Yup, from all I've read on it, I'd say HLA is far from the worst of the worst of them, but nowhere near benign either.
But it's not a matter of weeding out the bad seed to improve the variety. I think the entire concept is flawed at it's core. I don't even care to discuss any more the nitty gritty specific overt abuses that necessarily grow out of this mix.
People respond differently to it, but just look at the tone and temper of the Program devout. They
hate kids! No, it's not toughlove, they seem to take sheer pleasure in frightening, and humiliating them. Just like all the other totalitarian TC's I've ever heard of, the only way for a captive to get along is either to resist openly and take the abuse or to humor the bastards. The trouble is that kids, even more than adults (but not by much) tend to over-estimate their own mental integrity and autonomy.
We like to think we're thinking clearly and logically and basing all of our conclusions on sound logic. But really, we believe much of whatever people around us tend to believe. We do reality checks all the damned time. Even watching the same show can be a completely different experience depending on how the audience is composed.
The big trouble w/ the TC model, in my view, is not that it's so innefective at changing the behaviors they set out to change, it's that it's
extremely effective at changing people's
beliefs. Put a kid in an unnaturally isoleted environment surrounded by people who sincerely believe the worst imaginable things about kids in general and, moreso, kids who "did the necessary things" (poor choice in parents) to get sent to them and, guess what folks,
the kid might come to fucking believe it!!!! That alone might account for a lot of the suicides among Program vets.
All religion is dumb. It's one big story they're feeding you so you'll behave on Earth. If there is a god, then he's a prick.
--Howard Stern, American radio personality
