[Note from Frank Parlato:]
In my last post, DOS Caused the Downfall of Nxivm and Raniere, I wrote:
It would have been a good idea for Raniere not to have done one or more of the following:
Not brand women on the groin
Tell them that the brand was his initials
Not require collateral
Not lie to the women that he was the secret leader of the sorority
Had he done any of these, I am fairly confident he would not be in Tucson, Arizona, today, residing inside a US prison, on year three of his sentence, with about 100 years to go [with time off for good behavior].
He’d likely be in Clifton Park today, walking with one of his many female admirers, albeit unbranded, or not collateralized, or knowing that he was behind the promise that by being totally obedient to him they would find true freedom.
A reader made some interesting observations that dispute my contention above:
Guest View By Master Over Obedient Females
I respectfully disagree. Keith and Nxivm would have had other crimes catch up to them.
It is my belief that Keith being a total charlatan and wielding his fairly absolute power and cruelty was on a runaway course to destruction. Someone inside would have brought forth the money laundering and other financial crimes. At a minimum. Eventually.
People like Keith always self-destruct. It is part of his personality type. With his profile, there would have been previous build up and blow-ups (Consumers’ Buyline for example) in his past.
This is not uncommon, and sometimes a person like Keith will get lucky (the original Nxivm exodus of upper level) and soldier on, but there is an actual timeframe where people like Keith blow up their lives on a regular basis – until that final disaster brings them all the way down. I am refraining in making an actual clinical diagnosis here. But it is a known pattern.
Keith Raniere during the early days if Nxivm.
Keith would have had a molestation case that stuck. And was investigated properly soon enough. Or something similar. There is no chance this situation would have remained ” stable”. It was not sustainable. And Keith may actually have done much, much worse. If not stopped when he was arrested.
This article is way too generous to the true nature of DOS. Or its practices. Even the name. It’s been researched by far smarter linguistic experts than us.
If Keith was able, he would still seek to destroy you, Frank. Even now. Keep your guard up. You’re newer friends have one agenda. Don’t ever forget it. To serve Keith. Exonerate Keith. Avenge Keith.
Stay safe.
Frank Parlato reply:
I think it is likely that Keith Raniere would, if he could, destroy me. He tried to do it once, and this is perhaps the reason he is in prison now. As for his remaining followers, I think they are basically good people. They are interested, of course, in exonerating Raniere. This will not be easy.
Our interests intersect only as far as the truth is concerned. I think it is worth studying whether Raniere had due process abrogation in his trial. I am reviewing that. My review may mean nothing, or it may lead to something – including the fact that there were no due process issues.
I am still studying the issues.
As for his followers, I like them. I do not perceive them as dangerous. I think they are genuinely interested in bettering themselves and, as far as it lies in their power, bettering humanity.
They seem to me to be somewhat blind to the true nature of Keith Raniere, but as I have said to them, I hope to deprogram them one day.
In the meantime, I consider some of them friends [just as I consider some of the anti-Raniere Nxians my friends]. I can be friends with someone without having to have all the same opinions and feelings about their friends or even their leader.
Let us give this some time to develop. The most interesting thing that has happened to me since speaking with Raniere’s supporters is that I learned a great deal about why people stayed on in Nxivm and what they thought they got.
I could never have approached the writing of a book, for example, on this subject without this knowledge. As an almost pseudo-member of what remains of the Nxivm community, I understand now the charm of it. It is quite possible that most of Nxivm was peopled with good, well-intended individuals — and that Raniere used them for his own nefarious ends.
His goals were evil, their goals were good. This is what makes it so absorbing. Raniere got good people to follow him. His goals for them seem to have been their destruction, but, in some of their cases, they were not destroyed but actually became stronger.
Does Raniere still pose a threat to me? I suppose it is possible; so, thanks for the warning.
