Fiction Unraveled

In chapter 20 of his book The Fantasy Bond, Bob writes about all aspects of life in the Environment (aka The Friendship Circle) in glowing terms. Readers are expected to believe that the group was comprised of happy, enlightened, independent-minded individuals. Most of it is fiction.

I've picked out a few of the lies, misrepresentations, and otherwise bizarre passages (which are indented) and interspersed my comments. 

Theraputic Community

New form of psychosocial milieu ... the people improved dramatically ... remarkably harmonious ... worthy of anthropological study

This sort of rosy commentary is throughout. This is Bob expressing his utopian fantasies.  

My professional associates and myself had been exploring techniques...

ROFL! There were no professional associates. The two other psychologists who lived in the commune weren't inner circle. They weren't even inner circle adjacent. In fact, they were relegated to the lowly bottom floor. They had absolutely nothing to do with the evolution of Bob's work. You won't see their names among the acknowledgements in any of Bob's books. 

We found that the majority of people were unable to sustain their undefended, feelingful state after returning to the “normal” world. Their daily interactions with well-meaning but defended family members encouraged them to return to a self-limiting, defensive posture.

Setting the stage for the highly insular nature of The Environment, where followers were strongly discouraged from having contact with family members and friends from the past.

At their first general meeting, members of the new community elected a committee of 15 people to be responsible for overseeing the practical problems of group living. 

A blatant lie. The committe (which was led by Bob's wife, and which was an obvious extension of his authoritarian control) wasn't established until The Environment had existed for approximately five years.

The children are well-behaved and well-adjusted. They stand out in their appearance and demeanor, according to teachers and other observers.

According to teachers? Without exception, they were home schooled. 

Never mind that two of the children raised in "the kids program" eventually committed suicide. 

Business

The group started a computer distribution firm and a commercial interior design company.

No, "the group" did no such thing. DJ started the computer company and Bob assumed control of it by installing himself as CEO. Jane started the design company and Bob assumed control of it by installing his wife as President. 

The work environment reflected the pride that the employees had in owning a part of their own company.

The work environment was nothing short of putrid. Indentured servitude was commonplace, particularly in the design company. People worked long hours for little or no pay while the Firestones sucked out the money. Resentment abounded. 

Yes, employees were granted modest stock options. But when the computer company went public, one and only one person became wealthy. That of course was Bob. This is because he forbade everyone from selling their stock in order to maintain stock price, and meanwhile he unloaded his shares which permanently crashed the stock. (It's also due to Bob owning a large percentage of the company for no good reason.)

Postscript

These are just several examples of the lies and misrepresentations. I could go on at great length.

As in his book The Ethics of Interpersonal Relationships, Bob relies heavily on the  observations of Stuart Boyd who was Bob's professor in college. Boyd was elderly, retired, and of modest means. He was paid to write the sorry drivel that appears throughout. 

Bob was all about astroturfing. When his books came out, an organized effort kicked in. Followers were dispatched to book stores all over the greater Los Angeles area to buy out the books (using their own money of course).