tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post5254968453398883144..comments2024-01-15T02:20:27.230-08:00Comments on The MLM Syndrome: MLM and AddictionJohn Doehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05186871105223753934noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-30995980969347107762018-08-06T13:36:58.285-07:002018-08-06T13:36:58.285-07:00Anonymous --
I'd be more inclined to give the...Anonymous --<br /><br />I'd be more inclined to give them credit for taking well-established psychological techniques and using them for self-gain, rather than actually suggest they came up with something novel. With that being said, their biggest accomplishment is having no moral compass and a fundamental lack of compassion for fellow human beings in the pursuit of self-enrichment. John Doehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05186871105223753934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-72508803346253386592018-08-03T18:56:24.743-07:002018-08-03T18:56:24.743-07:00There is something about these MLMs that is positi...There is something about these MLMs that is positively diabolical. Twenty years in an obvious fraud like Primerica! Not making a dime of profit but still believing passionately in it!<br /><br />There is one thing you have to give the MLM operators credit for: they understand something about the human psyche that the rest of us have either overlooked or misperceived. There is no other way to explain this kind of abject self-abasement before a patent absurdity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-54315079306982042422018-08-02T06:12:17.263-07:002018-08-02T06:12:17.263-07:00Allison's story is as frightening as the kind ...Allison's story is as frightening as the kind of nightmare narratives you get from the families of drug addicts and hopeless alcoholics.<br /><br />It is an absolute necessity that we recognize the addictive and self-destructive nature of all MLMs, and that legal steps be taken to control them, or better yet, to put them totally out of business. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-2348386754435789052018-07-31T14:24:09.867-07:002018-07-31T14:24:09.867-07:00Allison,
Sorry to hear about this struggle with y...Allison,<br /><br />Sorry to hear about this struggle with your husband. It sounds like he can't be helped. Wish you all the best with this, and hopefully you and your family will come out okay.John Doehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05186871105223753934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-66975021074945211532018-07-30T07:32:29.089-07:002018-07-30T07:32:29.089-07:00I’m in this situation. My husband is in Primerica ...I’m in this situation. My husband is in Primerica for now 16 years. It has destroyed his life gripped his heart and im on the verge of ending our marriage. in the past 15 years he has lost his first wife and children, stolen over a 150k from the equity in his elderly parents home, been homeless and gotten robbed at gunpoint, he’s now in debt to the child support office for 50k and been threatened with jail time,<br />He has never had a decent job since I met him 9 years ago and most of the time never had a job, his children want nothing to do with him and I kicked him out a year and a half ago for getting his car repoed again and living off me with my little girl. He has no car now and is riding around in a bike lives with his mother and still showed up to that Primerica office faithfully talking about when he is going to be rich someday It’s insanity! Absolutely and utterly insane and he’s the only one who can’t see it. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02037696944541928501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-2355068904879670582018-07-26T19:21:26.320-07:002018-07-26T19:21:26.320-07:00Thanks for finally writing about >"MLM and...Thanks for finally writing about >"MLM and Addiction" <Liked it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-75055678005170129742018-01-15T13:32:00.204-08:002018-01-15T13:32:00.204-08:00Unknown,
I'm very sorry to hear your father h...Unknown,<br /><br />I'm very sorry to hear your father has been involved with this "industry" for 20 years. That must be extremely difficult. Unfortunately, I don't have any answers to this problem, and my best advice is to do what you can to protect yourself. Don't lend him money, don't fall prey to his threats, and don't feel you are responsible for his choices. He is a grown man, and he must learn, on his own, that this is not a real business. Rewarding him with loans, support, or any other kind of encouragement, will not help to get him out of MLM. Only when he is ready to leave, or has run out of money, can he begin to recover and find a new path.John Doehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05186871105223753934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-42979130839183087032018-01-15T11:37:13.681-08:002018-01-15T11:37:13.681-08:00Hi, nice article. My father is doing MLM since mor...Hi, nice article. My father is doing MLM since more than 20 years. He doesn't have any addiction other than MLM but this only thing ruining our lives. He borrows money from relatives & friends for doing MLM & to return borrowed money, he takes hand loans with high interest rates. He fell in to this vicious cycle. Left nothing to us but threatens us to pay loans. I am facing lot of stress because of him. From your article, I can guess his actual problem. But you have not given any solution to it. Kindly provide solution if you have.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464528604159979070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-45505863404665655242016-10-27T14:19:40.628-07:002016-10-27T14:19:40.628-07:00No, I don't think there was any error in what ...No, I don't think there was any error in what you wrote. I was just offering a clarification.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-89699787522078192802016-10-27T13:58:49.559-07:002016-10-27T13:58:49.559-07:00Anonymous,
