Questions for Werner Erhard
It would be interesting to ask him if he thought it had all been worth it, what his net worth is, and what he thinks his legacy will be and what the history books will write about him.
Comments:
Are you a friend or a detractor?
I doubt if his legacy will be viewed totally without suspicion because people will allways gravitate to thinking the worst, especially this side of the pond. He has to take some responsibility for that.
I think Erhard hit on something utterly brilliant with his notion of creating an ontological space of nothing from which anything can be created – or in Landmark speak, standing in a clearing where ‘possibility’ can be invented.
I have never met a group of people so genuinely dedicated to bringing the world of communication and possibility to others as those who work for and volunteer at Landmark events. If Erhard has made millions – good on him, he deserves every penny! So what? Who said that was bad? Noone slags off Coca-cola for all those nasty profits they make do they, so what’s different?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Erhard’s technology (now changed and reworked as Landmark Education’s technology) were freely available and taught from a young age in every school in the land – the world would be a very different place (or is that just another story?!)
I am neither, I am empty and meaningless, and I am everything and full of meaning. :)
“If Erhard has made millions – good on him, he deserves every penny!”
Not necessarily, for Erhard’s organizations, subsidiary companies, spinoffs, etc “made millions” using unpaid volunteer laborers.
If Coca-Cola had a 95% all-volunteer unpaid laborer workforce, I’m sure people would “slag” off Coca-Cola for those “nasty profits” as you put it.
Do a google searches for:
landmark education labor violations investigations
for more info.
Take the value you can
It has been 30 years since I had any contact with est or the associated trainings, but I was an “assistant” for a year and still find value in what I learned in that time. I learned how to manage, how to get results, and how to be managed. No amount of monetary “pay” would have been more useful in my life.
Ain't no volunteers at est nor Landmark
When friends use the words, “I volunteered” I butt in and remind them they had an assisting agreement—and Landmark’s part of the agreement is that they get value greater than the cost of their time. And if they aren’t getting value, LEAVE!! If they aren’t getting value, there is nothing for them to volunteer, nothing to contribute. If they aren’t getting value, then they aren’t giving value and should go home.
I’ve wondered if the suspicion and revulsion a few folks feel toward Landmark and all those “volunteers” is based in the American idolization of The Individual. Nothing that asks The Individual to contribute to something greater than Himself can be a good thing for an American—even if the discipline and consciousness coming from that contribution benefits the individuality.
lgattruth has gotten 1 cheer on this entry.
snapper57 cheered this 4 years ago
