Is Mark a Cult Member?

Yes.

55 (45.1%)

No.

33 (27%)

Does the Free State Project count as a cult?

34 (27.9%)

Total Members Voted: 46

[freeAgent]

I don't know that I'd call it a cult, but I was disappointed to hear that Mark was a member of (or believer in) Landmark Education.  It seems like they ask you to pay over and over for these seminars where they redefine words and basically give you a big self-help kind of talk which you could have gotten much more cheaply from a book.  What really bothers me about these things, though, is that they try to get the participants to recruit for them.  I see it as very similar to what the Mormons and similar organizations do with their door-to-door missionary work.  Generally I think Mark is a pretty reasonable guy, but I lost some respect for him after finding out that he belonged to one of these organizations.

[joeshmo]

I havent read the thread yet, but did anyone else notice that Ian was behaving very much like a 911-truth'er this episode.
He completely discounted and ignored any argument that disagreed with his own.
He kept referring to how much research he did.
He spouted links to crappy text only websites.

I bet Landmark is a lame organization that does bilk people out of their money, but dont you want them to have the liberty to do so?  How did you get through the whole show without mentioning liberty?  Did you really have no freedom related prep?
 Ian even ignored the one caller that tried to change the topic from  Ian's boring tirade on 'cults'. 

Perhaps worst of all was that he kept plugging them over and over again.  Free talk live generally makes a point to not namedrop because they realize it is like advertising for free (something Ian would never do willingly for Landmark).  His excuse will probably be that he was trying to do an expose.  If so, he did a really shitty job of it.

Ian, you are no John Stossel, and you are not in the same ballpark as Penn and Teller.  Get over yourself.
Sorry if this comes across as militant, Ian I love the show and you are a great talk show host;  you did a really bad job trying to expose landmark, please just keep to the normal format.  It made for a REALLY boring episode.

[FTL_Ian]

Thanks for the opinion.  We had plenty of prep, and lots of people liked the show.  Landmark has the liberty to exist, as I have the liberty to trash them on my radio show.

I don't think I've ever claimed to be John, Penn, or Teller.  Nor do I want to be.  I'm Ian, host of Free Talk Live.   

[Johnson]

Don't worry guys, when I get up to NH and get settled... I'll not only thank you for your opinions. I'll actually take them into consideration. Humility is a developed skill... On this, Ian isn't keen on hearing about what the hosts are skilled at, or what makes a good product for Free Talk Live. It was a fun expose show and if you didn't like it, tough titty, becuase a few people did.  (and majorities and minorites don't matter)

Well, I'm not of that mindset... and I would like to see the show stick to what it's good at (TO AN EXTENT) and I do believe experiments are good... but even experiments can be handled well or poorly. You can just start handing out nitro glycerine to rowdy highschool students, or you can educate them first and create a controlled environment... one way is better than the other...

Just remember guys, FTL doesn't have a producer yet... so whenever an experiment like that happens... there is no data that exists to know whether or not it will go over well...  and Ian may not give a crap about repeated quality, or targetting the audience, but I generally believe it's a good idea to have as much info as possible.

Did you guys like the Landmark show... Poll open now.
http://bbs.freetalklive.com/index.php?topic=9550

I, of course, do not think that Free Talk Live should ever cater to a majority... but as a product that goes to a market, I think anyone would have to admit that if the results of that poll are severely tilted in EITHER direction, that  it would be wise to follow what the market wants - and at the very least, rethink the approach if similar subject matter ever rears it's head again.

[joeshmo]

I was convinced they were doing another Gene Ray episode.  Ian didnt sound like himself at all.

[Porcupine_in_MA]

Well I voted that I liked it. It was just one show and I thought it was hilarious. Now if it were to go on beyond that, I would start getting annoyed.

[PG Wist]

I got much benefit from Landmark programs (going back to when it was the est training and the forum, including doing the 6-day).  I do think it has the organization is a bit weird and haven't been involved in at least 10 years or so.  Mark is not a cultist---but some who are involved might be so described.  Again, the program is powerful.

[soliscjw]

Landmark is a  not a cult I have taken the Forum twice and the Advanced course once and it is a waste of time but I do not think that it is a cult.