A pyramid scheme has some similarities, and some very important differences. First off the basic corporate business model in America is different from a pyramid scheme because it is legal and pyramid schemes are not. The reason for this is because when we do business money is exchanged for goods and services. In a pyramid scheme money is generally exchanged for money. You are told that money is being invested, but not how and the only way you can get back your investment is to get more people to invest. It goes something like this.
Like the corporate business model there is one guy at the top. Then each level below him usually has a specific number of people in it before dropping down to the next level. Sometimes its an order of magnitude, sometimes its a doubling or tripling. For convenience sake we'll use the order of magnitude example.
So the first level has one guy. He puts in a certain amount of money to get things rolling. Then he gets ten people under him who have to pay the same amount of money to become part of the club. Once that happens he breaks even. After that, new people that join, just put money in his pocket. Then each of those ten people have to get their own ten people so that they can break even. Then each of those one hundred have to get ten so that they can break even. Then each of those thousand have to get their own ten. In another few iterations it ends up taking more people than entire population of the earth in order for the guy at the bottom to break even.
What makes a pyramid scheme illegal is that it is a non-sustainable business model. The money to pay people for their "investment" comes directly from the people that they get to join afterwards and nothing of value is being created or shared anywhere down the line as a result.
If people stop joining the whole thing collapses. Eventually, the guys at the bottom stop paying their monthly fee because they aren't getting anything of value in return. Then one by one each level evaporates, leaving the next one up suffering from the same malady as the previous.
But on the other hand if a business were to offer a discount on your bill as an incentive to get new people to join, like say ten percent per person, there is value all over the place. There is value for you, first because the company is providing you something that you want or need every month and second because you can get that thing for even less by sharing it with others. Even if nobody new ever joins, you still benefit from having the product or service. There is value for the company because they are keeping a current customer and getting new ones all the time from the discounts they offer. And there is value for new customers because of the product or service that is being offered even if they never intend to take advantage of the potential for discounts.
A lot of network marketing companies and "normal" businesses" use this discount feature. They use different words to describe it. Some call it sales commission. Others call it a "friends and families" discount. But it all boils down to the same thing, you bring them business they pay you. Whether it is car insurance, cell service, groceries, or some other bill that you have to pay month after month, year in and year out why not get paid for sharing something good with others?
One of the main differences between network marketing and many of the "normal" corporate America type businesses is advertising. Most network marking companies don't spend the billions of dollars a year that other companies do on advertising. They give that money to their members as rewards for word of mouth advertising. Where would you rather see that money go? To an advertising executive or into your pocket?
Given those two choices, I'll choose my pocket every time. Check it out for yourself here
Besides all that, a lot of traditional corporations are either starting network marketing branches or originally started out as network marketing companies. If you are going to just lump everything that shares something in common with a pyramid scheme together due to generalities, then be prepared to look at all businesses as illegal scams and pyramid schemes.
Showing posts with label America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label America. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Monday, October 28, 2013
Some perspective on what is normal
When I was a kid, (no really, it did happen) my step-dad was always trying to get me to be like a normal person. It was his idea that I should follow traditional habits and patterns. Have I mentioned that he and I never really got along? He was constantly punishing me for failing to fit within his intended mold.
It has never been my way to walk in the footsteps of others. I would rather blaze my own trail for like minded individuals to follow if they wish or simply to show others that they can find their own way like I did.
Normal people work 9-5 jobs he would say. In my mind I would reply, but normal people are unhappy. He would also say normal people go to college and get a degree so that they can make more money. To that my internal voice would say, normal people are dead broke living paycheck to paycheck.
We get the idea of being abnormal as bad from peer pressure. Parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, siblings, everyone makes us feel like the only way we are good enough to be part of anything is if we are normal.
Literally what is normal is simply the average of all people together, once the super highs and super lows are discarded. If society was filled to the brim with wealthy, sane people living, happy productive lives, then being normal would be totally awesome.
95% of the population in America lives just a little above the poverty level. 2/3 of the population are unhappy, including many illnesses and diseases brought on by stress. The average person does not have enough free time and spends much of the time that they do have worried over the things they either do not have the time for or can not do due to financial stresses. Still want to be normal?
What is normal is what is average. So, if you are normal, you are plain jane and vanilla. You stand out in no way at all. Mediocrity is the epitome of normal. Being normal is taking the path of least resistance and at the end of that road is the least amount of rewards.
Who is not normal? Anyone earning in the top five percent. Movie stars and successful musicians. Best-selling authors. Professional athletes. People that earn awards and recognition. Anyone at all who is in any way rich or famous.
If you find that you are a normal person, you have bought into the lie that being normal is the way to acceptance. The people that find the greatest acceptance within our society are those aforementioned celebrities. It is quite often in point of fact that the things that make us not like other people are the things that make us great.
Choosing to be normal is like choosing the death sentence to any future creativity and accomplishments you may have otherwise had. You can be normal if you want to. But I'm gonna look for a better way
It has never been my way to walk in the footsteps of others. I would rather blaze my own trail for like minded individuals to follow if they wish or simply to show others that they can find their own way like I did.
