How Scientology buys our houses and loses its investment
How Scientology buys our houses and loses its investment |
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MieterEcho (Renter Echo)
Newspaper for the Rental Community of BerlinNr. 262 - May/June 1997
It began one beautiful Spring morning with unannounced construction. Shortly thereafter we learned that our old apartment building, in need of repair, had been bought by a front company from the ranks of the so-called "Scientology Church" in order to turn it into condominiums. NoBODY leftmargin="20"had informed us of the change of ownership and that was presumably intentional, because right in the area there were already other buildings which defended themselves with placards against the questionable methods of the Scientology converters.
For a couple of years it has been relatively easy for speculators to convert apartment houses into condominiums. The piecemeal sale of a converted building can quickly bring in a couple of million, if one goes about it scrupulously and if the renters let themselves be intimidated. (See also MieterEcho 251/95)
Besides the anxiety about our residences we also needed to worry about an international organization as a landlord, an organization which presents itself as a religious society and which is described by those who know as greedy, totalitarian and criminal. Scientology has been known since its inception in the 50's for its worship, above anything else, of money, money, money. Therefore it is no wonder, according to the Hamburg Renters' Association, that already half of the conversion of old apartments buildings into condos has been dominated by the sect. In Berlin and Potsdam it is at least 70 buildings, possibly many more.
The followers of science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard are also known to try to gain influence and prestige for its various cover organizations. This is behind initiatives for Bosnians, against psychiatry, against drugs, but Scientology followers and their confused ideas are also behind other enterprises, e.g. several computer companies, business consultants and medical practitioners.
This is how the psycho-concern functions:
Scientologists recruit on the street with a free psycho-test. "We use only 10 percent of our mental potential" says the test. The evaluation takes place, according to statements of ex-members, without consideration for data security (according to statements of ex-members the sect's private secret service "Office of Special Affairs" collects all available information and misuses it, e.g. for the extortion of opponents.) The test results then show that one is at least disturbed or even suicidal and immediately needs a Scientology course. Whoever takes them up on that is in a situation where they do not leave Scientology for years, because just one course, as promised, is not enough to become "clear". After initial success and the promise that "total spiritual freedom" will be achieved, the ability to criticize and his relationship with reality will systematically be taken away from the follower through the use of constant pressure to succeed and through a unique pseudo-scientific vocabulary.
"Auditing", a primitive therapy with the help of a lie detector costs at least 400 marks (approx. $300) per hour. Along with that comes a frantic system of courses and instructional materials which can soon eat up 100,000 to 500,000 marks ($76,000 - $380,000). However, noBODY leftmargin="20"has ever succeeded in taking all the courses, because new, mysterious-sounding intermediate steps are constantly being discovered. The newcomers are told that advanced Scientologists, the so-called "Operating Thetans" (The spell-checker prefers "teacups" to "thetans" - ed.) are able to read thoughts and walk through walls. Happily they have had no success with me, or have I simply not noticed it?
The Founder of Scientology
L. Ron Hubbard lived under the delusion that he was being persecuted by psychiatrists and communists. (Unfortunately) that was not the case, thus he was able to develop his crude 50's idealogy unhindered. After an interlude with the satanists of Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis, he brought his insights to public view under the name of "Dianetics." With that Hubbard had understood one thing above all: he set a gigantic money and suppression machine in operation, which he later cleverly disguised as a religion in order to avoid taxes and to be treated better by his critics. Critics and former members were pursued by his own secret service with telephone terrorism, smear campaigns and actions. In the early 90's this secret service has even managed, according to SPIEGEL magazine, to bring enough pressure to bear upon employees of the US American tax agency so that Scientology as a result received tax-exempt status.
In this organization, which has branched out world-wide and supposedly has many millions of followers, each member is supervised and forced to disconnect themselves from critical friends or family members. People are carted off to special penal camps if they express themselves critically or if they fail to meet their "statistic" (quota). For the rental professionals from Scientology, "meeting their statistic" means that they have to sell a minimum number of residential units per week, which then, according to an internal communication to the employees, is used to finance a new Scientology center of operations.
Those who have studied the sect estimate that the real estate conversion business is one of the chief sources of income for the German Scientologists, who have established a complex network of real estate companies for this purpose. Some of these companies are giving up to 15 percent of their income to the Scientology organization as donations, which means that the salespeople have to figure in the additional expense to support their Scientology activities.
The people whose companies are taken over or bought out by Scientologists fare poorly with this arrangement. The non-believers have to take management or communications courses; whoever the sect's idealogy does not appeal to can be laid off or driven off. Scientology had also gained key positions in the former Soviet Union in this manner, i.e. the arms industry and the media, and plans were discovered in Greece which were to be used to bring Albania, and from there the rest of the Balkan countries, under the sect's control, whereupon the local Scientology organization was banned from Greece.
It goes the same way with your house.
First the Scientologist "Rental Advisors" try to talk us into buying our own apartment. Although that was a bad idea when it came to the people in Neukoln and Kreuzberg. Where am I supposed to get 180,000 marks (about $135,000) for a crumbling apartment that only costs me a couple of hundred a month and which provides a very good protection against notice to vacate? We therefore hold tenant's meetings and find out about our rights. Many let no one in to view their apartments and hang provocative banners out their windows. Prospective buyers are enlightened as to Scientology in general and as to the poor construction materials in particular. Besides which we bring to their attention the overdue restorations which we will require. The real estate conversion company defends itself with the usual methods, e.g. by pressing charges for alleged slander, threatening to give notice, and the attempt to set renters one against the other. However this only shows us, the building residents, how important it is now to use any means we can to defend ourselves against the sect's conglomerate, which uses the profits from its speculation to constantly spread itself.
After a half a year not even half of the apartments in our building were sold; the prices fell, the loss of the speculators had to have slowly become painful. They have even temporarily moved out of the neighboring buildings. The renters there call the police whenever they see the sales people skulking about who cannot identify themselves. Now, two years after the conversion, the greater portion of the building is sold, but our goal is also to hinder Scientology from intimidating and driving out renters undisturbed elsewhere.
The Sect is not the Reason
We have noticed that the conversion problem itself was unfortunately publicly hushed up and furthermore was used by Scientology as a scapegoat. The municipal politicians need money and for this reason wish to privatize hundreds of thousands of buildings in former East Germany, they sing the same song as that of the real estate sharks: Learn how to buy your own home! Prosperity for everybody! The renters are supposed to indebt themselves for decades and bear all the risk themselves. If they are not able to pay their bills, the banks rub their hands together and seize their property. Conversion does not create any new buildings; it creates insecurity for renters, debt for buyers and profit for banks and speculators.
Positive Effects
We renters have learned how to be better informed of our rights and how to defend ourselves against conversion tricks. The earlier anonymity in the building and the neighborhood has been taken away, we renters are paying more attention to what is happening around us. A few have even taken money and let ourselves be pressured into moving out, the rest celebrate the summer by holding parties in the common courtyard and enjoy the fact that they have not let themselves be intimidated. In any case we will not be intimidated by Scientology in the upcoming years.
And we will continue to make noise. A group of concerned citizens got together three years ago and went public with information and action against Scientology and other speculators. Besides which we have established an information line for those affected and for prospective buyers who have questions about conversion and about Scientology.
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