MLM Survivors Club: [MLM Survivors Club] "mlm junkies"

Monday, January 28, 2008

[MLM Survivors Club] "mlm junkies"

Hi folks

I keep seeing people refer to themselves as "mlm junkies".

I made some comments a while back about mlm and addiction - and got
roasted for suggesting that mlm 'use' (like drug use) was a coping
strategy of people with low or damaged self-esteem. My comments were
seen as unhelpful generalisations, lacking in empathy and somewhat
insulting to the innocent 'victims' of mlm - all of whom, supposedly
had healthy self-esteem that was then destroyed by the evil of mlm.

I am totally anti-mlm. In the UK, I actively do what I can to expose
the side of the argument that pro-mlmers want to keep hidden from
their prospects.

I also have experience of addiction - having, like countless millions,
been a 'junkie' using cigarettes, cannabis and alcohol throughout the
larger part of my life until I decided to quit it all some 3 years
ago. For me, those substances were a 'self-medication' for a pain; a
discomfort - an agonising lack of self-worth and self-esteem.

In addiction, the drug isn't to blame for the users' lack of
self-esteem. Sure, it helps to make it worse. But the drug is the
'medication' to deal with the inner emptiness, the pain the addict
already feels.

I've spent a few years watching and researching all kinds of mlms,
reading the testimony of people who have been in mlms (such as this
site) and gaining direct experience of mlm people. Countless people
have described themselves as being 'mlm junkies' and if there's one
common pattern I've seen, it's that most serial mlm-ers behave like
addicts or 'gamblers' (addicts by another name).

Like addicts, 'mlm junkies' search for a 'fix' in mlm, don't find it,
feel more ashamed and in pain, and keep searching for another mlm to
fix that pain. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the 'mlm
junkie' retains a core belief that there IS one mlm out there that
will fix him / her.

In previous posts, I suggested that rather than being responsible for
creating poor self-esteem in serial mlmers, just maybe mlm was set up
to exploit what was already there. That caused a bit of a reaction.
Maybe that's hard to stomach because it's much easier to someone to be
a victim of mlm in the same way that it would be much easier to blame
my using chemicals on the dealers who sold them to me; or the bar or
the supermarket.

Why am I posting again about this? Because like any addiction, unless
people take responsibility for what drives them to use 'stuff' as a
way to avoid facing their inner pain, the industry (drugs, gambling or
mlm) will continue to thrive. This morning, I picked up two more
posts here saying 'I'm a mlm junkie' - and the response from the
forum, once again, was 'It has nothing to do with you - you are the
victim of evil people'.