I was expecting a more educated response to the video presentation. Especially from someone whose interest is economics. I doubt you even bothered to listen to the whole presentation.

I will reserve explanation of my motives or my "up to something" for the future. Assuming of course I have any agenda at all.

I love their term for profiting from the labour of others: leverage. But don't worry, it's not unfair because you can profit from others' labour beneath you and they can do the same beneath them. One big happy family of exploitation!

The problem with this and all pyramid schemes (including capitalism itself) is the first point they bring up. Number one: a huge and expanding market. When you are lucky enough to come across a huge and expanding market, which is quite rare, it doesn't stay huge and expanding for long. Nothing just keeps growing and growing. There is an ebb in every tide. So what happens to this network of agents when the ebb comes? Why, the bottom rungs are all majorly shafted, of course. This is a common occurence in many markets.

The perfect example is Enron, where they faked numbers to keep the boom going, leading to a spectacular shafting in the end. This was just an exaggerated version of capitalism at work.

Of course, the shafting cycle has been significantly moderated by the rise of unions, who protect their workers from spurious dismissals (or at least, ought to) and require companies to think beyond the next financial statement, since they are limited in how capriciously they can hire and fire.

Not so with network marketing. They try to make it sound as if they they are providing limitless opportunity by making everyone a "broker", but in fact they are just making it easy for them to cut you loose when the expansion for a particular business deal runs out. They practically admit that a stable market is no good for them because then their pyramid structure becomes "unfair" again, since there is no way for the bottom rungs to draw in new agents under them.

This is the essence of the "capitalism as piracy" model. These people ARE the problem. Find where there's money to be made. swoop in for the expansion period. hire nobody, but draw in "free agents". When the expansion period ends, pull out (collapsing everything on the not-really-underlings, who no longer have a way to make money). Then do it all over again somewhere else.

If the prospect of an economy full of quickly rising and folding enterprises manipulated by hit-and-run capitalists doesn't excite you, then welcome to the club. A stable economy is all about stable enterprises, not economic chaos. When I need a good or service, I shouldn't have to hunt down whatever flash-in-the-pan venture-capital firm is providing it this month. Who will vouch for their quality? Where is the accountability?

Of course, for people like the presenters, the system really does work. Loaded with connections and money, they will always be at the top of any pyramid. They'll make their fortunes, regardless of the consequences to the consumers or the people sucked into their schemes.

(Incidentally, if you google for "Amway scam", you get a million and one pages about the misfeasances and malfeasances of Amway, and the interesting common denominator is the incredibly open exploitation of personal relationships and personal time that Amway requires of all of its people. The other interesting common denominator is just how much Amway represents the absolute worst features of capitalism run amok. Grow, grow, grow is the mantra. Nothing is to be left standing in the way of this growth - not personal time, not your marriage, not your kids, not even you. You are regularly told in the Amway cult that if you're not a success, it's because you are a failure. You have not worked hard enough, or shown the plan (STP) enough times, or bought enough BV or PV (Business Volume, Personal Volume), or whatever. It is never ever countenanced that Amway is deliberately set up, again in an exaggerated distorted form of capitalism, so that the odds of success simply are way too low. The Amway system is designed from top to bottom to be rigged against about 98% of all new entrants. Only a vanishing few ever "Go Diamond". The same principle applies to any multi-level marketing setup.)

Firstly, the presentation gave us some insight into possible choices for future career paths, either as employees or business owners. The first three items were huge and expanding markets, unique and consumable products, timing (specifically future trends). These three, IMHO, cannot be separated all three must be in place in order to choose a viable path forward.

Secondly, it is very difficult to work and not have your efforts leveraged by someone or some corporation or other entity. If my efforts are being leveraged, then it is better that the entity leveraging my effort, has my best interest at heart. I am sure that you all agree that if you have a job you are being leveraged. Corporations do not have their employees best interest at heart, hence the need for unions and other organizations. We live in a capitalist country; some of you want to change that. This presentation is based upon capitalist ideals; I make no apology for that. It is what it is.

Thirdly, the presenters used the analogy of real estate agents and brokers. Without saying it, they have given the agent a qualification. Not every one can do your job and not everyone can be a real estate agent. So they are only talking about people who are qualified to perform the work as an agent. This fact cannot be ignored. Only qualified agents can participate in the business. When you were hired to do your job, someone deemed you qualified.

Fourthly, agents work for brokers. You work for your employer. Does your employer allow you to become a broker? No way! Do they expect you to train new employees? Yes, of course. Do you have the ability to leverage off your trainee's efforts? No, this leverage is only for the employer.

The fifth concept is the ability to have agents become brokers. This is the MLM or network marketing plan. However, the presentation also has some key points that must be in place to make this plan work. Again I will say, that the agent must first be qualified as an agent before entering this plan. In order for brokers to attract agents, the broker must be able to educate and empower the agents; firstly as agents and secondly as brokers.

Does Amway meet the criteria? No way, Amway is a bust on every single point made in the presentation. Is it any wonder that they have such a horrible reputation?

[ December 11, 2002: Message edited by: prince ]