Do Mormons fall for pyramid scams more often than other people? Or does it only seem like it?
When I lived in Provo going to BYU I was amazed at the number of schemes that operated up there. Maybe they were preying on the student population, but it seemed that the general Utah population was just as susceptible as the students.
My view is: a person who is capable of being suckered into religion is also capable of being conned by a money making hoax.
When I was on LDs Singles before I fell away, two different girls tried to get me into different pyramid schemes. I didn't say it, but I wanted to tell them, how could you be so stupid to fall for that? One was into a company called Meleleuca. Ever heard of it? Now who would seriously ever consider doing business with a company called Meleleuca? LOL
Another probable reason is that Mormonism buys into a variety of the "prosperity gospel." The righteous will prosper and the wicked suffer--a major theme of the Book of Mormon and Old Testament.
Those who advance in the church hierarchy tend to be visibly "blessed." Most of my student ward bishops at BYU had the big houses and nice cars. A subtle hint that faithfulness in the kingdom gets you rewards. Well maybe, but maybe not.
Sometimes stuff just doesn't work out that way. For most people it takes time and effort to build wealth. I think lots of Mormons look for risky shortcuts to become as blessed as they think they ought to be.
There's also the from-the-cradle inculcated trait of never questioning authority. When my husband was a teenager, almost half his Ca ward fell for the Bishop's MLM and lost everything.
I'm not ExMo (My husband is), but I feel another reason Mormons get into MLM schemes is that most of the time, these things are marketed as "All you have to do is sell to your friends. You're doing them a great service!"
Since Mormons believe themselves to have tons of friends in their church network, they believe this is going to be there highway to prosperity.
It's all Garbage, of course....but statistically there are more Amway dealers per capita in Utah than any other state. I don't think it's a coinkydink.
I think they consider wealth to = blessings, and they have to keep up with the Jonses. It's also a way to keep the woman in the home, as often, working women are judged, even if they live in high cost of living areas.
Also, there's the teaching that one never questions authority, so if a bishop is involved with a MLM/pyramid scheme, the ward members are more likely to fall for it.
My TBM in-laws are always throwing their money away on pyramid schemes. I've been propositioned twice now (one time for ACN, the other was Primerica).
I don't get it. They've done so many, like starting back with Amway and Quiksttar and have failed every time. Yet some charasmatic dude comes along selling them a get rich quick fantasy and they buy it hook, line and sinker.
They still haven't made back their $500 they paid in to ACN. Idiots.
Only a very few get their "calling and election made sure". And they seem to do it on the backs of the general membership, most of whom will never get to the highest level. The members just sit and take it, live as told, vote as told, and pay their tithing.
So other pyramid schemes remind TBMs of the church and they go for the familiar.
1. They believe money = righteousness, just look at their temples. 2. They believe other Mormons are trustworthy, non-Mormons are all liars and cheats. 3. They believe they are special and they are told that they will prosper if they pay their tithing. 4. They are trained to accept the truth of things based on feelings. 5. They are trained to accept things based on unverifiable single anecdotal stories. 6. They are trained on their missions to sell hopes and dreams. 7, They want their wife to stay at home, but need the extra income they are losing paying tithing.
It's one of the things people do when they trust someone. It's the old: BRT deal over and over: Building Relationships of Trust! It works in all kinds of human relationships for any purpose: religious, financial, etc.
When you trust someone you believe what they tell you and you want to be part of what they are selling/doing/etc.
There is one big kahuna at the top who is like god. The people at the top are the "big earners" and as you go down so does your clout. They hold tons of meetings. They have a set program(everyone is told exactly what to do and how to do it). All they have to do is follow the "program" and they will make it to the top(AKA celestial kingdumb)
Every MLM I have seen is set up just like the church. All the wealth is at the top and the rest are promised the same thing if they will just do what those at the top tell them to do. I took a marketing class in college once and there was a quote in the text book that said Utah is the MLM center of the world. Many MLM companies will begin in Utah simply because they can get off to a good start before breaking out into the rest of the world.
Morgbots are sheep who follow the leader, regardless of who that leader is as long as there are lots of other morgbots telling them that this leader knows what he is talking about.
Mishies sell religion even when most people aren't buying it. They begin to ignore rejection, and turn off critical thinking skills (like, "if the 'spirit' is supposed to be touching people's hearts and converting them, how come the only convert I have is a developmentally disabled person living in assisted care?"). They learn to persevere, and convince themselves they are suceeding when every objective measure shows that they are wasting time and effort. They learn to invest their time and money for no benefit at all.
