People From California

"As Adorno wrote of Anna Freud’s book, it evinces “the reduction of psychoanalysis to a conformist interpretation of the reality principle.”"

"“When material needs are largely satisfied,” writes Carl Rogers, “as they tend to be for many people in this affluent society, individuals are turning to the psychological world, groping for a greater degree of authenticity and fulfillment.” The clear distinction between material and psychic needs is already the mystification; it capitulates to the ideology of the affluent society which affirms the material structure is sound, conceding only that some psychic and spiritual values might be lacking. Exactly this distinction sets up “authenticity” and “fulfillment” as so many more commodities for the shopper. Rather it is the fissure itself which is the source of the ills—between work and “free” time, material structure and psychological “world,” producers and consumers."

"We have an economy where we steal the future, sell it in the present, and call it GDP [gross domestic product]."

"Marty's blog is a forum for information. That's what makes it such a threat. He's not trying to be a leader of men, or take over the Church, or storm the castle walls. He's just a guy on the outside who wants to speak his mind."

"Leaving felt like jumping out of an aeroplane with no parachute. But after two weeks at Marty's place I got my feet back under me. He put me in touch with a community of former Church members. One even offered me a job. It's been two years since then; I've now got a home, a wife, and a wonderful six-month-old daughter."

"When I left Scientology, I lost every friend I ha. Then I went to see Marty. He gave me certainty, gave me hope, and made me realise I wasn't alone. He picked up the broken pieces of my life and put them back together."

"Marty presents himself as a true believer. He still believes in the faith, but he's trying to reform it. He sees himself as a Martin Luther figure."

"He speaks their language. He's not abandoned Hubbard. He's not given up on the faith. He's just worn down. And the people he's speaking to are also worn down. They are exhausted with requests for donations. Because of that, he reaches deep inside the organisation."

"Reading it [Rathbun's blog] had a therapeutic effect. It made me realise that I wasn't the only one with doubts. He reflected exactly what I was thinking."

"That Rathbun and Rinder are speaking out is a stunning reversal because they were among Miscavige's closest associates, Haldeman and Ehrlichman to his Nixon. Now they provide an unprecedented look inside the upper reaches of the tightly controlled organization."

"Marty Rathbun, who was once Mr. Miscavige’s top lieutenant, is now one of the church’s top detractors."

"Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder, the highest-ranking executives to leave the church, are speaking out for the first time."

"I love Scientology. But there needs to be a differentiation between the Church of Scientology and the philosophy."

"I never doubt the gains that I got from Scientolog. I've never doubted the effectiveness of auditing. But I believe there's a real problem with the Church. The core poison is greed. I look at Scientology, and I think it's being destroyed by this quest for the buck."

"Rathbun, a 55-year-old from California who spent 27 years in the church and rose to the rank of inspector general of the Religious Technology Center—a position directly under Miscavige—before leaving in 2004."

"I did a lot of soul-searching before going public. I was concerned there might be some type of Waco or Jonestown event."

"That’s the difference between the old Scientology and the new: the brave new Scientology is all these beautiful buildings and real estate and no people."

"Many aspects of Marty's story are disputed by the Church, which calls him a liar, a criminal, and an apostate. But the verifiable facts are as follows: he was a fully-paid-up Scientologist for 27 years, before quitting in 2004. For much of this time, he was a high-ranking executive in the Church, helping steer some of its most sensitive legal campaigns. He was also acquainted with many celebrity members, including Kirstie Alley, John Travolta, and Tom Cruise."

"I had the No. 2 position from 1998 until I left. I answered to no one but David Miscavige, who was chairman of the board. I was the personal counselor for Tom Cruise, Lisa Marie Presley, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley."

"Marty has become one of the Church's most public detractors, and has appeared in that guise on virtually every major US news network."

"“Look,” I said. “Something that needs your attention. Over there. Away from here.”"

"“This is Major Perry’s house?” “I hope so,” I said. “All his stuff is here.”"

"You are sufficiently like me to officially be interesting."

"Human technology was good, and weapon to weapon humans were as well-equipped as the vast majority of their adversaries. But the weapon that ultimately matters is the one behind the trigger."

"“It’s Charlie’s soul,” he repeated. “Or more accurately, it’s a holographic representation of the dynamic electrical system that embodies the consciousness of Charles Boutin.”"

"“I’m not insane, sir,” I said. “I have a finely calibrated sense of acceptable risk.”"

"I’m not sure I like their plan for converting us to their religion, seeing as it involves dying and all."

"In this universe, experience counts."

"The recruit was Sam McCain; in one of our lunch sessions I recalled Sarah O’Connell describing him as more mouth than brain. Unsurprisingly, he’d been in sales most of his life."

