Conference vmszoo::new_hampshire

    > Nancy Glass trying to get some woman (high up in Amway) to give reasons 
    > why it should not be considered a cult.  
    > A cult expert drawing similarities between Amway and religious cults
    
    Someone's written a book about that:
    
    	Amway : The Cult of Free Enterprise 
    	by Stephen Butterfield
    
    	1st Ed.
    	Hardcover
    	Published by South End Pr
    	Publication date: December 1985
    	ISBN: 0896082547
    
    It can be ordered from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com).
    

>    	Publication date: December 1985

  Did you really mean 1985? If so, this is seriously out of date. I don't know
what has happened in Amway in the last 7 years, but I know a lot changed in the
late 80's.

    I cut and pasted that out of Amazon's database so 1985 is probably
    correct.  
    
    I'm sure that a lot has changed in Amway.   I still think anyone
    considering it should do a lot of research into it and don't rely
    solely on the information that Amway reps volunteer.
    
    	db

    
    
    	While I don't care for the 'pyramid' companies myself, I
    	don't know that I see anything "cult like" in the reps
    	I know.  One is a couple that are the parents of a good friend
    	of mine and the other is my aunt and uncle.
    
    	- J
    

  I don't think the "cult" reference is about distributors themselves, but
rather of the regional gatherings that Amway used to hold. I never attended
one of these, but the description sounded like 17-hour days and 6-hour stretches
without food. Sleep and food deprivation are common techniques of cult-like
organizations.

I knew only one Amway rep, a good friend of mine.  I don't know what happened
but he became very obsessed with trying to sell the stuff and recruit us.  This
(interest in selling household products) was very unlike him. I would describe
his behavior as somewhat cult-like.

It is quite true that food and (particularly) sleep deprivation are used by
cults and cult-like groups to gain and maintain control over members.

    My son (age 22) is involved with Amway and occasionally goes to some
    sort of convention-like meetings in Maine. [He lives in Keene.] Other
    than bringing goodies with him when he visits his parents, I've seen no
    behavior changes that I could attribute to his association with Amway.
    There's some book about personality types that they suggested he read
    and he has enjoyed it.  
    
    He's acquired the conviction that someday he will make a lot of money
    from Amway, but the John Casablanca Modelling School that my daughter
    (age 17) is now attending makes similar claims.  As parents, we try to 
    be a sobering influence by pointing out that the world is full of
    salesmen bearing messages of 'hype'.  That there are many variations on
    the familiar carnival midway or the gambling casino themes.  The facts
    are that you had better enjoy the experience because in no other way
    you likely to get your money's worth - except through the 'entertainment'
    value.   

    	Networking organizations I've seen tend to have a lot of rah-rah
    moral boosting rallies. The realities of the difficulties in selling
    product X are over-shadowed by lure of easy money. It is especially true 
    in ones first exposure to the pyrimid scheme (or multi-level marketing as
    it's currently termed).
    
    	At the rah-rah ralleys, you listen to all of the success stories of
    people that have already made it. They tend to paint a picture of how 
    well off they are now and how much free time they have, and how all you
    have to do is exactly what your told, and you too can reap these
    benefits.
    
    	I'm not saying that any or all of these companies are bad. The
    question someone needs to ask is whether they really think they can
    sell whatever product or service is being offered. If it was as easy 
    as they portray, everyone would be doing it.
    
    	Ray

    Amway is now selling lots of other (name) products besides soap these
    days. They 'claim' that mfg's have figured out that it is a win-win
    situation as opposed to local retailing/advertising.
    
    Steve

Yes, Amway has many catalogs full of merchandise from other manufactures.
Their prices aren't so good, but not bad either.

I also heard rumor that they are producing catalog CDs for the PC.

And, on a whim, I just hooked up to their web site ....


Now, if only their laundry detergent didn't change the color of my clothes  :-/

Doug.