Normal people work 9-5 jobs he would say. In my mind I would reply, but normal people are unhappy. He would also say normal people go to college and get a degree so that they can make more money. To that my internal voice would say, normal people are dead broke living paycheck to paycheck.
We get the idea of being abnormal as bad from peer pressure. Parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, siblings, everyone makes us feel like the only way we are good enough to be part of anything is if we are normal.
Literally what is normal is simply the average of all people together, once the super highs and super lows are discarded. If society was filled to the brim with wealthy, sane people living, happy productive lives, then being normal would be totally awesome.
95% of the population in America lives just a little above the poverty level. 2/3 of the population are unhappy, including many illnesses and diseases brought on by stress. The average person does not have enough free time and spends much of the time that they do have worried over the things they either do not have the time for or can not do due to financial stresses. Still want to be normal?
What is normal is what is average. So, if you are normal, you are plain jane and vanilla. You stand out in no way at all. Mediocrity is the epitome of normal. Being normal is taking the path of least resistance and at the end of that road is the least amount of rewards.
Who is not normal? Anyone earning in the top five percent. Movie stars and successful musicians. Best-selling authors. Professional athletes. People that earn awards and recognition. Anyone at all who is in any way rich or famous.
If you find that you are a normal person, you have bought into the lie that being normal is the way to acceptance. The people that find the greatest acceptance within our society are those aforementioned celebrities. It is quite often in point of fact that the things that make us not like other people are the things that make us great.
Choosing to be normal is like choosing the death sentence to any future creativity and accomplishments you may have otherwise had. You can be normal if you want to. But I'm gonna look for a better way
Monday, October 7, 2013
Food and hunger in America
October, November and December. The last quarter of the year brings
with it quite a few holidays and as a result many opportunities for
family and friends to get together and celebrate, to enjoy each other's
company and to party.
When I think about families and friends spending time together, I often think of all the less fortunate people out there, the ones that have nothing to celebrate and no food or drink to celebrate with.
It is estimated that the planet currently grows enough food to feed at least ten billion people comfortably. I think that number is an extreme underestimation. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that not a single person in America starves because not enough food is produced.
There are places where farmers are literally paid to burn thousands of tons of produce rather than to have it shipped somewhere else that it is actually needed.
Places like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and other popular fast food chains have quality rules set in place where after a certain amount of time they are required to throw away food that is no longer "fresh". Depending on what the items are the time is generally between ten and twenty minutes. They are not allowed to give the food to their employees or even to local homeless people. Or even sell it at a discounted rate due to its lack of freshness. They are required to waste it. And even if only an average of 1 pound per restaurant per day is wasted in this fashion,(and this is an extremely conservative estimate) there are 160,000 fast food restaurants in the US alone. That is not including other types of restaurants and would still add up to nearly 30 thousand tons of wasted food each year.
Grocery stores often turn away produce trucks if they do not like the look of the produce. Then the drivers of those trucks have to try to find somewhere else that will take the food off their hands. Often it ends up simply getting dumped.
It is estimated that between ten and twenty five percent of the food that consumers in America purchase is wasted, due to uneaten leftovers or food that goes bad before it gets cooked. Focusing on changing this one statistic could go a long way towards feeding all of the hungry in this country.
Economic conditions in our country are not as good currently as they have been in years past. And yes there is poverty, even here in America. But I can't help but think the real problem here is greed and inefficiency.
The average American eats just under 2,000 lbs or 1 ton of food per year. There are a little over 300 million people in America. And currently, 1 in 6, or 50 million are struggling with the inability to provide enough food for themselves to eat. An extra 50 million tons of food per year would feed the hungry within our country. And I firmly believe that there is at least that amount of surplus food here that is going to waste each year.
The food already exists to feed our hungry. How do we find better ways of getting it to them?
When I think about families and friends spending time together, I often think of all the less fortunate people out there, the ones that have nothing to celebrate and no food or drink to celebrate with.
It is estimated that the planet currently grows enough food to feed at least ten billion people comfortably. I think that number is an extreme underestimation. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that not a single person in America starves because not enough food is produced.
There are places where farmers are literally paid to burn thousands of tons of produce rather than to have it shipped somewhere else that it is actually needed.
Places like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and other popular fast food chains have quality rules set in place where after a certain amount of time they are required to throw away food that is no longer "fresh". Depending on what the items are the time is generally between ten and twenty minutes. They are not allowed to give the food to their employees or even to local homeless people. Or even sell it at a discounted rate due to its lack of freshness. They are required to waste it. And even if only an average of 1 pound per restaurant per day is wasted in this fashion,(and this is an extremely conservative estimate) there are 160,000 fast food restaurants in the US alone. That is not including other types of restaurants and would still add up to nearly 30 thousand tons of wasted food each year.
Grocery stores often turn away produce trucks if they do not like the look of the produce. Then the drivers of those trucks have to try to find somewhere else that will take the food off their hands. Often it ends up simply getting dumped.
It is estimated that between ten and twenty five percent of the food that consumers in America purchase is wasted, due to uneaten leftovers or food that goes bad before it gets cooked. Focusing on changing this one statistic could go a long way towards feeding all of the hungry in this country.
