Freedomain Radio

Here.

Thanks, Stacy. I was one of the people in the chatroom back when Kate was gathering her "information" for the article. It seems she's not been as "objective" as she promised to be when we spoke with her.

What a slippery little article

Fascinating.  As I read a few things jumped out at me:

1.  The article itself starts out as a subtle attack on the internet (something which political forces long to control).

2.  The author doesn't identify Steff until the last third or so of the article - by which time most readers have probably abandoned it.  She could have at least given the website and the author early in the article.  As it is people will no doubt find FDR on a google search.

3.  The excuses used by the parent "We did the best we could, etc," are, word for word, what Steff predicts most parents will say in the case of a defoo.

4.  The mother even hits on the problem - "he felt we were making fun of him" ie he's a whipping boy for our purposes, and does not see that examination of this facet of their "relationship" provides the insight needed to set up a normal healthy relationship (as if that were really possible - especially in the short run).  Of course she denies that that was the basis of their relationship as seen by her son.

5.  The mother does in fact not only drive away her son but her husband leaves her too.  Did she drive him away for the same reasons?

6.  The author uses the entire article to demonize Steff. 

I remember Steff said he had no fear FDR being shut down until politicians were personally affected by this stuff.  If, god forbide, sites deemed cults could be made into political issues (Ex: Cult Sites, Shut them down!) this idea might gain traction.   I wouldn't worry too much about that happening now, but this is a first shot over the bow for such a political idea to be born.  It would take thousands of similar articles, that are not going to be written, for this to gain any traction at all.  And even if that happened (I know, I've really stepped deep into fantasy land here) massive amounts of traffic would be directed at FDR and guess what, the population of people learning the truth of their relationships would greatly expand.

Matter of fact, I wonder if there is any blip up in traffic generated by this article. 

The irony of this article being published talking about how FDR isolates people on the same day that I've had two of the most amazing, intimate conversations with people outside of FDR in my life.  Oh well, I hope it brings more people to the site to see what it's really about.

Poor Tom! How terrible, to be written about in such a manner, so publically, and against his wishes - and to be identified so openly. That is just awful...

FDR is not harmed by the article, the truth can't be diminished by such silly smears - in fact they help - but I am very sad for Tom.

Kinda weird the author thinks this. Ever since FDR my personal relationships have improved dramatically. Even my relationship with my parents have gotten a lot better, my mother specifically. Oh well... some people just like to gossip.

Fuck, this article infuriates me.

"Tom cut himself off from his family."

I couldn't help myself but try to translate what Barbara probably implied:

"He got hooked in by an online cult...The website convinces vulnerable people that they should hate their parents and should leave their family." - Tom is unstable. I don't think he can choose for himself. He's a retard.

"Nick was the mischievous one and sometimes I did get cross with him. But I didn't need to get cross with Tom. He was such a joy to be with and had long, serious conversations with everyone. I always thought he would be the last one to leave home - that at 40 he might even still be here, which is ironic..." - Tom was a good slave, I often used him to manage my anxieties. I thought I had him nicely chained to the basement, but alas, he escaped. At least we didn't spoil Nick. It's a good thing we got cross with him: "Now we show affection and we're really talking"

"But Tom didn't seem interested in communicating, merely in throwing accusations - for instance that his brother John and me were fond of laughing at him, which wasn't true. I began to notice that he was interpreting all family interactions as abusive." - I don't care about Tom's opinion. It's not important how he feels, because I know he's not right. Poor little thing is lost.

"We did our best to be a happy family." - I'm not open to learning about my mistakes.

"I just wish I could be part of that - that I could give him another £50 when his student loan runs out, that I could celebrate his successes with him." - Giving Tom money made me feel better about myself. I also liked taking credit for his achievements and bragging about them.

"So I sent Tom a text message to wish him luck at university and tell him I'm thinking of him... I don't know if he would have read the message or just deleted it when he saw it was from me." - I still don't want to address the real issues. Instead, I recently sent Tom a letter that was supposed to send him on a guilt trip - seeing how caring and hurt I am in the letter, he's gonna feel bad for rejecting me. In case he deleted it, I'm gonna mention this in the interview, because I'm sure he'd be reading your article.

"I've lost the only remaining glimpse I had of him. I don't know how he's feeling or if he needs help." - Now I have nothing to gossip about with the rest of the FOO. All I know is that Tom is unstable.

"Sometimes I dream that Tom is standing in front of me, smiling, and I feel happy and peaceful. But then I wake up." - I'm a victim, feel bad for me. FDR makes people unhappy.

Hi Kate, your work is unprofessional. It seems like you don't respect your readers' intelligence and you make the assumptions for them. Don't expect any respect from me.

Lord, poor Tom. First his parents, and now this woman sticking knives into him. She's done everything but overtly say that he's unstable. Horrid woman.

"by his father's mood swings, which sometimes cause him to throw things or shout at the cat"

That is amazing, the father can have mood swings that 'cause him' to do stuff, releaving him from responsibility. Tom is not so easily relieved of his responsibility of his defoo however.

I seem to remember from the call in that the father did not throw things and shout at the cat, but broke a glass door and kicked the cat when he was angry.

I guess the intuition about how the article would turn out was correct

Wow, the Saturday Guadian, that's likely to be very well read, including my parents. No supprises with the article, but where can I read about the other side of the story? Any good threads?

pcrs:

That is amazing, the father can have mood swings that 'cause him' to do stuff, releaving him from responsibility. Tom is not so easily relieved of his responsibility of his defoo however.

Ah the power of UPB once again used to unveil the rank hypocrisy.  Good catch Peter.

btw good translating Spratzman, those were spot on.

Actually the article doesn't imply Tom is responsible. It implies FDR, as a cult, is...

This is really horrible. Tom if you're reading this you have my sympathy and you're welcome to come down and visit me if you fancy getting away from it all.

I

Spratzaman:

"So I sent Tom a text message to wish him luck at university and tell him I'm thinking of him... I don't know if he would have read the message or just deleted it when he saw it was from me." - I still don't want to address the real issues. Instead, I recently sent Tom a letter that was supposed to send him on a guilt trip - seeing how caring and hurt I am in the letter, he's gonna feel bad for rejecting me. In case he deleted it, I'm gonna mention this in the interview, because I'm sure he'd be reading your article.

Reading this I feel like puking. So true.

Spratzaman

pcrs:

That is amazing, the father can have mood swings that 'cause him' to do stuff, releaving him from responsibility

I got hooked by this sentence too. Horrifiing, imagining that this is only 10 percent of the truth that went through a million of filters. I feel queasy.

Spratzaman:

I always thought he would be the last one to leave home - that at 40 he might even still be here, which is ironic..."

Goosebump-statement. Horrible. The prospective of a life long slave. Horrible. At one point people accidently reveal what they really think and don't even notice.This sentence illustrates her motives very clear.