Many people who have attended or seen an Amway convention have at times compared the experience to a cult. While an Amway convention might not be an actual cult, there are many similarities in which a gathering of IBOS can be considered very cult like. There are certain parameters that IBOS adhere to that make Amway seem eerily cult like.
They seem to worship the leader. The diamond is like a rock star and is given adulation, standing ovations when they enter a room, and Amway IBOS will practically take a bullet for their upline diamond. People literally line up and even move extra Amway products fir the privilege of driving the diamond to a meeting or to spend an hour with the diamond. I recall as an IBO having to meet a qualification in order to attend a picnic with the upline diamond.
At meetings you’d think the diamond walked on water with the way the IBOS would serve them hand and foot as if they were divine beings, and at a minimum, the diamonds were treated like royalty or celebrities. Additionally, IBOS dress alike, act alike and act terribly predictable. It’s almost humorous when you see it happening.
The IBOS all have a common goal if financial freedom even if no one seemingly achieves it. They assume that the diamond is wealthy beyond belief even though nobody really knows what the diamonds net worth actually is. All I know is that diamonds are always working while normal folks eventually retire when they are older.
Is Amway and the related groups such as WWDB a bunch of cults and cultists? I don’t really know but I do know that they have many cult like characteristics. Although you can come and go, there is peer pressure to not leave the group. The similarities are uncanny.
Those who study cults today generally classify Amway as a "business cult." This means that it has the characteristics of a religious cult (secrecy, worship of leaders, a strong sense of holy members and evil outsiders), but one focused on a money-making plan that requires a steady tithing of cash to the leadership. Such business cults are frequently MLMs, but they could also be any racket where products are distributed in some kind of planned way.
ReplyDeleteAll cults make a big thing out of "secret knowledge," and how it must be gained in order for a member to be "saved." In Amway, the desire to gain secret knowledge is what motivates members to keep on attending meetings and functions. The idea is that at some meeting you will learn "the one special thing" you need to be successful. Therefore you cannot miss a single meeting or function.
Amway and it's groups like World Wide and LTD (Leadership Team Development) are definitely cults. I was in LTD and it was scary how one the nose everything was when it came to classifying as a cult according to the BITE model of a cult. Like Joe said, they worship uplines and diamonds like they are Jesus and they use pressure tactics to keep people from leaving the group. One major upline from LTD JB is infamous for trash talking and mocking those who quit the scheme on stage at large conferences despite claiming he is a Christian who cares about people SMH.
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