Economic conditions in our country are not as good currently as they have been in years past. And yes there is poverty, even here in America. But I can't help but think the real problem here is greed and inefficiency.
The average American eats just under 2,000 lbs or 1 ton of food per year. There are a little over 300 million people in America. And currently, 1 in 6, or 50 million are struggling with the inability to provide enough food for themselves to eat. An extra 50 million tons of food per year would feed the hungry within our country. And I firmly believe that there is at least that amount of surplus food here that is going to waste each year.
The food already exists to feed our hungry. How do we find better ways of getting it to them?
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Communism vs America
A commune is generally formed by a group of people that do not like
what they see in the world. They think that they can do a better job of
creating a community that works and plays together than what they see
around them. So these people get together, buy land, and build a new
community, one apart from the world. They do their best to be self
sufficient and usually only deal with outsiders when they absolutely
have to.
While this might seem like a nice ideal there are some flaws with it. For one, there tends to be a rather large prejudice that builds up. Space is usually limited so only a select few can be included. And people that are part of the commune are automatically trusted associates and people outside of it are automatically subconsciously villianized.
There is also a great degree of selfishness involved when you have the power to do a great good and you confine it within a small group, especially one that avoids others at all cost. People who form such a commune are not making the world a better place. They are basically robbing the world of good influences and leaving others to deal with a higher concentration of the bad.
Take America on the other hand. Our country was originally founded by people who were, much like many communists, tired of being persecuted. The difference here is that in America there was a vast unknown amount of land. And all were welcome. We set up a system of government to protect the rights of those newly arrived as well as those who were already here.
In addition to accepting others from all walks of life with different political, religious and social beliefs, America does not avoid the rest of the world. The Unites States has trade agreements with many different countries around the world. We share technology to the mutual benefit of all involved.
We get involved in conflicts around the world. We do our best to keep things fair and just. When possible we share our ideals that all men should be free to live their lives as we do. We do what we can to make life better for others. We strive to make the world in our image just as we constantly work to improve that image. We do our best to make the world a better place.
And that is one of the major flaws with communes in general. They make life better for its participants but do not help the world at all. Having said all this, I live in a rather small commune that involves just a single house. We share everything, our bills, our income, our food and our philosophy.
In America our form of federal government is called a democracy but is actually more like a republic. And as a people we say this is the government we believe in. Yet most houses are run like dictatorships or monarchies. Think about that...
There never was any doubt about our political beliefs. Democracy is the best system in the world and is the way we run our commune. The pooling of our resources just seemed to make the most sense as a way of making sure that all necessary bills got handled. So, we run a democratic commune.
Unlike most, we have a plan that involves growing and spreading out, taking our philosophy to the world and making it a better place to be. We believe that our small group of like minded nonjudgemental individuals allows people a safe haven to be able to focus internally and deal with the issues that keep them from being happy people. It is our goal to find people who are unhappy with their lives, to assist them in changing into the people they want to be and whenever possible to include them in our numbers so that we can assist an ever larger number of people as time goes on.
While this might seem like a nice ideal there are some flaws with it. For one, there tends to be a rather large prejudice that builds up. Space is usually limited so only a select few can be included. And people that are part of the commune are automatically trusted associates and people outside of it are automatically subconsciously villianized.
There is also a great degree of selfishness involved when you have the power to do a great good and you confine it within a small group, especially one that avoids others at all cost. People who form such a commune are not making the world a better place. They are basically robbing the world of good influences and leaving others to deal with a higher concentration of the bad.
Take America on the other hand. Our country was originally founded by people who were, much like many communists, tired of being persecuted. The difference here is that in America there was a vast unknown amount of land. And all were welcome. We set up a system of government to protect the rights of those newly arrived as well as those who were already here.
In addition to accepting others from all walks of life with different political, religious and social beliefs, America does not avoid the rest of the world. The Unites States has trade agreements with many different countries around the world. We share technology to the mutual benefit of all involved.
We get involved in conflicts around the world. We do our best to keep things fair and just. When possible we share our ideals that all men should be free to live their lives as we do. We do what we can to make life better for others. We strive to make the world in our image just as we constantly work to improve that image. We do our best to make the world a better place.
And that is one of the major flaws with communes in general. They make life better for its participants but do not help the world at all. Having said all this, I live in a rather small commune that involves just a single house. We share everything, our bills, our income, our food and our philosophy.
In America our form of federal government is called a democracy but is actually more like a republic. And as a people we say this is the government we believe in. Yet most houses are run like dictatorships or monarchies. Think about that...
There never was any doubt about our political beliefs. Democracy is the best system in the world and is the way we run our commune. The pooling of our resources just seemed to make the most sense as a way of making sure that all necessary bills got handled. So, we run a democratic commune.
Unlike most, we have a plan that involves growing and spreading out, taking our philosophy to the world and making it a better place to be. We believe that our small group of like minded nonjudgemental individuals allows people a safe haven to be able to focus internally and deal with the issues that keep them from being happy people. It is our goal to find people who are unhappy with their lives, to assist them in changing into the people they want to be and whenever possible to include them in our numbers so that we can assist an ever larger number of people as time goes on.
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