Mark had gotten seriously into debt on Slick 50, with no easy way to pay it back. Feeling like a failure towards his wife and family is supposedly a big part of the depression.
A quick note: Slick 50-it's a motor oil that contains teflon. It's now sold in stores, but wasn't in the early 80's. Probably 10-15 GCI people saw it as a
get-rich-quick scheme and invested heavily. It didn't sell like people thought it would, leaving some with real debt.
puff of purple smoke | November 25, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Be specific, Puff, about what you are referring to with McCotter. Give examples.
Well, “Divisive” gave two examples in his/her original post. McCotter lying to a senator about how much capital he had, and Slick 50. With Slick 50, Henry Hintermeister claims extreme exhagguaration on McCotter’s part in terms of the funding: McCotter claimed to Petrolon that the GCI fellowship owned about a fourth of the Petrolon organization throughout the United States when in reality this was not even close to reality. Similar deal with senator John Conlan: McCotter claimed to have half a million dollars in capital raised, but really did not (but needed the appearance of having some money invested in order to convince others to invest, “gotta have money to make money” mentality). There are many other incidents of this manner that go way beyond “hype.” They point to a man unconcerned about telling the truth, a man without character. All financial matters aside, let’s not forget to mention the hundreds of people excommunicated and slandered by McCotter and his disciples for the sake of “unity”– that is another form is misleading people. Using people’s religious beliefs against them, with little disregard for the lives ruined, simply to keep critics silenced. What a swell guy.