"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em", or so the saying goes. Yesterday, I dispatched the first of two hackneyed stock-phrases the Ambot will employ when he's confronted with the words "pyramid scheme"--in short by flat denial, supported by the erroneous reasoning that since you can make more money than your upline, it cannot be a pyramid scheme. It's not uncommon for the bemused Ambot to abandon this line of reasoning when he becomes uncomfortable, opting for the opposite approach: to embrace pyramid schemes! Yep, that's right. Often times in the same conversation, an Ambot will argue both sides and pray something sticks. "Sure, Amway's a pyramid scheme, but so what? Everything else is, too!" Generally, corporations, the military, and the government are then compared to Amway in terms of their hierarchical or pyramidal structure. It's as if those who employ this argument believe the problem with pyramid schemes is the shape, and if it can be shown that other credible systems share it, then pyramid schemes must be OK.
I encounter this reasoning frequently, and it's not just with Amway. Apparently, members of many MLM schemes are taught this counter-argument to the pyramid scheme challenge. Just last week, I posted a link on my facebook page, asking friends to sign a petition on pyramidschemealert.org for FTC investigation into Amway. As you may know, Amway has failed to comply with the regulations the FTC put in place in the late 70's after their first investigation. Anyhow, it didn't take long for a fellow to respond to my request with the following haughty, disrespectful comment. Bear in mind, this fellow hadn't spoken to me in 13 years, but I've found that people are passionate about their MLM, almost as much as their political views and religions. Here's the comment:
I own a company, so I am on the top of a pyramid, I have investors under me, they have agents under them and the property managers under them then the office workers, then I guess at the bottom would be the cleaning crew and maintenance workers. If you disect [sic] every company in America, you will find the pyramid structure! If every pyramid was shut down it would have to start with the government, Obama is on top of that pyramid LOL!
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| What do these two men have in common? |
Yes, LOL. This same argument is regurgitated in many an Amway meeting by many an ambitious IBO trying to sponsor many a naive recruit. When I was prospected 9 years ago, I heard this same reasoning. As I mentioned before, it's as if those who use this argument believe that the problem with a pyramid scheme is the shape. But of course, that's just asinine. It's not the shape, it's the concept, and that is that very few people get very rich from the modest losses of very many, and those very many only comply because of false promises of wealth. The crucial obvious point that these IBO's miss, for all their recycled stock quips, is that in any of these other hierarchical systems, those on the bottom level are all fairly compensated for their work. They're paid an agreed upon wage, and there are no false promises of wealth to dupe them into participation. Not only that, but in any of these other examples, it is possible for an appropriately qualified individual to be hired or elected into a lofty position on his own merits, bypassing the lower ranks. In a pyramid scheme, on the other hand, the prevailing principle of success is "dibs". Those who get in early get rich. There's a lot to be said for charisma, ability to motivate, and willingness to deceive, but there's no substitute for getting in early, and that's why in a saturated market, such as the US, new diamonds are far more scarce than lottery winners.
There are a lot of things wrong with pyramid schemes, especially the massive global fraud known as Amway, but none of these is the shape. Fortunately, the similarities between legitimate corporations and pyramid schemes end there. Nice try Ambots.
