phil, thank you for your regard ...

unfortunately, I do not have any solid defense to support MLM in the subject for the people at the bottom of the pyramid, ... although I suggest on my site that the people who are top of the pyramid should come down at some point to be at the bottom of the pyramid so that the circulation would never end ... some MLM companies do not seem supporting people to have duplicate accounts, though. I am sorry for not standing fully to support for the whole system of the MLM but what I see now is what MLM/network marketing can do rather than what they can not do. if we only see one business then it absolutely sees the end at the bottom of the pyramid. but we have so many products and services to be involved, and I also believe the system of typical MLM will be adjusted and improved better as time passes, ... some part of MLM system has already been being adjusted by FTC which is good so that MLM is reaching the status of real business:) humans are very intelligent and not all humans are greedy who only see their only sakes. one company I know of has been trying to rewrite the rule of MLM, what they have done so far is not a significant change but they just got rid of the part to join, no fee to enroll. another one I know of only allow a certain numbers of people/commission to share, which does not go endlessly to the bottom. at some point the distributors will become the franchisees and receive some percentage of the company's profit instead of commissions, besides their sales. and many of those MLM companies are into environment and health concerns and even to donate some their profits for helping others. through this way of business, we might not be able to make everyone wealthy but I see much better flourishment than ever. and I believe when many of us become wealthy enough then more people begin to make donations and to consider to share instead of to hold onto the financial secure and just consuming. many people will consider better food instead of junk because the quality of life and standard will change, and that will broaden our minds to see the world with care ...,

... I could rewrite my whole website here so I need to stop now :-)

I just want to add that money has been seen as material but money is indeed spiritual, if you care :-) ... how we see money might be really the reflection / projection of who / how we are.

I am sorry for not responding for your request.
... MLM is not a new business, it's been there for quite a while and still exist, means, many people still see the great potential and carefully examining in order for the business to last long. hope people can see what "can" instead of "can not" ... and we should trust the intelligence in our brains and our hearts to improve our systems into share, to serve, and to nurture us all.

( thank you so much for giving me the space to speak ... I tried to make it short but still long ... apologize. )

Great Post!

I will watch the video when I have a few extra minutes but I wanted to shoot this off before I run out for lunch.

Using MLM in a developing nation is an angle I hadn't looked at before. For people with no money to begin with, I would think, there is very little difference between percieved and recieved value. For some, just the hope of making money is enough, and alternative currencies are certainly acceptable here too, if we mean alternative currency as in incentives, ie. free product. The things I take issue with, are when the trust and intelligence of your "salesforce" are taken advantage of. In America, we learn at a very young age about a type of MLM when we work our asses off to sell gift wrap for a cheap CD player that breaks after a week. For me, at least, thats where my ideas of percieved vs. recieved value stem from. The reason I brought it up here, is because an earlier post suggested that what your salesforce recieves has value. This immediatly conjures up images of buying e-books on E-bay that outline elaborate pyramid schemes. Thats the assumption I based my critiques off of.

I don't like to use terms like "the greater good", but it seems like that can be your goal, and you can still make money, especially with ideas like yours. Terms like "buyer beware" work because it's generally one consumer warning another. Terms like that don't work the same way when it's a company telling me to beware of their product.

After re-reading, I probably came off like I despise all forms of MLM, when what I really can't stand is people preying on those without the the foresight to figure out what they are getting themselves into. You don't get to a position where you can make some money without going through the school of Hard Knocks, I understand that, but I feel very strongly that some of the people masquerading as "legitimate business men" are nothing more than scam artists, or at the very least, need a class in business ethics.