(I'm just curious about your perspective because I couldn't work at a place like that, so I'm trying to understand. I'm not looking to pass judgement or get into an argument.)
I am not sure. When an MLM is new and hot, it grows rapidly and there’s a lot of success for a lot of people. But there’s always a lot of churn at the bottom level, and if the organization isn’t growing, it’s dying.
I saw all this mostly from a detached view looking at tables in a SQL database, with the occasional glimpse of in person convention Bacchanalia. Many of my friendships and much of my professional network were forged in my 20s in this industry so this colors a lot of my views.
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.
