I'm starting to get the idea that this race boils down to a simple question: can Michigan's media stay awake long enough to collect every last ad dollar up for grabs in this campaign? Over at the Detroit News they are unabashedly on their knees, pumping out pieces like "
DeVos: Cutting business tax will create jobs" while over at the free Press, they have thrown in the towel and are
trying to figure out who should play the Tigers in the movie that will never be made.
What does this have to do with Dick Devos & Amway? Exactly what the Michigan media feels Amway has to do with the question of Dick Devos: Nothing.
With the election for Michigan's governor just 2 weeks away, I figured I better "come clean" on Dick Devos and Amway/Quixtar/Alticor.
Now there has been a lot of loose talk by the Governor that Dick Devos & Amway sent jobs to China at the same time he was cutting Amway jobs in Michigan. While that is true, it obscures the central issue of "Just what the heck IS Amway?" I'll let the Disembodied Daddy lay it down for you:
"The thing I want most for you is to increase your income; but I don't know any way to do that, other than by increasing your volume. And I don't know any way to do that, other than by sponsoring some new people who get some customers and retail products on a regular basis."
- Rich DeVos, Directly Speaking, 1983
We should also add that in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission requires Amway to label its products with the message that 54% of Amway recruits make nothing and the rest earn on average $65 a month. (see SkepDic link below) Stupid LAWS. Didn't get our money's worth on THAT one.
In a nutshell, THAT is Amway: an organization that enriches those like the Devos family who are at the top. It's a network marketing organization that gives you a cut of sales to those you recruit, your "downline". Those at the top do very well indeed, but only 2 of 1,000 distributors will earn even $47,000 a year and 3 in 10,000 will earn $72,000 (see Free Press link below). Those at the bottom either create their own network or end up making little to nothing.
The important thing for you to take away from this is not what a sleazy "soap & hope" scam Amway is or how annoying your own encounters with Amway/Alticor/Quixtar reps have been. The important thing to know is that Dick Devos made a heck of a lot of money because his daddy was smart enough to figure out that the top of the pyramid was a great place to be!
Continuing that great legacy of pyramid building, Dick Devos would now like to ascend to the top of Michigan's political pyramid. So when Dick Devos says "I am a business man with real world business experience", remember that AMWAY is the business of Dick Devos and help him build a new pyramid of political power right here in Michigan!
A Mess o' Amway Links
- Saturday Cartoon DOUBLE FEATURE: Dick Devos never cleaned up his bedroom (or his Amway) 2x the Amway fun from NBC Dateline and some book.
- Christine Barry says "The Names Tell the Story" A really long list of people who came out on the bad side of Amway but aren't THEY really to blame?
- Amway asks Business Opportunity or Pyramid Scheme? They answer "Business opportunity!" The key point is that the network of independent business owners has to sell consumer products supplied by an established company. The Business of Dick Devos is Business!
- DeVos Run Puts Amway in the Spotlight DeVos touted the Amway distributorships in a 1998 speech in California as "the best business opportunity in the world," even as the average active distributor grosses very little -- just $115 a month, according to promotional material given to new distributors. In the United States and Canada, Alticor's 370,000 distributors shared $345 million in bonus and incentive payments in 2005, the company said.
- SkepDic: Amway is a LEGAL Pyramid "Far from boosting their incomes, the vast majority of those who become Amway distributors, particularly those in `the system', are likely to end up losing money." Well, I should hope so!
- Speaking of the Federal Trade Commission on "Pyramid Schemes" "There are two tell-tale signs that a product is simply being used to disguise a pyramid scheme: inventory loading and a lack of retail sales. Inventory loading occurs when a company's incentive program forces recruits to buy more products than they could ever sell, often at inflated prices. If this occurs throughout the company's distribution system, the people at the top of the pyramid reap substantial profits, even though little or no product moves to market. The people at the bottom make excessive payments for inventory that simply accumulates in their basements. A lack of retail sales is also a red flag that a pyramid exists. Many pyramid schemes will claim that their product is selling like hot cakes. However, on closer examination, the sales occur only between people inside the pyramid structure or to new recruits joining the structure, not to consumers out in the general public." Now that never happens with Amway!
- Amway/Alticor/Quixtar Sucks Mad 'cause Amway attempts to suppress the free speech rights of its critics. Bah! Like daddy Rich says, if it's free, it's not worth much.
- Amway/Quixtar Business Analysis "The general public does not take time to understand the poor overall economics of Quixtar's `buy from your self' product merchandising plan." Can I get an "Amen" on that, people?
- Link for Flickr
Man, what a depressing bunch of words. Anyone else feel the need for an uplifting song??!!