Is There No Validity At All With MLM?

     Happy Easter weekend one and all. This my response to the above noted question posed to me by a commenter earlier this last week. It's funny as I was working on a post that answered this very question!

     I do suppose it might be easy to make that jump in logic, based upon my very "negative" online handle... the MLM Punisher, however this in not necessarily the case. We've all had an experience with a Multi-Level Marketing company at one time or another. Whether it came in the form of a direct contact about a "business opportunity", or you were handed a catalogue of products, or attended a party of some sort, we've all been there! Here is my stance on MLM's in general.... if you know from the onset what the deal is.... I don't really have a problem with them. As an example if you want to buy kitchen products from a friend of yours who is doing Pampered Chef...be my guest! You know what the deal is right off the bat! I buy over priced kitchen gadgets, they get a straight up percentage of sales. If you "host" a party, there are discounts available to you, and if you become a rep... you too will sell over priced kitchen gadgets to friends, make a percentage, and your "sponsor" receives some compensation for sponsoring you! Sound familiar? Well I'm sure TEAM/L.I.F.E folks are screaming at their screens right now! "That's what WE do" they'll say! Ah........NO.......it isn't! If you're new.... it's what you THINK you do...there is a BIG difference.

     The difference between what TEAM/L.I.F.E does, and other "product based" MLM's is the claims out front, how they represent themselves (from the top leaders on down), and the structured system of assimilation into their culture that destroys your critical thinking! Now... based on this statement alone I could write a book (some have), showing how this is done, and how a new person who may be very successful in one area of their life, can suspend critical thinking and be brought slowly into the fold. A term in the media that is very popular right now, explains the process exactly...Radicalization! I was talking about this process with a friend of mine, and while speaking to him, I described the end result of the Radicalization process as "Financial Terrorism"! Think about it..... when a terrorist group targets a new individual to be a human bomb... do they say first night.. "Hey, we think you should strap a bomb to yourself and run into a crowd". The answer is NO! Wouldn't want to scare off the new person would you. No...it a gradual process...something like....Make a friend....Find a need...Begin with the end in mind. Well folks, that's how TEAM/L.I.F.E works! They don't tell you first night that in order to build their "Business", you are going to be out showing the plan 6-7 nights a week, attending open meetings, seminars, contacting sessions, business launches, reading two to three books a month, listening to 3-4 CD's a day, looking a every person you pass as a possible "business partner"! Nope it all starts with "What would you do with an extra 2-3 Thousand dollars a month?"... here listen to this.... and I've got a guy I want you to meet. So begins the Radicalization process!

     Have you been a victim of Financial Terrorism? If so... feel free to do some reading at the Amthrax Website! You will see you are NOT alone, many other people from all walks of life have slowly been Radicalized through the TEAM/L.I.F.E "System". Feel free to discuss the topic at hand! Were you Radicalized? Did you help commit Financial Terrorism on others.... on yourself? I did.....and these are my stories.....