4 ms·

Built-in social network. Most church-goers automatically have access to a couple hundred people in the neighborhood. I live in Utah and I hate MLMs so much.

tialaramex 8y ago
Also it pre-selects for people who don't say, "But this story makes no sense whatsoever" after your pitch. 419 scammers use deliberately poor grammar and other choices to weed out the people who will figure out it's a scam before they hand over any money, same for an MLM. You want the people who'll lie and cheat and pump every dime they have into your MLM, not the ones who attend a seminar, make interested noises then walk away after losing less that $100.
- shemnon42 8y ago
  > Also it pre-selects for people who don't say, "But this story makes no sense whatsoever" after your pitch. Thanks for exposing your biases, but you are wrong. It's more of a quid-pro-quo exchange on some of these MLMs or trying to be supportive of someone else's venture in your community. Nearly all know it is overpriced and not necessarily what they need, but it is the rapid exchange of social capital that keeps those communities the way they are. Before MLMs it was casseroles, cookies, tools, helping hands, and babysitting.
  - mythrwy 8y ago
    It should go back to casseroles and tools than. Because what you are supporting is not your neighbors venture but the those who conned your neighbor venture. I'm really surprised there isn't strongly worded statements from Mormon Leadership on this but instead there is a big Nu Skin sign on BYU cougar stadium (or was when I was last in Utah). That isn't good.
    - shemnon42 8y ago
      Buying items via MLM is no more immoral than buying a used car through a dealer. It's the abuses of that method that are well known, much like the sleezyness of the prototypical used car salesman. But there are actual good MLM salespeople as well as used car salesmen. The method itself is not immoral (It's not gambling) just some of the practitioners. That being said every single printed congregational directory I've seen has a statement "For Church Use Only - Do not copy without permission from your local church leaders. Not to be Used for Any Commercial, Business, or Political Purpose" - So there is a strongly worded statement about using church resources for your business. Or perhaps you were looking for this - https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/additional-resource/personal-financial-sufficiency-and-integrity https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/additional-resource/personal-...
      - mythrwy 8y ago
        I think the method (MLM as opposed to a person who is just selling something) is immoral in the same vein that gambling is. Because it's a consuming and addictive negative expectations game that (generally) takes a persons money and effort without growing the social pie so to speak. It feeds on persons natural desire to better themselves, to make it in life but this effort is subverted into the pockets of hucksters and scammers rather than actually producing good for the world. In this sense it's like pornography as it subverts a natural tendency into nonproductive or counterproductive outlets. People become wrapped up in these schemes, they ruin relationships, families and lives. I find this very immoral.
  - s73v3r_ 8y ago
    If they really were being supportive, the church would ban all mention of MLM's around the church.

tialaramex 8y ago

Also it pre-selects for people who don't say, "But this story makes no sense whatsoever" after your pitch. 419 scammers use deliberately poor grammar and other choices to weed out the people who will figure out it's a scam before they hand over any money, same for an MLM. You want the people who'll lie and cheat and pump every dime they have into your MLM, not the ones who attend a seminar, make interested noises then walk away after losing less that $100.

shemnon42 8y ago
> Also it pre-selects for people who don't say, "But this story makes no sense whatsoever" after your pitch. Thanks for exposing your biases, but you are wrong. It's more of a quid-pro-quo exchange on some of these MLMs or trying to be supportive of someone else's venture in your community. Nearly all know it is overpriced and not necessarily what they need, but it is the rapid exchange of social capital that keeps those communities the way they are. Before MLMs it was casseroles, cookies, tools, helping hands, and babysitting.
- mythrwy 8y ago
  It should go back to casseroles and tools than. Because what you are supporting is not your neighbors venture but the those who conned your neighbor venture. I'm really surprised there isn't strongly worded statements from Mormon Leadership on this but instead there is a big Nu Skin sign on BYU cougar stadium (or was when I was last in Utah). That isn't good.
  - shemnon42 8y ago
    Buying items via MLM is no more immoral than buying a used car through a dealer. It's the abuses of that method that are well known, much like the sleezyness of the prototypical used car salesman. But there are actual good MLM salespeople as well as used car salesmen. The method itself is not immoral (It's not gambling) just some of the practitioners. That being said every single printed congregational directory I've seen has a statement "For Church Use Only - Do not copy without permission from your local church leaders. Not to be Used for Any Commercial, Business, or Political Purpose" - So there is a strongly worded statement about using church resources for your business. Or perhaps you were looking for this - https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/additional-resource/personal-financial-sufficiency-and-integrity https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/additional-resource/personal-...
    - mythrwy 8y ago
      I think the method (MLM as opposed to a person who is just selling something) is immoral in the same vein that gambling is. Because it's a consuming and addictive negative expectations game that (generally) takes a persons money and effort without growing the social pie so to speak. It feeds on persons natural desire to better themselves, to make it in life but this effort is subverted into the pockets of hucksters and scammers rather than actually producing good for the world. In this sense it's like pornography as it subverts a natural tendency into nonproductive or counterproductive outlets. People become wrapped up in these schemes, they ruin relationships, families and lives. I find this very immoral.
- s73v3r_ 8y ago
  If they really were being supportive, the church would ban all mention of MLM's around the church.