• The BIG Amway Cult Lies to Condition Their Slaves

    From Anonymous@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 27 19:12:05 2018
    1. You will be told that for a mere $150.00 investment, you can own a
    million dollar business. ( No one will mention opens, rallies,
    seminars, tapes, books, functions, shipping costs, handling charges,
    additional phone bills, buying business supplies, paying higher prices
    for household items, etc..)

    2. You will be told that people who have nothing good to say about
    Amway are just trying to steal your dream. That they don't want to see
    anyone else succeed. Or, if they have already had the Amway
    Experience, that it was their old upline, or that they belonged to the
    "Old Amway", that things are different now. What they experienced
    doesn't apply to you or your upline or even to the "New Improved
    Amway".

    3. You will be told that you must associate with "winners" to succeed.
    ( This will translate to mean not associating with family and friends
    who aren't in the ORGANIZATION.)

    4. You will be told that your children can walk the beaches with you
    when you succeed, but for now, you will need a lengthy list of sitters
    so you can have no excuse to miss a meeting, open, function, seminar,
    rally, product pick-up, etc...(Let someone else kiss the boo-boos and
    wipe their noses.)

    5. You will be told not to subject yourself to "negative influences",
    such as newspapers, television, radio, or people who aren't in Amway,
    unless they're prospects. There are also "negative" products to avoid.
    This makes you more open to the "positive" ideas of the organization
    and your upline. ( I think this is a standard rule in most cults.)

    6. You will be told that it's normal for couples to have "Amriffs". If
    your spouse is starting to act negative toward the business, set them
    straight, or ignore them.

    7. You will be told that the more you suffer, the bigger your business
    will be. The tapes say so over and over and over again, and you will
    be reminded of this at every function, meeting, rally and seminar,
    over Amvox, etc.. ( Prepare yourself, you will definately suffer, one
    way or another! )

    8. You will be told that the farther you drive to a meeting, the more successful you will be. The tapes will emphasize this over and over
    again. So what if you drive two hours one way to a house plan on a
    worknight, just to find out there are no prospects? You'll just do a
    nuts and bolts instead. Your business is going to be huge, just
    because you showed up! (Forget about the time away from your children
    and loss of sleep, because you are a winner, a leader, and an
    inspiration to all those downline beneath you! )

    9. You will be told that no matter how much money and time you have
    invested into books, tapes, opens, rallies, seminars, functions, opens
    and products, you cannot quit now because you haven't been in long
    enough to profit from it! No matter how long you have been at it!

    10. You will be told that upline does not profit from the sales of
    tools. They have created the tapes, books, and put on all the
    functions out of the kindness in their hearts and they are only
    selling them to you at their cost!

    11. You will be told that doing the business only takes 10 - 15 hours
    per week. (Figure in showing the plan 3 -5 times per week, and add in
    driving time, product pick-up, time on the phone to track down orders,
    calling in orders, prospecting, and add in an open, seminar and rally
    that are all done from Friday through Saturday about once a month, or
    more. Plus, you still have to make time for that J.O.B. , and maybe
    schedule in your children every so often.)

    12. You will be told that unless you are on standing order, your
    business will not be taken seriously, therefore, not warrant your
    upline's help. (They don't care if you can afford it or not. They
    would prefer you not buy products rather than skip standing order.
    Even though Amway literature says the support materials must be
    offered as optional.)

    13. You will be told to keep secrets about upline from your downline.
    (Such as their real financial situations. Leaders can't have followers
    knowing any negatives about them. Who follows someone who is worse off
    than themselves?)

    14. You will be told to attend all functions, no matter what else is
    going on in your life. Nothing matters more than a function! Not even
    a death in the family! (The function will make you feel better
    anyway!)

    15. You will be told to never question anything your upline tells you.
    Even if the Amway literature says something different! (Still
    convinced this is a normal business?)

    16. You will be told again to never question anything your upline
    tells you, even if your common sense tells you what they're saying
    just can't possibly be right. The tapes will reaffirm this. They would
    have never succeeded if they hadn't followed upline and done exactly
    as they said. (Follow the leader, even if you're not sure what they're
    leading you into.)

    17. You will be told not to get detailitis. This questioning of
    authority could ruin your business! Even if you suspect you could be
    following upline that aren't exactly running their business within the
    confines of the law! ( Hush now, the FTC says we're not a pyramid! We
    have a TEN CUSTOMER A MONTH RULE!) (The rule has changed as of 1/97.
    Now you're SUPPOSED to have at least 10 separate retail customers or,
    50 p.v. in retail sales to any number of customers.)

    18. You will be told to follow people who are where you want to be.
    (That's great if your following successful people who are telling the
    truth about how they got to where they are. And telling the truth
    about just HOW successful they are!)

