the community? I suggest he
take a sabbatical and get ready for his next important assignment. There are
many assignments in which his expertise are needed, one of which could be
maintaining the stability of the entire Chicago regional economy. The Chicago
economy is essential for Stelle to accomplish its purpose. YOU The next meeting you go to, look at
the people sitting next to, in front of, and in back of you. These are the
real heroes. The very foundation on which we must build. These are the people
who will build the step-by-step programs which will create exponential
growth. Support that hero next to you; he or she was also sent to further
Christ’s Plan. The childish mentality described on
page 210 - 211 of The Ultimate Frontier dominates the community
through survival management’s “long shot” approach to growth. (i.e., German
loan package, borrowing money, get rich quick schemes like I.E.P., waiting
for Richard’s gold, waiting for that big windfall, building a 3000 seat
auditorium, looking for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.) Long
shots only work when you have a strong financial base to support theme This
childish mentality must be expelled from the community. Management remains baffled
because they can’t make things happen. This is because they view support and
agreement as one and the same. Support means to uphold, to back, to
corroborate the personal goals and opinion of your fellow member within the
context of Stelle’s purpose. Agreement means unanimity of opinion, harmony in
feeling, the estate of being in accord.. Support and agreement are two equal
halves of the same whole. They must work hand in hand. We agree to a common
criteria for membership, we agree to follow majority rule. We agree to drive
on the right side of the road. These are examples of how we are
interconnected by agreement. We also agree to support one another. Your
opinion, beliefs and goals are different from mine, and that’s okay, we still
can work side by side to create our agreements to do Stelle’s purpose.
Survival management cannot move the ship forward because they operate totally
out of agreement, i.e., you must agree with me, you must believe as I do.
This will never happen. Policies are the vehicle being used to try to make
people agree. It doesn’t work. It only creates conflicts. To try and operate
out of total agreement only keeps us stuck in personal selfishness. I want to acknowledge you and give
you my support. I also want to thank you for creating the space for me to be
here. CLOSING This is probably the boldest thing I
have ever written. Yes, it ‘s a little scary. The community and opinions
expressed here are completely mine and I accept full responsibility for their
impact. Please do not project these opinions on anyone else. What I have written here is family
business, and will not benefit anyone if broadcast outside of Stelle. Please,
this is our business, nobody else’s. Writing this letter has
produced much joy and deep sadness for me. Joy in that 1 finally have my
ideas and perceptions written down, so someone else can read them. Joy that
I’m still committed to Stelle’s purpose. Sadness when I see that my own
actions have contributed to the problems. Sadness when I see all my own mistakes.
Sadness when I realize how long I was trapped in survival. Sadness from the
things I feel I must say about people’s actions when these people mean so
much to me, My one request is that you
look over the community and accept responsibility for why it’s not moving.
The solutions to all our problems are here; they need to be refined,
refueled, tuned-up and put to work. If not you, who? If not now, when? As I look back over my
letter, one thing becomes very clear to me. That is, I don’t really care
whether you believe what I have written or not. Because the entire Stelle
program has nothing to do with belief in me, Richard, the Brothers, or anyone
else. Stelle’s program is centered around a very specific task masterminded
by Christ and the Brotherhoods. We merely have a job to do, and we are not
doing it. We are still in a fear trip. We are at the total “effect” of our
own system. We must move to “cause” before we can create forward motion. I’m ready to move this
place forward. My courage was increased when
I read, on Page 149, The Ultimate Frontier, “One man armed with truth
and a practical plan can change the whole world.” These are my truths, a
practical plan to follow. |
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