Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Are You Brainwashed?

 Sometimes it happens to the nicest of people and it often happens slowly and subtly. These are the signs that you are becoming indoctrinated, and you are likely annoying your friends and loved ones at this point. I hope this helps you. But seriously, the Amway IBOs begin to believe anything upline tells them and they begin to act out what they are taught and are in danger of becoming Amway zombies.  Upline says to trust them but in the end, they have no accountability in the process, despite many IBOs spending thousands of dollars to learn their foolproof methods.   Here are some of the warning signs;

*You're driven to recruit everyone you know. You may even resort to deception or outright lies to get people to meetings. Before you know it, your family and friends avoid you like the plague. You end up spending time at malls and other public places such as Starbucks desperately stalking and scouting for recruits. Much of your time is spent doing this activity when you're not getting more brainwashed at rah rah meetings.  This becomes a big part of your life as an IBO and much time is spent on these activities.

*You're encouraged to develop an unreasonable, irrational zeal for the products. Even so far as to justify the quality of toilet paper or to call the products prestigious. You may even argue the quality of energy drinks or about phytonutrients, something you may not even know about. You even argue about concentration values in dish soap or laundry detergent.  These are not conversations that normal people have.  But it's common for IBOs.

*A whole bunch of demands, promises, subtle threats of failure if you don't try hard enough are made in the promotional material and motivational seminars. i.e. If you quit, you are a loser destined to die broke and unhappy. Or you let someone steal your dream. These ridiculous claims are how your upline keeps you hooked. There is constant pressure to never quit and to keep on pimping Amway to recruits.

*Because the system is touted as the way you're going to make yourself fantastically rich, you're under constant pressure to drop any conflicting or competing interests such as your bowling league or golf club. Nothing else in life has importance except for the quest of financial freedom. All activities in your life must enhance your Amway business and have an effect on your financial future. No other activities matter to you unless it affects your dream filled Amway financial future.   All other activities are secondary, even your friends and family.

*Your upline soon becomes your most trusted friend. Your thoughts and feelings are shaped in part by the cds, meetings and functions.

These are the warning signs.   Ignore them at your peril.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is an excellent and very accurate list of what Amway brainwashing is all about. It bears a close resemblance to what happens in any proselytizing, evangelical religion. You are compelled to accept the ideas of the sect with absolute, lockstep obedience, and you must push those ideas on anyone you meet. The Jehovah's Witnesses and the Hari Krishna people ring doorbells. The Amway freaks accost you in bookstores and malls.

Anonymous said...

100%

I have heard some go the extra mile and advice you to not buy a home or invest in anything outside of the business.

Any major expenses has to be checked with your upline.

Any events other than business meetings are not important so no attending birthdays, get together, lunches etc. So you are cut off from friends or family who are not in the business.