http://www.angelfire.com/or/amwaydreamers/index2.html
I found it very interesting that Amway and JW's have so much in common. This is from an X-Amway site. I deleted the non-similar paragraphs. Could both Cults be run by the same people?
1. You will be told that for a mere $150.00 investment, you can own a million dollar business. ( No one will mention opens, rallies, seminars, tapes, books, functions, shipping costs, handling charges, additional phone bills, buying business supplies, paying higher prices for household items, etc..)
2. You will be told that people who have nothing good to say about Amway are just trying to steal your dream. That they don't want to see anyone else succeed. Or, if they have already had the Amway Experience, that it was their old upline, or that they belonged to the "Old Amway", that things are different now. What they experienced doesn't apply to you or your upline or even to the "New Improved Amway".
3. You will be told that you must associate with "winners" to succeed. ( This will translate to mean not associating with family and friends who aren't in the ORGANIZATION.)
4. You will be told that your children can walk the beaches with you when you succeed, but for now, you will need a lengthy list of sitters so you can have no excuse to miss a meeting, open, function, seminar, rally, product pick-up, etc...(Let someone else kiss the boo-boos and wipe their noses.)
5. You will be told not to subject yourself to "negative influences", such as newspapers, television, radio, or people who aren't in Amway, unless they're prospects. There are also "negative" products to avoid. This makes you more open to the "positive" ideas of the organization and your upline. ( I think this is a standard rule in most cults.)
6. You will be told that it's normal for couples to have "Amriffs". If your spouse is starting to act negative toward the business, set them straight, or ignore them.
7. You will be told that the more you suffer, the bigger your business will be. The tapes say so over and over and over again, and you will be reminded of this at every function, meeting, rally and seminar, over Amvox, etc.. ( Prepare yourself, you will definately suffer, one way or another! )
8. You will be told that the farther you drive to a meeting, the more successful you will be. The tapes will emphasize this over and over again. So what if you drive two hours one way to a house plan on a worknight, just to find out there are no prospects? You'll just do a nuts and bolts instead. Your business is going to be huge, just because you showed up! (Forget about the time away from your children and loss of sleep, because you are a winner, a leader, and an inspiration to all those downline beneath you! )
9. You will be told that no matter how much money and time you have invested into books, tapes, opens, rallies, seminars, functions, opens and products, you cannot quit now because you haven't been in long enough to profit from it! No matter how long you have been at it!
11. You will be told that doing the business only takes 10 - 15 hours per week. (Figure in showing the plan 3 -5 times per week, and add in driving time, product pick-up, time on the phone to track down orders, calling in orders, prospecting, and add in an open, seminar and rally that are all done from Friday through Saturday about once a month, or more. Plus, you still have to make time for that J.O.B. , and maybe schedule in your children every so often.)
12. You will be told that unless you are on standing order, your business will not be taken seriously, therefore, not warrant your upline's help.
13. You will be told to keep secrets about upline from your downline. (Such as their real financial situations. Leaders can't have followers knowing any negatives about them. Who follows someone who is worse off than themselves?)
14. You will be told to attend all functions, no matter what else is going on in your life. Nothing matters more than a function!
15. You will be told to never question anything your upline tells you. Even if the Amway literature says something different! (Still convinced this is a normal business?)
16. You will be told again to never question anything your upline tells you, even if your common sense tells you what they're saying just can't possibly be right. The tapes will reaffirm this. They would have never succeeded if they hadn't followed upline and done exactly as they said. (Follow the leader, even if you're not sure what they're leading you into.)
17. You will be told not to get detailitis. This questioning of authority could ruin your business! Even if you suspect you could be following upline that aren't exactly running their business within the confines of the law! ( Hush now, the FTC says we're not a pyramid! We have a TEN CUSTOMER A MONTH RULE!) (The rule has changed as of 1/97. Now you're SUPPOSED to have at least 10 separate retail customers or, 50 p.v. in retail sales to any number of customers.)
18. You will be told to follow people who are where you want to be. (That's great if your following successful people who are telling the truth about how they got to where they are. And telling the truth about just HOW successful they are!)
23. You will be told that if you don't do the business, you are risking your family's future. ( Don't you love your family and want the best for them?)
25. You will be told by many couples in the business that the business "saved" their marriages.
26. You will be told, if a woman, to blindly follow your husband, no matter what he does, so long as it benefits the business. Even if you believe it to be harmful to the family as a whole. (Does this fall into the "Saving the marraige" catagory?)
27. You will be told, if a man, to keep your wife in tow. Don't let her wear the pants in the family! If she doesn't like what the business is doing to the family, ignore her! Do what you want anyway, she'll come around eventually! The tapes speak of these Amriffs often, and they are considered completely normal! If you make it to Diamond, you should have had many of these along the way!
28. You will be told, if a woman, to smile at your husband and appear to be hanging on every word at his presentation of THE PLAN, and to act like you are hearing it for the first time, every time.
(And remember, keep smiling, even if it hurts, keep smiling!)
29. You will be told men, wear a suit. Preferably one from the catalog. (That way, all of the men will eventually own the same suits and eventually all look exactly alike, down to their socks.)
30. You will be told, if a woman, to wear a dress. Again, preferably out of the catalog. (The business realizes how much women love to be wearing the same dress as ten other women in the same room! )
The list goes on and on...
Break the chains that bind you,
unless, of course, you're into that sort of thing.