Multi-Level Marketing

During the last couple of decades this past century, the multi-level marketing industry exploded into the economy. The company that I became the most familiar with was Amway. Many years ago, I had a co-worker who was completely caught up with Amway. I’ve also been to two different Amway meetings that someone on the “inside” invited me to (without revealing to me that it was an Amway meeting). The idea was to get me involved in this company under someone who would be something of a mentor and who would also obtain a share of my profits. The push was not as much about selling actual merchandise as it was to get people to sign up “under” me, so that I, in turn, could bleed off profits from those below my level. The “dream of the future” that these meetings repeatedly expressed was that of free people (successful Amway associates) who could do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted while going wherever they wanted, without being tied down to a job. And of course, for the relatively few “on top”, there was some truth to the possibility of fulfilling it, at least to a degree. But unless one was on top, then that sort of independence was unlikely to occur. In the meantime, in my opinion, the mindset from this organization gave people the impression that they were chumps for toiling at forty-hour-per-week jobs when they could be living high off the hog instead.

My perspective on this is that if Amway or a similar company appeals to you, then go for it! But don’t lose sight of the fact that there should always to a sense of dignity attached to the idea of getting up, going to work, producing a commodity or service that people want, and coming home with a sense of accomplishment. I’m not just picking on Amway or the other multi-level marketers. Those get-rich schemes through real estate or Internet infomercials that pervade late-night television pitch the same “you’re a fool if you work for a living” message that I am starting to find offensive. Of course, any “true believer” in these groups would tell you that they work hard at what they do as well. But their ads and promotional meetings convey quite a different take on things.