"I had never seen so many old people in one place at one time. Neither had Harry. “It’s like Wednesday morning at the world’s biggest Denny’s,” he said."

"The problem with aging is not that it’s one damn thing after another—it’s every damn thing, all at once, all the time. You can’t stop aging. Gene therapies and replacement organs and plastic surgery give it a good fight. But it catches up with you anyway. Get a new lung, and your heart blows a valve. Get a new heart, and your liver swells up to the size of an inflatable kiddie pool. Change out your liver, a stroke gives you a whack. That’s aging’s trump card; they still can’t replace brains."

"Many people believe geekdom is defined by a love of a thing, but I think - and my experience of geekdom bears on this thinking - that the true sign of a geek is a delight in sharing a thing. It's the major difference between a geek and a hipster, you know: When a hipster sees someone else grooving on the thing they love, their reaction is to say "Oh, crap, now the wrong people like the thing I love." When a geek sees someone else grooving on the thing they love, their reaction is to say "ZOMG YOU LOVE WHAT I LOVE COME WITH ME AND LET US LOVE IT TOGETHER.""

"The failure mode of clever is “asshole.”"

"(T)he idealized world Ayn Rand has created to facilitate her wishful theorizing has no more logical connection to our real one than a world in which an author has imagined humanity ruled by intelligent cups of yogurt. This is most obviously revealed by the fact that in Ayn Rand’s world, a man who self-righteously instigates the collapse of society, thereby inevitably killing millions if not billions of people, is portrayed as a messiah figure rather than as a genocidal prick, which is what he’d be anywhere else."

"Empires of conquest don’t last, Administrator Perry. They hollow out from within, from the greed of rulers and the endless appetite for war."

"“Every creature has fear,” Jared said. “Even the non-conscious ones.” “No,” Boutin said. “Every creature has a survival instinct. It looks like fear but it’s not the same thing. Fear isn’t the desire to avoid death or pain. Fear is rooted in the knowledge that what you recognize as yourself can cease to exist. Fear is existential."

"When you’re a kid, a rural, agriculturally-based colony town is a lot of fun to grow up in. It’s life on a farm, with goats and chickens and fields of wheat and sorghum, harvest celebrations and winter festivals. There’s not an eight- or nine-year-old kid who’s been invented who doesn’t find all of that unspeakably fun. But then you become a teenager and you start thinking about everything you might possibly want to do with your life, and you look at the options available to you. And then all farms, goats and chickens—and all the same people you’ve known all your life and will know all your life—begin to look a little less than optimal for a total life experience. It’s all the same, of course. That’s the point. It’s you who’s changed."

"“I don’t appreciate the suggestion that I’m acting irrationally,” he said. “Then don’t act irrationally,” Jane said, “because there will be consequences.”"

"“That’s a nice speech, Trujillo,” Rybicki said. “It doesn’t make it true.” “General, at the moment, I wouldn’t place you as an authority on truth.”"

"“Harry!” Boutin said. “Nice guy. Didn’t know he was that smart. He hid it well.”"

"“You and I don’t actually need to be here for this,” I said to the goat. The goat didn’t respond, but I could tell she agreed with me."

"What’s the point of being in charge if you can’t indulge in pointless favoritism."

"Some people are just no good at not being in charge."

"When power is within reach, few will wait patiently for it."

"No, it's not fair. You're in the wrong universe for fair."

"“Obviously, the Rraey have some way to predict, with a high degree of accuracy, where our ships are going to skip. How do they do that?” “I don’t think you’re supposed to be able to,” I said. “That’s exactly right. But they do anyway. So, quite obviously, our model of how skipping works is wrong. Theory gets thrown out the window when observation proves it isn’t so. The question now is what is really going on.”"

"“Speaking of secrets, how are your negotiations with the Obin going?” Both Mattson and Robbins looked at Szilard warily. “There are no negotiations with the Obin,” Robbins said. “Of course not,” Szilard said. “You’re not negotiating with the Obin to continue Boutin’s consciousness program for them. And the Obin are not negotiating with us to knock down whichever of the Rraey or Eneshans is still left standing after their upcoming little war. No one’s negotiating with anyone about anything. And how are these non-negotiations not going?” Robbins looked at Mattson, who nodded. “They’re not going surprisingly well,” Robbins said. “We probably won’t reach an agreement in the next couple of days.” “How not wonderful,” Szilard said."

"Teenagers can be idiotic and stupid, but teenagers also model their behavior from the signals they get from adults."

"“I didn’t say that,” Szilard said, in a tone that implied that perhaps he had."

"Imagine if every species named itself after its greatest flaw. We could name our species arrogance."