Hi Kathy! I am totally impressed that you read 27 pages of posts! LOL. (I like Letter to Garcia, too!) I'd never heard of "binary" either, but I like the idea of not having such a focus on building a downline. Having two people under you allows you to be more like a Mentor and teach them as you learn rather than the crazy chase of recruit, recruit. But, that's me. Some may like the recruiting. (?) Plus, I really like the ability to sell to consumers and that people don't have to join to buy. In my mind, that's much more sensible than requiring a person to join to buy. It's hard enough to make a sale, much less convince people to "sign up" before they can buy. I completely agree with "Most still have the employee mentality and do not know how to be in business for themselves.... So, so true. The Letter to Garcia touches on that. If we want to be free of a boss, we must be willing to 'boss' ourselves - even when we have to make ourselves do the things we don't want to do. My favorite joke is to say that since I am self employed, I get to work half days. The first 12 hours or the second 12 hours. lol. But what I liked most of all was the experience that you shared. You have shown one of the points I try hard to emphasize.... namely that we each have to find what works for US. There is no perfect business that is suited to everyone. We all are different. What works for "joe" might not work for me, and vice verse. It's a matter of what fits who we are and how we work. Thank you so much for a really great post!! : ) Linda

Is that a bugle you hear in the distance? Hark! It seems to be getting louder... "Dut, da, dut, da, dut, da, dut ,da ,dut, da, dut, da, dut, da, dut, da, dut, da, dah!" A lone rider bearing a flag... Custer! Heh...heh... enough of my reverie, or should I say reveille? And you thought I had left the thread for good. Uh, uh! So, what has caught my attention this time? Well, I was just strolling through the old battlefield when I remembered something I mentioned once before: ======================== "When reality does not meet expectation..." ======================== Now, this can happen anywhere - in any business or organisation (even in a church congregation!) - but it's more prevalent in MLM. What happens when an opportunity is presented as one thing then, when a critical mass is achieved, it is switched to something else, particularly if that "something else" happens to benefit the king-pin or big-pins? In other words the masses are sold on an idea then that idea is manipulated into something completely different to suit the organiser or organisers. This is known as "bait and switch." Also, what happens when people who have been blindly following a leader on faith and that leader lets them down? How does one handle the feeling of being duped? Betrayed? Sometimes, a person who appeared to be a very charismatic "leader" turns out to be something far different from what he or she portrayed. How do we deal with that? Referring back to my earlier comments on religion (and Bob's observations too), why is it easier for false gods and prophets to use scripture to dupe people? I think Linda used the Jim Jones example somewhere in this forum. Remember the "Jonestown massacre" in 1978 where almost a 1000 people followed their "messiah" to death? How does it happen? Why are people so gullible? Can Jonestown repeat itself? These are questions that I seek answers to. Any takers? Gary Simpson

Hi! ======================== When reality does not meet expectation... ...what happens when people who have been blindly following a leader on faith and that leader lets them down? ..Sometimes, a person who appeared to be a very charismatic "leader" turns out to be something far different ... ...I think Linda used the Jim Jones example somewhere in this forum. How does it happen?.. ...Why are people so gullible? Can Jonestown repeat itself? ... These are questions that I seek answers to. Any takers? ======================== Sure... I'll take a stab at it. Studying why people do what they do has been a passion of mine for decades. I used the Jonestown example in my "Purple Koolaid" article. In that case, all those people took their own lives because they were brainwashed. But, there is a level of gullibility that occurs everyday with no external brainwashing taking place. Note that I said "external"... In many cases, people are crippled by a self imposed limitation. By something they think they can not do. A common one is the person who thinks "I don't know how to sell. I don't know how to run a business" -- so they sign up for someone's downline thinking that the leader god will take their hand and "help" them make money. In the recruiting phase, the recruiters will say whatever they need to in order to achieve their OWN objective. A signup. "Oh dear, you can't sell? We will help you... just sign up here..." People are at their weakest, most vulnerable and most gullible when they do not know how to do something, or they lack sufficient information. Even in saying all that, there are times when it is NOT a vulnerability that puts us in that position. Take, for example, a great seller who joins an MLM because they "know" they can sell like mad. And they do. They didn't join seeking someone to lean on. Often times, they, too will end up disillusioned. Not because they went in for the wrong reasons - but usually because of the egos of the higher ups. Those folks, though, are the exception, not the rule. The majority (the rule) is that most people are at their weakest, most vulnerable and most gullible when we don't know how to do something and are hoping someone will do it for us, for nothing, and we'll benefit. And isn't that the misconception that a lot of people have going into MLM? : ) Linda

Great post Linda! Would it be fair to say that most false prophets and false gods actually give out little indicators that they are really NOT what they are presenting? But people who want to "hang their hat" on them ignore the subtle warnings? I found this point very relevant: ================= "The majority (the rule) is that most people are at their weakest, most vulnerable and most gullible when we don't know how to do something and are hoping someone will do it for us, for nothing, and we'll benefit. And isn't that the misconception that a lot of people have going into MLM?" ================== The key part for me in that was: ================== "... we don't know how to do something and are hoping someone will do it for us, for nothing, and we'll benefit." ================== What do others think? Did anybody like my bugle call? What about a fanfare of trumpets next time? What does that normally signify? Ever seen one of those old Roman gladiator movies, like the ones with Charlton Heston types? Gary Simpson

There's a movement in that trench over there! It's ALIVE!!!!! :-)