MLM: Multi Level Malfeasance
posted by CS | 5:00 PM 
Amway. The name provokes fierce loyalty in some, equally fierce revulsion in others. I'll leave you to decide in which camp I reside.
Many of us are familiar with the multi-level marketer (MLM) of cleaning products and other household sundries - or perhaps its online variant, Quixtar. Many are also familiar with the solicitations of those seeking to "network" - to build their personal empires.
It is those solicitations - and the thrust behind them - that give me the heebie-jeebies (whoops - guess I gave away my position!). That someone is looking to expand his business, this I do not fault him. Simply be honest about it is all I ask. Don't couch the pitch in how much whatever MLM you represent can do for me, when you have yet to experience the very things you suggest will befall me. No, what really infuriates me is the mixing of the business with an implied superior spirituality - that your MLM is "God's way" of doing business (implying other ways are not). This happens many more times than you'd think.
Amway, like many other MLM systems, will not say as much on the surface, but once inside the organization, will reveal itself as "Christian":
I swear, if it isn't Madonna mixing things all up, or prominent evangelical leaders preaching one thing and doing another, it's foisters of MLM claiming to be "God's way". Jesus, how do you love us still?
One of the things I love most about Jesus is that though I might be grieved at His image in popular thought, he is not.
Full disclosure: my wife had a MLM business in operation in 2005 and part of 2006. We closed up shop due to the gift of our first child. I think we got out at a slight loss, $$-wise. Of course it was a much larger loss, if time is taken into account. With the actual business (end seller potential) of the enterprise, I don't really have many qualms; it is a good product. Even the overall stratification of MLM doesn't bother me much, as this is how it is in any capitalist enterprise (those who get in early generally make the most $$... 'cause generally they have taken the most risk... generally.). But this point I made above - about blending the business elements with Christianity - I saw this as well in my wife's org. It hadn't grown to where it was obtrusive and authoritarian, but it was definitely a fundamental.
Oh, and here's my take on MLM in general: a superior product sells itself.
If you have the time and really would like to read one man's Amway story, check out his site. He has a pdf book you can download as well. His assertions concerning prominent Republicans is exceedingly distressing, but not surprising. That the current Republican candidate for governor is the son of the founder of Amway is very interesting.
Many of us are familiar with the multi-level marketer (MLM) of cleaning products and other household sundries - or perhaps its online variant, Quixtar. Many are also familiar with the solicitations of those seeking to "network" - to build their personal empires.
It is those solicitations - and the thrust behind them - that give me the heebie-jeebies (whoops - guess I gave away my position!). That someone is looking to expand his business, this I do not fault him. Simply be honest about it is all I ask. Don't couch the pitch in how much whatever MLM you represent can do for me, when you have yet to experience the very things you suggest will befall me. No, what really infuriates me is the mixing of the business with an implied superior spirituality - that your MLM is "God's way" of doing business (implying other ways are not). This happens many more times than you'd think.
Amway, like many other MLM systems, will not say as much on the surface, but once inside the organization, will reveal itself as "Christian":
“When you’re loyal to the upline, it’s being loyal to God. It’s being loyal to your husband and loyal to your children.” -Amway Double Diamond Linda Harteis, Quote from “Ladies Meeting- Tues. Afternoon-Part 1" GDL 96-35 (source)This pisses me off to no end. Jesus Christ has perhaps one of the worst reputations in the world, due to his supposed followers, the things they associate with Him. It is only through His powerful message that this crap gets sidelined at all. Still, it pains me how many souls are driven away from belief by the misappropriation of His message.
I swear, if it isn't Madonna mixing things all up, or prominent evangelical leaders preaching one thing and doing another, it's foisters of MLM claiming to be "God's way". Jesus, how do you love us still?
One of the things I love most about Jesus is that though I might be grieved at His image in popular thought, he is not.
Full disclosure: my wife had a MLM business in operation in 2005 and part of 2006. We closed up shop due to the gift of our first child. I think we got out at a slight loss, $$-wise. Of course it was a much larger loss, if time is taken into account. With the actual business (end seller potential) of the enterprise, I don't really have many qualms; it is a good product. Even the overall stratification of MLM doesn't bother me much, as this is how it is in any capitalist enterprise (those who get in early generally make the most $$... 'cause generally they have taken the most risk... generally.). But this point I made above - about blending the business elements with Christianity - I saw this as well in my wife's org. It hadn't grown to where it was obtrusive and authoritarian, but it was definitely a fundamental.
Oh, and here's my take on MLM in general: a superior product sells itself.
If you have the time and really would like to read one man's Amway story, check out his site. He has a pdf book you can download as well. His assertions concerning prominent Republicans is exceedingly distressing, but not surprising. That the current Republican candidate for governor is the son of the founder of Amway is very interesting.
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