I'm not going to try and convince you of anything, but I'll offer my perspective to you. My guilty pleasure is watching MLM debunking videos, so I've happened to see a decent amount of MLM recruiting and training material. (I've known a couple people involved with MLMs, but not anyone I was close with, so I can't really say it's touched me much personally.)
Honestly I find it chilling. It's not just how they are manipulative with the people in the MLM, but how they coach them into manipulating their friends and family. They give them scripts to twist the language of love and support into cash transactions.
This is a tame example but the only one that's top of mind at the moment. I was watching a video the other day, and they said something like, "your friends and family need to understand that your launch party is a big deal. You're launching a business, and they need to be there to support you. Ask them if you can count on them to be there to support you."
And I just can't help but imagine getting a phone call from someone in my life, talking about how excited they are about something new they're up to, and then the feeling of dread as I realize what's happening.
"Can I count on you to be there to support me?" How do you respond to that? If you agree, you're enabling them to make a terrible decision, at what's probably the best time for them to turn back. If you refuse, you're hurting their feelings and pushing them away, into the waiting arms of their manipulators, and the line between MLM and cult can be pretty blurry.
I'm not going to try and convince you of anything, but I'll offer my perspective to you. My guilty pleasure is watching MLM debunking videos, so I've happened to see a decent amount of MLM recruiting and training material. (I've known a couple people involved with MLMs, but not anyone I was close with, so I can't really say it's touched me much personally.)
Honestly I find it chilling. It's not just how they are manipulative with the people in the MLM, but how they coach them into manipulating their friends and family. They give them scripts to twist the language of love and support into cash transactions.
This is a tame example but the only one that's top of mind at the moment. I was watching a video the other day, and they said something like, "your friends and family need to understand that your launch party is a big deal. You're launching a business, and they need to be there to support you. Ask them if you can count on them to be there to support you."
And I just can't help but imagine getting a phone call from someone in my life, talking about how excited they are about something new they're up to, and then the feeling of dread as I realize what's happening.
"Can I count on you to be there to support me?" How do you respond to that? If you agree, you're enabling them to make a terrible decision, at what's probably the best time for them to turn back. If you refuse, you're hurting their feelings and pushing them away, into the waiting arms of their manipulators, and the line between MLM and cult can be pretty blurry.