    19. You will be told that everyone in your upline is very successful.
    ( Even if they have liens against their homes, or had to go back to
    work to support their business after going direct. Of course, downline
    doesn't know these things! These are negatives for upline to handle!)

    20. You will be told that you don't need to worry about retail selling
    to ten different customers each month until you hit direct. Even then,
    your dog can buy his own dog food. Don't worry about it! What was that
    we were told before? ( Oh Yeah! The FTC says this isn't a pryamid! I
    would imagine the new retail sales rule won't be a problem either).

    21. You will be told that everything to do with the business is TAX
    DEDUCTIBLE! Even dog food, since you know, the dog guards the house,
    where you have Amway meetings, and light bulbs, since they light the
    house where you have Amway meetings, the coffee you drink, because you
    use coffee at Amway meetings, etc... (Getting the picture? I hope you
    don't get audited! They make it sound like anything that is tax
    deductible is free! I guess it makes it easier to keep shelling out
    the dough, if they give the hope that it will all be returned at the
    end of the year! By the way, in case you haven't figured this one out
    yet, you only get back a portion of the money you spent on the
    business. The IRS is not in the business of giving you money! To hear
    upline tell it, this business, if nothing else, is a great tax
    shelter. Although you will never hear those exact words come out of
    their mouths!)

    22. You will be told that credit cards are bad. Bad for you, bad for
    America. ( Try telling upline that you can't afford a function. Betcha
    they say "CHARGE IT"! You know, they do encourage you to have at least
    one credit card for emergencies!)

    23. You will be told that if you don't do the business, you are
    risking your family's future. ( Don't you love your family and want
    the best for them?)

    24. You will be told that there is only a 5% divorce rate with couples
    in the business. (No one says where this figure comes from. Does
    anyone know? How many couples divorce as a result of the business and
    just don't renew their distributorship?)

    25. You will be told by many couples in the business that the business
    "saved" their marriages.

    26. You will be told, if a woman, to blindly follow your husband, no
    matter what he does, so long as it benefits the business. Even if you
    believe it to be harmful to the family as a whole. (Does this fall
    into the "Saving the marraige" catagory?)

    27. You will be told, if a man, to keep your wife in tow. Don't let
    her wear the pants in the family! If she doesn't like what the
    business is doing to the family, ignore her! Do what you want anyway,
    she'll come around eventually! The tapes speak of these Amriffs often,
    and they are considered completely normal! If you make it to Diamond,
    you should have had many of these along the way!

    28. You will be told, if a woman, to smile at your husband and appear
    to be hanging on every word at his presentation of THE PLAN, and to
    act like you are hearing it for the first time, every time. (And
    remember, keep smiling, even if it hurts, keep smiling!)

    29. You will be told men, wear a suit. Preferably one from the
    catalog. (That way, all of the men will eventually own the same suits
    and eventually all look exactly alike, down to their socks.)

    30. You will be told, if a woman, to wear a dress. Again, preferably
    out of the catalog. (The business realizes how much women love to be
    wearing the same dress as ten other women in the same room! )

    31. You will be told to stick pictures of new cars and dream homes on
    your refrigerator. This way you will be reminded of just why you are
    spending all your money on tapes, opens, functions, rallies, seminars, overpriced products, childcare, etc...(I guess to some people this
    makes more sense than saving money in the bank. Giving your money to
    upline makes much more sense. In some cases, they should have pictures
    of food and balance paid notices from the utility companys on the refrigerator!)

    32. You will be told that it's none of your business how many people
    your upline has personally sponsored, or how much P.V. they are
    putting through their business each month. Nor is it your downline's
    business to know how much business you are actually doing. It's your
    job to make sure they think you are doing a huge volume, and your
    upline's job is to make sure they believe it by spouting at all
    gatherings that you are a leader in your area and will be crossing
    stage any minute! (Even if you've only done 100 P.V. that month!)

    33. You will be told not to tell prospects that they are going to an
    Amway meeting unless they really really really push the subject. Then,
    if they won't shut up about it, you may say, "Why yes, it is! What do
    you know about Amway? Do you know we distribute thousands of products?
    I must tell you that we're not really Amway, we're with WORLD WIDE DREAMBUILDERS, we just distribute Amway products, but are really our
    own organization! Why don't you let us show you the plan and you'll be surprised how much things have changed!" If the prospect tells you
    that they're not interested in doing retail selling, you may tell
    them, "Why, we don't sell door to door anymore, don't worry about
    that! Just come see the PLAN, and it will explain everything!"
    (Remember, the FTC says that this is not a pyramid! You must keep
    reminding everyone!)

