I read this for free here: archive.org/details/MerchantsOfDeception/page/n1/mode/2up
Sheesh. A horror story, indeed. The author says he’s not a writer, and it’s pretty clear, but the strength or weakness of the prose isn’t the point. It’s his experience. And it is vile. I mean, we all know that MLMs, Direct Selling, Network Marketing – all double speak for Pyramid Schemes – are shit and exploitative. But we may not all know how identical to cults they function. And this poor bastard suffered a lot to tell us.
I briefly worked in the corporate offices of a short-lived MLM, and so a lot of it rang true, particularly the emphasis on wealth instead of the product, the pushing of training materials, the high pressure BUY NOW tactics, and the preying upon the vulnerable. Just wretched stuff.
Besides the actual events he experienced, some things did stand out to me. The writer indicates he’s a conservative republican and expresses shock and disbelief that prominent conservative personalities like Jerry Falwell, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum lent this credibility to Amway. And then muses that he’s sure they’re not aware of how their endorsements are used.
Uhhhhh, dude.
They know exactly what they’re doing. It’s kind of telling that it was only republicans(who benefited financially from Amway’s donations) that endorsed the MLM. Open your eyes, dude. And there’s another section where he displays his full capitalism brainwashing.
“The very system that they are part of, in and of itself, creates a caste
system whose results far closer resemble socialism or communism. The rich (Amway
Diamonds, DeVos and VanAndels) get richer and the poor (distributor force) get poorer, as more and more "positive" products and "creative tools" drain their resources. Many of the fortunes of the super-rich Diamond-level distributors were culled from the financial losses of their loving, trusting flock. The more the group lost financially in system money, the richer they became. The wealthier they became, the more cars, homes, jets and yachts they purchased. The more luxuries they possessed, the more people were recruited into Amway, based upon this illusion of their success in the Amway business.“
Buddy, that ain’t socialism. That’s pure-strain good ol’ US of A capitalism.
It’s kind of sobering that even though someone is fully destroyed by greed and claims of God’s will and Christianity, he still clings to these violent and destructive beliefs. However, unlike a leopards-ate-my-face type situation, there’s no schadenfreude here. There’s no happy ending to his story, or, indeed the world. In his situation, the bad guys won and stayed rich. In our current world, nothing much has changed.
Nothing much except our anger.
