March has been yet another month in which I
mostly neglected my Whirled. Life sometimes gets in the way of
hobby-blogging. I've had several items on the back burner for
months, but let's start with a topic that's probably predictable
if you're at all familiar with this blog: serial scammer Kevin Trudeau,
who has been serving a ten-year(ish) federal prison sentence for
criminal contempt related to hugely deceptive infomercials for a weight-loss book he perpetrated years ago.
Trudeau served most of his time in a minimum-security
Federal sleepaway camp (FPC Montgomery, Alabama), but since
January of 2021 he has been in home confinement in a private residence
in the Chicago area, where, if he's a
good boy, he'll be allowed to finish serving out his sentence.
His scheduled release date is either May 2022 or July 2022,
depending upon the source to which you're referring.
Now, just what he's going to be able to do once he's totally
"free" is still open to question. I wrote about that in January of 2020.
More recently, Trudeau has captured the attention of one of my
favorite writers, Tony
Ortega, author of the Underground
Bunker blog as well as a couple of engrossing books,
all of which take a relentless look at the evil cult-religion
Scientology. In January of this year, Ortega published a blog
post about the similarity between Kevin Trudeau's sales pitches and
those of Scientology as Trudeau's
release from prison draws nearer.
Trudeau can hardly wait to get back in the saddle, and his Global Information Network (GIN) is anticipating his release by starting to book personal sessions with him after he gets out. Yes, if you book early, you can secure in-person counseling with a man who never lets government fines and prison sentences from selling himself as the best life coach you could ever want.
Thanks to a reader, it’s been brought to our attention how much his GIN program is looking more and more like Scientology. In fact, we think you’re really going to be struck by the vocabulary Trudeau uses as he offers a new “level” of counseling he’s calling “Director VIII.”
Trudeau’s own involvement in Scientology is a little mysterious. He recommends in his books that readers try out Dianetics and Scientology. And as the Business Insider profile indicates, Trudeau’s second wife, Kristine Dorow, said that their prenup “obligated her to reach a certain level in Scientology, which Trudeau has dabbled in over the years.” Some former Scientologists have also claimed to have seen Trudeau at facilities in Los Angeles. But his actual involvement in Scientology is not well known.
Actually, this stuff has been going on for a
long time, and while the extent of Trudeau's involvement in
Scientology may not be widely known, his long-time affinity for
Scientology is well-known among those who have been
obsessively following him. Moreover, while the essence of the
Underground Bunker post is accurate -- particularly the point
that Trudeau/GIN use Scientology-ish language -- Ortega's take on
the "in-person counseling" and the "new level of
counseling" is a little misleading. What is actually being
promoted is a new level of GIN membership -- Level 8 (or VIII, if
you prefer) -- with the initial training session to be delivered
in person by Kevin himself on some date (still to be determined)
after he has completed his prison sentence. (GIN's plan from the
beginning was to eventually offer 12 membership levels.)
And it's
not just a matter of "booking early" -- in theory,
anyway, you have to join GIN, and then you have to work (and pay)
your way up through Levels 1-7 by a certain date in order to
qualify. I wrote about the "Level 8" training scheme in
January 2020.
That said, Ortega was spot-on about the continuing influence of
Scientology on Kevin Trudeau. It goes even deeper than influence,
though: judging from some of the content that has been posted on
Trudeau-approved web sites, Trudeau has aspirations to be a
massively influential cult leader much like the late L. Ron Hubbard, founder of
Scientology. I wrote about this at length in December 2019; in particular, scroll down to the part about
"Kevin's big dream..."
SeaOrg, anyone?
I first wrote about the GIN/Trudeau/Scientology
connection in July 2012, focusing on
the cult-like indoctrination tactics that were used on GIN
members. This was back when GIN's chief revenue generator was the
club's scammy multilevel marketing scheme and its progressively
pricey membership levels. GIN is still selling progressive levels
of membership, but for a lower price, and it's no longer an MLM, although
members still get referral/affiliate fees.
The embedded links to the "questionnaires" in my 2012
post are no longer valid, but I did take the liberty back then of
copying and pasting some of the questionnaires, which faithful
GIN members were supposed to answer on a daily, weekly, and
monthly basis. They were taught that by performing all of the
items on the lists, they would ensure their business -- that is,
their GIN downline -- was a success. Just looking at the lists is
enough to make one's head spin; someone would have to be truly
OCD (or totally indoctrinated) to actually do all of that stuff.
And it would leave very little time left over for an actual life.
But then, that's the whole idea: dedicate your life to the
Master, and if not your life, then at least all of your money,
including money you don't actually have.
Granted, Trudeau has been pretty quiet since he's been in the
home-release program, and his proxies haven't exactly been
churning out tons of Kevin-dictated/approved posts on his main Facebook fan page
lately, as they did in the recent past. Some of his defenders
have speculated that, congruent with claims Kevin himself has
made in courtrooms and on social media over the years, he really
has emerged from his prison ordeal a changed and humbled man who
is sincerely interested in helping others and making the world a
better place.
