I guess you could say I'm a satisfied customer.
But, am I really? A customer, I mean. Lately, I've had to ask myself some hard questions about Landmark, and about my relationship with it. Here are some of the possible interpretations I've considered in answering the question, "What is Landmark Education?".
Landmark Education Corporation is an employee owned California corporation. 1993 revenues were approximately $32 million. 1993 profits were $167,000. Like any business, it would like to make money, and can't afford to lose money. And like any group of people, they have interests beyond the strictly economic.
In this interpretation, the program participants are simply customers. 90% to 95% say they got their money's worth. I've spent $3500 on Landmark in the last two years, and I think it was worth it.
The problem with this point of view is that most of the work is done by volunteers. Assisting is considered to be just another educational program, so assistants are customers too. They exchange their labor for the training that they get. Still, why are they working for free in somebody else's business? Which brings us to...
I finally called Liz Sumerlin's phone number (303-444-9999), and listened to her tape. If I could be forgiven for summarising her message, the gist of it is:
Now, the assistants get upset when they hear this, because, in their hearts they know that...
...and they're proud to be a part of it. I remember how proud I was of my first yellow name tag. (Assistants wear yellow name tags.)
This is something that Landmark saw about itself just last September, at the staff conference in San Francisco. This is the culture of assisting:
"Amazingly good people, trying to belong to and fufill a holy mission, inside an inherently flawed system, without getting destroyed in the process."
This leads to a mood of anxiety, sadness and despair (with hope). It also leads to self-righteousness about Landmark's work, and doing things "for the cause". In other words, life is empty and meaningless, and it doesn't mean anything that it doesn't mean anything...but personal transformation, now THAT'S significant!
So, then, perhaps it's no surprise that sometimes my friends ask me if...
A slightly more sophisticated version of this is that Landmark isn't a cult...it's the IFLP that's the problem. It pains me to say that, because I loved the people in my IFLP. We became close to each other in the 7 months of the program.
Last July, I walked out of the 4th IFLP Weekend because I was disturbed by the group-think culture that I saw there. I ended up walking back in, because I wanted to finish what I started. But I decided not to become an IFL.
However, there's a problem with calling Landmark a cult. It's grossly inaccurate to put Landmark in the same category as the Branch Davidians, the Unification Church, Scientology, or the Order of the Solar Temple.
If Landmark is a cult, it's a cult who's core values are integrity, responsibility, communication, relationship...
...and calling your mother.
Well, then, what does that leave?
My sister, who's not a graduate, says that...
Well, maybe she's right. After all...
When I brought this up with Lisa Leavitt, the Chicago Center Manager, she laughed. She used to be an actress, and her response was that Landmark is a lot more like acting school than it is like a church.
OK, I give up. What do you think?
What IS Landmark Education Corporation?
[Note: I posted this to alt.fan.landmark in the spring of 1995, and although a great deal has happened since then, I have chosen not to alter it.]
Tim Fairbank's public email address is: timfairban@aol.com