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Mormonism and Multilevel Marketing Companies

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139 points cdepman | 3 comments | 18 Jul 20 15:30 UTC | HN request time: 0.559s | source
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WhompingWindows ◴[18 Jul 20 16:19 UTC] No.23882425[source]▶
Religion and MLM go hand in hand, that's interesting.

I will push the concept further: Are religions another form of MLM?

In both cases, we are trading our time, effort, and money for status within a community; there are hierarchical ranks, obtained by recruiting more people and proselytizing effectively...and MLMs and religion both seek to answer tough questions, whether that be creation or health, salvation or financial freedom. And both MLMs and religion rely upon false premises, mythology, peer pressure, and irrational fears.

Lastly, If MLMs or religion had extremely solid evidence behind them, would they truly be MLMs or religion? This seems the most important linkage, these institutions (and many others) prey upon inherent weaknesses in the human psyche for their own advancement.

Downvote brigade has arrived, I love receiving downvotes for playing devil's advocate; respond to me if you're disagreeing, don't downvote and bury what you dislike.

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1. jawns ◴[18 Jul 20 16:56 UTC] No.23882758[source]▶
You're being downvoted, I assume, for breaking HN guidelines, specifically around the accusation of brigading: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
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2. aj7 ◴[18 Jul 20 17:21 UTC] No.23882955[source]▶
I just upvoted this person. I have always felt MLM was a fusion of (secular) religion and business. Similar testimonials, group social support, groupthink, and reliance on faith are employed. This is saying something completely different than the connection between MLM and organized religions, which in the case of Hispanic evangelist groups and Mormons, is well established. It is saying that for some, MLM participation confers some of the benefits of a religion.
3. WhompingWindows ◴[30 Jul 20 14:31 UTC] No.23998608[source]▶
I should have included the following characters "Edit:"...I was downvoted multiple times before I even mentioned brigading. That was a post-hoc edit after I'd been downvoted multiple times, I think I was at -2 within 1-2 minutes.

HN commenters simply downvote things they disagree with, even if it pushes the narrative further and promotes more thought. IMO, downvotes should be reserved for low-effort wastes of space comments, not dissenting viewpoints.