I absolutely agree, and it was definit...Anonymous,<br /><br />I absolutely agree, and it was definitely only meant to be an analogy. I'm not sure if there was anything in the article to suggest cocaine and MLM were a perfect parallel, or a physical change when being in MLM, but I am also somewhat blind to my own writing and can always use a 3rd party to help me fix errors. If you can quote a confusing passage, then I will definitely fix it to avoid any further issues.John Doehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05186871105223753934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-16947291362435664822016-10-27T13:02:04.417-07:002016-10-27T13:02:04.417-07:00Dear Lorikeets and John Doe --
Yes, I see your po...Dear Lorikeets and John Doe --<br /><br />Yes, I see your points. Intermittent reward can be very compelling, and the id-ego-superego theory does seem to account for the behavior of MLM freaks.<br /><br />But I would also add that the comparison of MLM enthusiasm to drug addiction should be taken only as an analogy, and not as a perfectly parallel example. In actual drug addiction to heroin, cocaine, or some other substance, there are concrete chemical and material changes in the body that make the addiction less psychological than physical. Such physical changes don't happen when you are hooked by Amway. <br /><br />Fixation on Amway remains a mind-and-soul problem, not a body problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-5167201024637751032016-10-27T07:19:57.773-07:002016-10-27T07:19:57.773-07:00Hey Anonymous,
The reason they stop getting love ...Hey Anonymous,<br /><br />The reason they stop getting love bombing for no reason is the need for results. They will go from a classical conditioning with the love bombing which means every time the MLMer initially thinks of MLM they will think happy and joyous because of the love bombing. Then that will turn into operant conditioning which means love bombing when the MLMer does well and ridicule when they do not. <br /><br />In psychology, Freud came up with the id, ego, and superego. The id is our most basic needs and desires. Also referred to as the stomach, these are our primal instincts. An example would be stealing someone's candy bar, because you also want it. The ego is the brain, and this tells us to calculate decisions ahead because there are consequences. The ego will tell us, it isn't worth stealing the candy bar, because we could go to jail or pay a fine and that would be much more painful than the pleasure of eating the candy. The superego is the soul which controls the brain. The superego and the ego can come to the same conclusion, but it will be for different reasons. The superego will tell you not to steal the candy bar, because it isn't morally right and you wouldn't want that to happen to you. <br /><br />Love bombing triggers the strongest desires for happiness in the id, but that isn't going to keep people as hooked as they would if you activate the ego and superego as well. They take it a step further by not always giving the love bombing which activates the ego. An MLMer will make certain decisions to get more love bombing based on the fact they don't want to get ridiculed. This may include missing a family event, a birthday, or a friendly get together. Finally, they institute religion to play to the person's superego. They have now given the MLMer a sense of moral direction, and have instituted wholesome values. Now, an MLMer may not need love bombing anymore, because they will feel the MLM is always the best choice (much like helping a friend in need).John Doehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05186871105223753934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-83650498549857505182016-10-27T05:02:00.624-07:002016-10-27T05:02:00.624-07:00The love bombing gets a person hooked. Hopefully t...The love bombing gets a person hooked. Hopefully to the point of isolation from most other important people in that person's life, or to the point of being the most important thing in the person's life. This allows control and power. Threaten to remove the approval and love and the person will work harder, be more compliant. Intermittent reward is very potent. The love bombing never totally stops it just gets interspersed with assertions of power and control. Lorikeetshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02965255631657420023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5576018960973115197.post-82453811246810572882016-10-26T19:01:50.158-07:002016-10-26T19:01:50.158-07:00Interesting, but there's one flaw in your anal...Interesting, but there's one flaw in your analysis. If the MLM addict is desperate for love-bombing, why doesn't his up-line just keep on giving it, unconditionally? After all, love-bombing is cheap, and doesn't cost anyone a thing.<br /><br />It's much different with a drug dealer, who will give a few free fixes to a beginning addict to get him hooked on the drug. But since hard drugs cost money, the drug dealer won't do this forever. He'll insist that the addict start paying the full cost of the drugs he receives.<br /><br />But if love-bombing keeps an MLM addict in the system, why would his up-line all of a sudden stop giving it? This, in my view, would merely cause the MLM addict to quit. And that's certainly not what his up-line wants.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com