I will admit to a certain confusion about NATLFED entities, a confusion stoked by the post about Stephanie Magurno.
In general, it seems to me, that when Perente was alive he had the rare mix of sociopathic ambition and charisma necessary to successfully brainwash impressionable college kids, trust-fund babies, and dessicated left-wing authoritarians, into a disciplined cult group of followers that answered only to him.
But after Perente passed away, it does not look like there was anyone left with sufficient force of personality to really take his place. As such, it appeared that the group was slowly losing its capacity to really perpetuate itself as a cult - for who in NATLFED had enough charisma to bring the naifs flocking in?
This was part of the rationale for the switch from cult to scam.
By the time Perente died, the various cadre members, operating in the entities, had figured out that the charity community was filled with people with soft heads and big pocket books. Lenin would have called them "useful idiots," these churches, foundations, universities and assorted do-gooders that mindlessly fund the NATLFED entities.
So the various entities switched their emphasis. Recruiting college kids into a cult was no longer job number one. Instead, the new priority was running these ever more successful financial scams under the cover of their bogus social welfare and community organizing activities.
As such, you would expect that these entities would have a natural life-cycle. The aging cadre members operating the entities can bring in the dollars, but not new cadre members, because there's no one in the entities with enough charisma to indoctrinate even the most gullible of post-adolescent suckers. NATLFED entities would continue to play a parasitic role in what community the infest, but not for much longer. They are aging and dying off.
But then there is the story of Stephanie Magurno, and the disturbing possibility emerges that there are still NATLFED cadre out there capable of recruiting and indoctrinating college kids, perpetuating the core the cult, and creating opportunities for the group to spread.
So maybe NATLFED isn't dying off as fast as one might hope.
Post script: As it relates to the specific case of Stephanie Magurno, there is another possibility to consider, for being a young, female college student doesn't mean she's necessarily a victim. She could be precisely the sort of anti-social personality that NATLFED entities depend on: self-righteous, unconcerned with honesty, internally comfortable with a mixture of self-delusion and misrepresentation to others, all in the service of some self-aggrandizing notions about the faults of liberal society and the necessity of revolution.
You can't write-off that possibility.
In general, it seems to me, that when Perente was alive he had the rare mix of sociopathic ambition and charisma necessary to successfully brainwash impressionable college kids, trust-fund babies, and dessicated left-wing authoritarians, into a disciplined cult group of followers that answered only to him.
But after Perente passed away, it does not look like there was anyone left with sufficient force of personality to really take his place. As such, it appeared that the group was slowly losing its capacity to really perpetuate itself as a cult - for who in NATLFED had enough charisma to bring the naifs flocking in?
This was part of the rationale for the switch from cult to scam.
By the time Perente died, the various cadre members, operating in the entities, had figured out that the charity community was filled with people with soft heads and big pocket books. Lenin would have called them "useful idiots," these churches, foundations, universities and assorted do-gooders that mindlessly fund the NATLFED entities.
So the various entities switched their emphasis. Recruiting college kids into a cult was no longer job number one. Instead, the new priority was running these ever more successful financial scams under the cover of their bogus social welfare and community organizing activities.
As such, you would expect that these entities would have a natural life-cycle. The aging cadre members operating the entities can bring in the dollars, but not new cadre members, because there's no one in the entities with enough charisma to indoctrinate even the most gullible of post-adolescent suckers. NATLFED entities would continue to play a parasitic role in what community the infest, but not for much longer. They are aging and dying off.
But then there is the story of Stephanie Magurno, and the disturbing possibility emerges that there are still NATLFED cadre out there capable of recruiting and indoctrinating college kids, perpetuating the core the cult, and creating opportunities for the group to spread.
So maybe NATLFED isn't dying off as fast as one might hope.
Post script: As it relates to the specific case of Stephanie Magurno, there is another possibility to consider, for being a young, female college student doesn't mean she's necessarily a victim. She could be precisely the sort of anti-social personality that NATLFED entities depend on: self-righteous, unconcerned with honesty, internally comfortable with a mixture of self-delusion and misrepresentation to others, all in the service of some self-aggrandizing notions about the faults of liberal society and the necessity of revolution.
You can't write-off that possibility.