I have read all of these posts. Interesting that practically everyone who supports Amway cannot seem to spell very well. There are lots of typos and grammatical errors posted here by those who jump up and down reciting Amway's many virtues. It is a scam and a groupthink phenomenon of staggering proportions. From a psychological perspective, Amway does its best to separate people from those who would challenge its legitimacy and operations. This is not unlike how Hitler or any other leader would silence opponents or dissidents by having them "removed" from the equation. Same thing goes here, Amway teaches people to ignore and remove obstacles and people who challenge the system, even if said challenges are completely rational and offered by people with the IBO's best interest in mind. It hits IBO's in soft spots for family, friends, and freedom (the 3 F's), and it entices them to focus on emotional reasoning rather than very cognitive-based, rational dissection of information.
Amway IBO's are taught emotionalism, not rationalism. From a business perspective, it is a farce. IBO's are no entrepreneurs, as they wear the collars of their uplines. Over and over, I have been told to do as my uplines say. What if my upline is a total moron and I have a law degree and an MBA?? I'm supposed to follow these uplines?? According to the system, yes, the uplines' words are paramount. So no, IBO's are not entrepreneurs and do not gain any real experience. IBO is a fancy name for distributor, pure and simple.
I had the opportunity to meet a number of "diamonds" and "emeralds", all of whom had either left the business to get real jobs or were still struggling bringing in about $30,000 per year. Many of them are posting massive losses, and by the way, the IRS does not consider pro-suming OR tickets to a convention (to hear diamonds scream at you) to be business expenses. Good luck trying to recover those losses. It is a pyramid scheme simply because mathematically and considering the law of averages, a downline cannot really earn more than his upline. It just doesn't happen - it's a nice idea, but it doesn't happen. I worked through multiple scenarios with a friend, trying to see how I could out-earn my upline, and we found several variables that would keep that from happening. Now you could outran your sponsor, but that's because most people in Amway do nothing and quit. But I highly doubt that someone can jump in and out earn their spline diamond. Highly unlikely as upline diamonds have a form of seniority and power.
Amway IBO's are taught emotionalism, not rationalism. From a business perspective, it is a farce. IBO's are no entrepreneurs, as they wear the collars of their uplines. Over and over, I have been told to do as my uplines say. What if my upline is a total moron and I have a law degree and an MBA?? I'm supposed to follow these uplines?? According to the system, yes, the uplines' words are paramount. So no, IBO's are not entrepreneurs and do not gain any real experience. IBO is a fancy name for distributor, pure and simple.
I had the opportunity to meet a number of "diamonds" and "emeralds", all of whom had either left the business to get real jobs or were still struggling bringing in about $30,000 per year. Many of them are posting massive losses, and by the way, the IRS does not consider pro-suming OR tickets to a convention (to hear diamonds scream at you) to be business expenses. Good luck trying to recover those losses. It is a pyramid scheme simply because mathematically and considering the law of averages, a downline cannot really earn more than his upline. It just doesn't happen - it's a nice idea, but it doesn't happen. I worked through multiple scenarios with a friend, trying to see how I could out-earn my upline, and we found several variables that would keep that from happening. Now you could outran your sponsor, but that's because most people in Amway do nothing and quit. But I highly doubt that someone can jump in and out earn their spline diamond. Highly unlikely as upline diamonds have a form of seniority and power.
Finally, on a personal level, this Amway monkey business cost me a great friendship, an IBO who decided that taking a chance on some crazy dream was more important than those who loved him most. I think he will continue prospecting and pushing "the plan" until there isn't anyone left. If you know someone in Amway or who is thinking seriously about it, you need to realize that they will soon be lost. Amway people are very much like crack users (very similar to psychopathology, actually), and they will choose Amway over you, their family, their friends, and anything that gets in the way. That is the reality of the Amway groupthink phenomena.
Joe, this is absolutely correct. Amway can only thrive in an atmosphere of ferocious GROUPTHINK. The slightest deviation from any idea in Amway, or even the slightest deviation in word choice when speaking, is pounced upon and punished. There's always some pushy, arrogant, highly impatient guy in the room who will go after you like a SWAT team if you so much as breathe the slightest doubt or question about the Amway Plan, or if you even speak about it using your own words, instead of the canned Amspeak that is pushed by your up-line.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually quite frightening. Being in this GROUPTHINK echo-chamber is like being at a mass political rally, or a fundamentalist revival meeting. Everyone is emotionally keyed up, and a nervous tension fills the room. You are expected to be violently enthusiastic, and if you aren't, watch out! The others in the room will come after you like hungry tigers.
I often got great pleasure when prospects would walk out of "The Plan" when they were invited to the first hour of the weekly "Business Briefings". Good for them.
ReplyDelete