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Rev. Andrew Holt's avatar

My step-grandmother got sucked into Amway many years ago. Nice woman, but not the sharpest bulb in the jar, as it were. She and my grandpa (who was in the starting stages of Alzheimer's) were the perfect mark for them - plenty of money, and easily suckered out of it. Family would buy a few soaps and things to be nice, but nobody joined, and for years and years we watched as they continually bought the products and the tapes and the trips to glamorous locations to watch presentations. For years and years they kept downsizing their home and posessions, freeing up more and more money to piss away up the pyramid.

So yeah, fuck MLMs.

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Jeff's avatar

Sad that The Lifestyle is no longer primarily an orgy thing.

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kate's avatar

Isn't crypto exactly this? Do you write about that element in the book? x

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Jeff's avatar

"A direct investment in an asset" is like exactly how an MLM would describe the palette of energy drinks delivered to some sucker's house. There are a ton of parallels between MLMs and crypto, especially the coins (meme- shit-). It's just the guys who get taken in by crypto like to dress it up like they're wolf of wall street.

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Oz Chen's avatar

Not really. You can apply an MLM scheme TO crypto (just as you can stocks) by promising life changing profits and recruiting others to some crypto trading program. But buying crypto directly yourself (just as you can stocks) is a direct investment in an asset.

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Hatem Mahbouli's avatar

MLM schemes are becoming increasingly sophisticated. I was recently approached by an old friend to join a network that buys "plastic credits" to save the planet — turned out to be another MLM scam.

https://themalteseherald.com/2024/09/07/certified-plastic-neutral-fraud-frank-ricketts-corsair/

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Adam's Notes's avatar

The "take responsibility for your life" caption cracked me up. But it's also really sad.

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DC Reade's avatar

differences between entry-level multilevel marketing sales and entry level in the retail illicit street drugs trade:

1) with illegal drugs, a return is practically guaranteed. dope approaches the fungibility of cash.

2) space required for inventory volume is negligible

3) the initial investment amount is low

4) cash paid every day, no filing or paperwork

Granted, there are downsides--vulnerability to robbery, home invasion, getting mugged, shot, or killed. Jail, prison, parole.

On the other hand: unlike MLM, selling dope actually makes money right from the start, for nearly everyone who gets into the business.

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Tyler Sayles's avatar

not to self promote but :: self promotes :: my latest short story is about a #boymom #smallbusinessowner having a cardiac infarction on patio of a starbucks in near future

https://open.substack.com/pub/tylersayles/p/aipple-watch-v19-moribund-event-log

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