    34. You will be told that the husband should be doing all the
    finances, including paying the bills. (This makes perfect sense, since
    the brainwashing of the men centers on their egos. The wife will
    probably notice that there's less money for food because the man
    decided he needed to follow upline's advice and have an extra kit,
    tape, or whatever, but how can he say no, when to do such a thing
    would tell his upline that he's not as serious about taking care of
    his family's future as he should be? Not to mention that if he told
    his upline that he couldn't afford it, it would make him feel like a
    failure. As an already successful upline yourself, you can't admit
    those kinds of things! And the real beauty of it is, that if the wife complains, she is being negative and not supporting her husband the
    way she should. Thus, it would be all her fault if they got into an
    "AMRIFF", and he would have to start considering her a "NEGATIVE", and
    have to avoid her! Isn't it beautiful?)

    35. You will be told that all you have to do is listen to tapes and
    read books, attend every single meeting, major function, open, rally,
    seminar, show the plan ,etc...and you will succeed. Guaranteed! Of
    course, there is no time line, just at some distant future, it could
    be twenty years, it could be next month, just don't quit! ( Oh yeah, I
    forgot, there is a 2-4 year plan, but most of the letters I've seen
    from current distributors to ex-distributors say even 4 years just
    isn't enough time! I have heard it said that so long as you just stay
    in the business, you are a success! Profits don't count in this case.)

    36. You will be told to be your own best customer. (Don't bother
    knocking on your neighbor's door, the products are too expensive for
    them. Just who's selling to whom here? In fact, more than likely, the
    only time you will hear about retail selling at all will be when
    upline tells you to move a water treatment system or some make-up so
    that your next function will be more affordable. Funny how no one
    mentions actually making money for yourself from retail!)

    37. You will be told to get your downline on standing order as soon a
    possible. It is imperative that you do this! Your success will be
    measured by how many downline you have on standing order and Amvox.
    Standing Order is the most important though. You must talk them into
    this whether you know they can afford it or not! ( You must not have a conscience about this! Your business will be doomed if you do!)

    38. You will be told to only listen to what your upline tells you,
    because they are the only ones with a "vested interest" in you. (Your
    family and friends don't? Doesn't a history of love and support in all
    other aspects of your life count? Does it make sense to toss away deep friendships and family because of what a person that you may not even
    know very well says? Do these new friends show any interest in knowing
    you beyond the business? Would you be friends with these people if you
    weren't in their line of sponsorship? Would you have anything in
    common? Do you really believe that they love you more, and care more
    about your well being than your family and friends? And just how much
    does the upline have "vested" in you? Think about it.)

    39. You will be told to sponsor, sponsor, sponsor, and be reminded
    daily that personal use is essential to your business, but you will
    rarely if ever hear, sell, sell, sell! ( Remember! THIS IS NOT A
    PYRAMID! The FTC says so!)

    40. You will be told that people who refuse to even look at the plan
    or decide not to be involved with the business, or quit the business
    are losers. (I guess that means if you quit, your line of sponsorship
    won't be allowed to associate with you anymore.)

    41. You will be told that upline are your friends, and that you should
    counsel with them when you make any decisions that might possibly
    affect "your" business. Including, but not limited to, job changes,
    marital problems, family problems, financial decisions, whether you
    want to buy a car, etc....(Your leaders know what's best.)

    42. You will be told that if this is a cult, at least it's a success
    cult. And that if it was a cult, everyone in the business would be a
    diamond. (Oh, Really now! Why then, aren't all those moonies as rich
    as their leader?)

    43. You will be told that when you attend a function out of town, you
    shouldn't go sight seeing. This takes your attention away from the
    real reason you are there. (Who's paying for this trip anyway?)

    44. You will be told that JOB is a four letter word and that the
    initials stand for "Just over broke". (Don't quit, you need it to pay
    for the business!)

    45. You will be told that your JOB is a prison and they will help you
    to escape. (Yeah, they'll encourage you to miss work to attend
    meetings and functions. Forget about that stupid promotion! You're
    going to be free any minute!)

    46. You will be told that people fail at the business, the business
    does not fail people. (You will never hear of lines of sponsorship
    that collapse or people not being able to afford the business after considerable financial losses.)

    Does any of this sound familiar? While you are surrounded with all you
    new Amway "Friends", eating Amway food, using only Amway products in
    your home, it is hard to see the abnormality of it all. If your upline
    has done their job correctly, you no longer see friends or family who
    aren't in the business. Your only socializing is done at WWDB
    meetings, major functions, seminars, rallies, opens and product pick-
    up or over Amvox. You will be strapped financially, trying to pay for overpriced products,opens, functions, rallies, seminars, tapes, books,
    business supplies, Amvox, etc..., and they will tell you again and
    again, that this is normal. But don't ever talk negatives with
    crossline or downline! make everyone think you are successful already!
    Tell lies, live a lie!

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)