But I'm not buying it. I seriously doubt that Trudeau's silence
stems from humility, though I'd be willing to bet that it's
motivated at least in part by a desire to convince certain judges
that there's nothing to see here: that Kevin Trudeau is no longer
even remotely interested in being a huckster and cult leader. If
the judges are smart, they won't buy that.
PS ~ Here's my take on the excellent Business Insider piece, from January 2015, that Tony Ortega cited in his blog
post.
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3 comments:
Why does a cult have to be a bad thing? Christianity started out as a Jewish cult until it became the largest religion in the world. Kevin is starting a global movement that will raise mankind's vibration for the better. You are just so focused on negativity Connie. Let me quote Kevin:
"In mining for gold, one must move tons of dirt to find just a few ounces of gold. But you are not looking for the dirt, you are looking for the gold. In your life, don’t look for the dirt, and don’t pay attention to the dirt (there can be a lot of dirt), rather, look for the gold in every situation and every person. You CAN find gold if you look for it! Focus on the GOLD!"
I think you are looking too much for the dirt on Kevin, while neglecting the nuggets of gold that he has spread. They can be truly life-changing when you start applying them!
Thank you for your input, Kevin Fan. A few points:
1. A cult such as Scientology (which some would argue is not a cult anymore but a mainstream religion) IS a bad thing. It has a long history of intense manipulation and intimidation of its followers, along with sometimes vicious acts of vengeance against its detractors.
2. A cult that relies on devotion to, and what for some folks amounts to worship of, a con man is certainly not a good thing, at least not in my view. Kevin's "global movement that will raise mankind's vibration for the better" is a ruse, and it's not even a very original one. New-Age gurus (or New-Wage, as I often call them) and their followers have been blabbing about that for the past five or six decades. Age of Aquarius, anyone?
3. Using Christianity as an example of a "good" former cult is not going to convince me; not only have many atrocities been committed throughout the centuries in the name of Christianity, but some sectors of Christianity (particularly right-wing "Christianity") are for all practical purposes *still* cults, and are, in my opinion, also bad things. I recognize that Christianity has also been a force for good, but there's plenty of bad and ugly there too.
I really do not have to look to find "dirt" on Kevin; it's there in plain sight. If there's any gold, it's generally fool's gold. Kevin himself is most certainly focused on the gold, or rather the green in his followers' wallets. As for "nuggets" that he has spread... oh, you would have to bring that up, wouldn't you? :-)
https://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2015/01/kevin-trudeau-pooping-out-nuggets-for.html
But hey... if his spiel works for you, carry on. Just hold on to your wallet.
@ Kevin Fan: "Why does a cult have to be a bad thing? Christianity started out as a Jewish cult until it became the largest religion in the world."
I'm trying to choose which {il)logical fallacies are used here. There are so many!
"Christianity started out as a Jewish cult until it became the largest religion in the world."
Straw Man Fallacy" "The typical straw man argument creates the illusion of having refuted or defeated an opponent's proposition through the covert replacement of it with a different proposition (i.e., "stand up a straw man") and the subsequent refutation of that false argument ("knock down a straw man") instead of the opponent's proposition."
("Bow to my superior intelligence, blogger, and don't notice that I am defending Cult #2 by saying that it is starting small like my Straw Man Cult # 1 did! Two billion people can not be wrong! Christianity triumphed, and therefore Kevin-GIN shall triumph because it, too, started out small!")
False Analogy: An argument by analogy in which the analogy is poorly suited.
False analogy #1: "Kevin, because Jesus!"
False analogy #2: "Kevin = Gold Nuggets in the dirt!" Any gold miner would tell you that Kevin lies shining in your gold pan after you wash away the dirt!
Appeal to emotion: Manipulating the emotions of the listener rather than using valid reasoning to obtain common agreement.
"Jesus!"
"The Cross!"
"Gold!"
"Two Billion People Can't Be Wrong!"
How dast you knock one of The World's Great Religions? Which started as a small cult?"
"Gold!" (Follow the gold! You know you want it!)
Argumentum ad populum: Appeal to widespread belief, bandwagon argument, appeal to the majority, appeal to the people – a proposition is claimed to be true or good solely because a majority or many people believe it to be so.
("Two Billion People Must Be Right!")
False equivalence: Describing two or more statements as virtually equal when they are not.
("My GIN/Kevin = Christ: We Stand United Against The Crass Unbelievers!")
After my copying and pasting, how about some of my own words holding that jejune, vacuous statement in contempt:
Appeal to numbers: *That* former cult used to have a small number of followers, before it became one of the largest religions in the world, therefore, (1) *that* cult must be valid because it now has a large number of followers, which magically makes it valid "(Two Billion People Must Be Right!"), and therefore, (2) the cult I am now defending could be just like it, and valid because it started small like *that* cult and could eventually have a large number of followers, which magically makes it valid.
("Kevin On the Cross: You Do Not Yet Believe.")
*snort*
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