Over the Holidays this became a topic of talk. One relative works for an investigative reporter for a local TV News program. When said reporter sat in in on a pyramid scheme being promoted at the local convention hall–you know the deal: invest your money now and then recoup it from people you recruit later-he was shouted down when he spoke out about it.
These people attending the meeting seemed to be pissed at him for pointing out the flaws in this scheme and not at the people who were selling this moonshine.
WTF? How many people out there think that they will get something for a minimal nothing?
Has anybody out there ever made money on a pyramid scheme without being part of the con artists whio started one?
I’ll bet the general audience-member reaction was something like this:
“The guy promoting this show just told us how we can get rich. He’s also told us all the wonderful things we can look forward to once we’re rich. And he’s told us that all the Negative-Nellies out there, who don’t believe in getting rich quick, simply haven’t heard of <I>this</I> scheme before. It’s the Best-Kept Secret of the Rich[TM], after all. Now, darn it, I want to be rich. How dare you burst our balloon, you Negative Nelly!”
It’s like telling a congregation of Born-Again Christians that there is no Heaven waiting for them when they die.
I usually consider myself pretty intelligent. Yet, I fell lock-stock-and-barrel for this scam to the tune of $9500. I almost fell for the kinds of arguments addressed on http://www.netcom.com/~rogermw/debuck.html, too, but I fortunately smelled a rat in time (and if I hadn’t, the consequences would’ve been far costlier).
Why did I fall for these? Because they were telling me something I wanted to believe (i.e. that I could get out of all income taxes). I turned a deaf eye and a blind ear to all counter-arguments, because I didn’t want anybody knocking me off of my dream-cloud.
It’s like, you know that feeling you get when you first realize that thus-and-such girl might actually like you? You start having delusions that this is the one, and you start wondering how many kids you’re going to have together and picking out a wallpaper pattern for your new house, and you haven’t even gone out on a second date with her yet. If you were even the slightest bit level-headed at that point, you’d be able to see all the obvious flaws with this latest potential mate of yours – but you conveniently sweep all those under the rug because, darn it, you want it to work this time!
How do you usually feel in that situation when a friend tells you that your new “sweetie” is problematic at best and a terrible match at worst? Just like the people in that pyramid-scheme audience, I’ll bet.
Too many people base their lives on what they want to be true rather than on what actually is true. And they can get very angry when you point out the difference.
My favorite quote on the subject comes from a book that a friend of mine wrote:
“Most creatures prefer a warm lie to a cold truth. If you make them feel good, the masses will love you. If you make them think, they will hate you. I warn you: He who dares disturb the sleepwalk of masses, prepares for nightmare.”
-- "Sly Fox" in *The Running Dogs of Loyalty: Honest Reflections on a Magical Zoo*, by Richard Walker
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Everyone makes mistakes. Plus, some people are more susceptible than others to a silver-tongued (or high pressure) salesperson. But I also agree with David B that many people have a weak grasp of reality and tend to live by emotional impulses rather than rational thought.
I went with my wife to a Mary Kay meeting. She joined.
Let me first point out that it was quite an uplifting, almost religious experience. Mary Kay is indeed a pyramid, like all the “scams.” But there, on stage, woman after successful woman told their stories of rags to riches. For those dedicated, it will work.
But time and dedication are everything… for the successful ones, this is their career. We bought a $750 a starter kit (but it’s all high-quality stuff she loves and uses). But my wife had a separate career and couldn’t dedicate the time. 3 months later, she gave it up.
Scammed? Not really. The cosmetics are good, and she can still buy at discount. Pyramid marketing schemes aren’t for the faint of heart, or those without the drive to do it.
maybe we need to stop attributing everything to intelligence. sometimes the emotions override the intelligence. i was at a church running a pyramid scheme a number of years ago. they were looking for someone to write a database program to keep track of the money. there was a line of people over 100 feet long to put money into this scam. it can work if you get in early and get out, the tail end charlies get screwed. i was telling a member of the church it was a pyramid scheme and he said “it’s like a pyramid scheme but it’s not a pyramid scheme.” LOL!
people gat emotional about MONEY!!!
Dal Timgar
p.s. i decided to not get involved. they got busted by the police.
My wife was interested in one that wasn’t a pyramid scheme but was. Sound similar to the Mary Kay mentioned earlier. I don’t know if I want to mention the name but I’ll call it Mar. Am. You buy herbal supplements and sell them. You don’t make any money selling the pills and elixers, but only when you recruit more people under you. You have to spend about $500 to start and then a certain amount a month. We went to a very small meeting and they didn’t answer any questions my wife asked. he just replied that you can make money if you want but you have to work at it and never actually told us how you make it. he also implied that the only way you are going to be financially secure or happy is if you take part in this plan. He quoted ridiculous statistics about how many of us will die in hopeless poverty. They have big national and regonal conventions where they all get together to talk about Mar. Am. Why they need to keep talking about it is beyond me and why anybody would pay money for a ticket to one of these things is also beyond me.
Might I relate this (the idea that something I want to be true must be true and the anger at anyone who even suggest it might not be) to the very common argument made against evolution and atheism: But if that were true human life would be meaningless.
Personally, I don’t think either of those ideas renders human life meaningless, anymore than it’s meaningless because the sun doesn’t revolve around us. But whether or not they do, that can’t be considered evidence against them, although it is usually proffered as such.
What is the deal with Quixtar? I have a friend that was involved with it, but I could never understand how individuals are “supposed” to make money from it. I visited their website, but still couldn’y figure out how it works. Is it multi-level marketing, or what?