4 ms·
I live in Utah and was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the dominant church in Utah -- which often bleeds into the culture). In
by heywoodlh 4y ago
I live in Utah and was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the dominant church in Utah -- which often bleeds into the culture). In my opinion, the large amount of former missionaries (who often participate in door-to-door sales-like evangelizing) in Utah provides an ideal workforce willing to participate in difficult sales. Many of my friends and family went into sales after their missions as an easy way to make a lot of money. I think this is a large piece to your question.
Additionally, as another comment has said many of the stay-at-home mothers I know who are members of the Church become huge advocates for these pyramid schemes and push them onto friends and family.
This is just anecdotal data so I apologize for the lack of sources other than my own, subjective experience.
- woodruffw 4y agoI asked for anecdotes! Thank you for sharing.
- bigmattystyles 4y agoWasn't good old Orin Hatch a protector of MLMs and things like snake oil vitamins and supplements in the Senate? edit - wow - ok he wrote a law exempting them from regulation apparently (https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-hatch-20180105-story.html https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-hatch...)
- wanderingstan 4y agoMy anecdote agrees: a good friend of mine was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness and is now an incredible salesman. He explained that he spent his entire childhood selling something no one wanted and where people would hurl insults at him daily. Now as an adult in business, selling whatever product is 100x easier and he has limitless tolerance for rejection.
- heywoodlh 4y agoYeah, I served my mission in California and I can say there aren't many topics that make strangers more uncomfortable than religion. At the end of the day, though, I found most people (whether or not they were interested in religion) care about being happy and having purpose and it was/is enjoyable to observe common ground with other humans in that realm. That being said, lots of people get pissed about religion being shoved in their face and I do not blame anyone as it can be a huge source of trauma.
- moistly 4y ago
- heywoodlh 4y agoThis sounds like it is backed by some negative experiences with religious folk. I'd be interested to hear what you have experienced if you are willing to share?
- moistly 4y agoGood grief. I have never had a negative experience with religious people. You just can’t accept that I (and most people) dislike door-to-door sales shysters of all types. Don’t project your problems on me.
- heywoodlh 4y agoMy apologies -- it just sounded like potentially interesting discussion. I can totally understand not wanting your time wasted.