Then they get wind of an MLM that promises to makes these behaviors financially profitable. They are used to investing time and money without a return, so this is not a NEW situation for them.
The ability to think critically, and to view their time and money as INVESTMENTS that should pay off in a predictable way (like how people think about business) is just so deeply suppressed and contorted that they cannot do it. They learn to rely on manufactured "feelings" and are motivated by "inspired" visions of being successful (which for some is paying their tithing and credit cared debt in the same month) and they do not question or doubt at appropriate moments.
It's really sad. My family has fallen into this trap a couple of times, and buys bad products from other mormons and from their "holistic healer" (not that all of these folks are snake-oil selling quacks, but the lady they see happens to be of the quack persuasion). I've seen my father waste money as both a seller and a buyer of MLM products.
Trust and greed. I have lived in this TBM neighborhood for 25 years. You would not belive how many people have come over and wanted me to join the circus with them. One even even told me that he knew my house was paid for,,so I could borrow against it to buy into his program. Of course he lost everything and had to sell his house and move.
The flawed business model totally escapes these people. Even though the standard outcome is to pay more into the MLM than they make they jump right on the next one that sweeps through.
The constant diet of magical stories takes a toll on a person's ability to reason. If god can create glowing rocks, magic compasses, stones for translation, talking snakes, food raining from heaven, etc then creating wealth from soap and vitamins must be a snap.
The Mormon gospel is an exact copy of a pyramid scheme. The people who get in first go to the top and get the lions share of goodies at the expense of everyone else on the bottom who gets a tiny little bit.
Mormons have no intellectual conflict with pyramid schemes because that is exactly how the Mormon gospel works. Speaking in my former Mormon-alter ego: Those of us who are righteous and specially chosen from the preexistence to live in times of the fullness of the gospel get all the blessings that the vast ocean of humanity does not get. We get to live in the best of times, best nation of the world, have financial and material plenty, health and health care, plenty to eat, education, opportunities to marry well and take our families on wonderful vacations. We get the gospel in it's fullness, access to temples, church programs, a support system, and all kinds of riches that make life worth living and comfortable. We got there first, we are at the top of the pyramid.
The others at the bottom get there later. They include all the people throughout history who built up this nation and the world, the one's who actually did the work to modernize and industrialize the world so we could watch tv and get our food out of the fridge. They include all the poor and disenfranchised and less fortunate of the world today.
Someday, after their miserable lives are over, they can have the gospel, the crumbs from the table. They can enjoy the fruits of being at the bottom of the pyramid that they and Heavenly Father held up for us at the top. They receive their blessings....their limited blessings since they've already had poverty and misery for a life. But now they can have the gospel.
Mormons don't stay awake a night contemplating these disparities in what they believe. So trying to get into the top of the pyramid scheme seems perfectly natural, the way the world works, Heavenly Father's plan.
2. Because of this familiarity (indoctrination/brain washing that is the "eyes rolling, Gospel" eyes still rolling) they believe that god will bless them.
3. They will be blessed because of their (self) righteousness.
Maximum Rewards for Minimum Effort. Just turn up for meetings and pay your monthly subscription fee (tithing) and you will become gospelly rich and famous.
Yeah, I heard of Meleleuca. Me and my mom attended a Meleleuca party at my mom's friend Felishia's house once (nobody else there was LDS though, and even me and mom were totally inactive, lol). We just went because we knew lots of people and yummies would be there, and we wanted to go do something. We tried some of the products and they were... Ok... But they need a new name! Meleleuca sounds like some kind of desease, lol.
Back when my dad was active in the church (we're talking like 15 years ago) his HT talked him into joining Amway... Ugh... I remember there being Amway products all over the house, and my dad playing inspirational career conference tapes all the time (Zig Ziggler, etc.).
I'm running a home business right now, but its not a pyramid scheme. Its just me and my husband, and we own it. We get wholesale products and sell them. Pretty simple.
Mormons are too trustworthy, especially if another mormon is trying to sign them up. they are thinking, well if Brother orson Ashby is encouraging me to enroll. it is okay because he is really smart cuz he has 8 kids and been married for 45 years and a stake president. he would never try to decieve me, he loves me cuz he is my stake president and you have to be really smart to be a stake president, so everything he does is good enough for me