I was also enraged by the thousands of dollars my dad had to spend to by the latest "Basics" book and lecture package. I knew that he wouldn't get miraculous results just from a bunch more books, because he already had many older copies of same books for 20 years. All that results is he goes into more debt, and the books and lectures just collect dust.
Interesting that you commented about lying to the e-meter. I was subject to a few security checks in a time when I was confident that I didn't want to be a scientologist anymore. I think the meter works more on confidence then truth/lies.
For example, there was a one-time silent meter check for the whole crew (this is done weekly at other orgs but not for CLO Canada at the time) and I was the Dir Comm, so I got to see the results as I routed them to the appropriate person. Surprisingly, while secretly very disaffected, I passed that silent meter check, as did many crew who where actually known to be in 'ethics cycles'. I know I was confident that the basics sales evolution was a BS project. But Kyle and Alex, who worked their rear ends off to finish setting up the telemarketing center on the 9th floor, were the only two who failed the check. So they were the most hard-working crew that week and ended up in Ethics, probably because they weren't confident about all the computer stuff they had to get familar with and fast. So yeah, if you feel like you're in the wrong, you'll get a read, but if you know you have the right perspective, the meter doesn't react. Its about confidence.