Pseudo-scientific mystification. The instigators of pernicious cults seek to overwhelm their adherents emotionally and intellectually by pretending that progressive initiation into their own superior or superhuman knowledge (coupled with total belief in its authenticity and unconditional deference to the authority of its higher initiates) will defeat a negative or adversarial force of impurity and absolute evil, and lead to future, exclusive redemption in some form of secure Utopian existence. By making total belief a prerequisite of redemption, adherents are drawn into a closed-logic trap (i.e. failure to achieve redemption is solely the fault of the individual who didn’t believe totally). Cultic pseudo-science is always essentially the same hypnotic hocus-pocus, but it can be peddled in an infinite variety of forms and combinations (‘spiritual’, ‘medical’, ‘philosophical’, ‘cosmological,’‘extraterrestrial’, ‘political’, ‘racial’, ‘mathematical’, ‘economic’, ‘New-Age’, 'magical', etc.), often with impressive, made-up, technical-sounding names. It is tailored to fit the spirit of the times and to attract a broad range of persons, but especially those open to an exclusive offer of salvation (i.e. the: sick, dissatisfied, bereaved, vanquished, disillusioned, oppressed, lonely, insecure, aimless, etc.). However, at a moment of vulnerability, anyone (no matter what their: age, sex, nationality, state of mental/ physical health, level of education, etc.) can need to believe in a non-rational, cultic pseudo-science. Typically, obedient adherents are granted ego-inflating names, and/or ranks, and/or titles, whilst non-initiates are referred to using derogatory, dehumanizing terms. Although initiation can at first appear to be reasonable and benefits achievable, cultic pseudo-science gradually becomes evermore costly and mystifying. Ultimately, it is completely incomprehensible and its claimed benefits are never quantifiable. The self-righteous euphoria and relentless enthusiasm of cult proselytizers can be highly infectious and deeply misleading. They are invariably convinced that their own salvation also depends on saving others.
Structural mystification. The instigators of pernicious cults can continue to organize the creation, and/or dissolution, and/or subversion, of further (apparently independent) corporate structures pursuing lawful, and/or unlawful, activities in order to prevent, and/or divert, investigation and isolate themselves from liability. In this way, some cults survive all low-level challenges and spread like cancers enslaving the minds, and destroying the lives, of countless individuals in the process. At the same time, their leaders acquire absolute control over capital sums which place them alongside the most notorious racketeers in history. They operate behind ever-expanding, and changing, fronts of ‘privately-controlled, limited-liability, commercial companies,’ and/or ‘non-profit-making associations,’ etc. Other than ‘religious /philosophical’ and ‘political’ movements and ‘secret societies,’ typical reality-inverting disguises for cultic crime are:
‘charity/ philanthropy’; ‘fund-raising’; ‘lobbying’ on topical issues (‘freedom’, ‘ethics’, ‘environment’, ‘human rights’, ‘women’s rights’, ‘child protection’, ‘law enforcement’, ‘social justice’, etc.); ‘publishing and media’; ‘education’; ‘academia’; ‘celebrity’; ‘patriotism’; ‘information technology’; ‘public relations’; ‘advertising’; ‘medicine’; ‘alternative medicine’; ‘nutrition’; ‘rehabilitation’; ‘manufacturing’; ‘retailing’; ‘direct selling/ marketing’; ‘multi-level marketing’; ‘network marketing’; ‘regulation’; ‘personal development’; ‘self-betterment’; ‘positive thinking’; ‘self-motivation’; ‘leadership training’; ‘life coaching’; ‘research and development’; ‘investment’; ‘real estate’; ‘sponsorship’; ‘bereavement/trauma counselling’; ‘addiction counselling’; ‘legal counselling’; ‘cult exit-counselling’; ‘financial consulting’; ‘management consulting’; ‘clubs’; etc.
(From 'The Universal Identifying Characteristics of a Cult,' David Brear, Axiom Books, copyright 2005)
(From 'The Universal Identifying Characteristics of a Cult,' David Brear, Axiom Books, copyright 2005)
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It is universally accepted that lying to, or withholding key-information from, people in order to take their money, is fraud which is a form of theft. Unfortunately, as numerous cult instigators have proved, the broad mass of people will more-easily fall for a big lie than a small one, and if you tell a big enough lie and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to accept it as the truth. Fortunately, you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time (with the possible exception of sociologists of religion, short-sighted US politicians and all the many lawyers at the US Securities and Exchange Commission).
The following Orwellian statement has been taken from propaganda produced by the bosses of the 'MLM/Prosperity Gospel' cult most-commonly referred to as 'NuSkin:'
'The success of Nuskin Enterprises which has allowed it to become a billion dollar company is due largely (to) their business model which allows any individual to have the opportunity to earn money by becoming distributors and resellers of their various top quality products. Today, Nuskin Enterprises is composed of a 750,000 distributors and the number is still growing. This growth in membership can be attributed to the fact that they offer highly sellable quality products...'
http://mlmsponsoringnow.com/MLM-Business/mlm-companies/nuskin/nuskin-review/
It is very interesting to note exactly how the opening of this essentially-meaningless statement has been worded. Notice, it doesn't specifically claim that a significant number of non-salaried commission sales agents of 'NuSkin' have earned an overall net-income lawfully from regularly retailing 'NuSkin' products to the public for a profit, because that would be a direct lie. On the contrary, it specifically says that 'NuSkin has become a billion dollar company by allowing any individual to have the opportunity to earn money by reselling NuSkin products.' The final two phrases are a further, mystifying, 'Amway'-style inversion of reality: 'Today, Nuskin Enterprises is composed of 750,000 distributors and the number is still growing. This growth in membership can be attributed to the fact that they offer highly sellable quality products...' It would be far more accurate to say that, today (April 2012) the growing number of constantly-churning, losing investors around the world under contract to 'NuSkin' (but who have been arbitrarily defined in their take-it-or-leave-it contract as 'distributors'), is 850 thousands, but one of the reasons why 'NuSkin' has not been closed-down, and its bosses slapped in prison as racketeers (for running a dissimulated Ponzi scheme without a significant or sustainable source of revenue other than its own participants), is the fact that key- information has been maliciously withheld from both the public and from the regulators, by the beneficiaries of the 'NuSkin' fraud and by their de facto agents.
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| 'NuSkin' instigators c. 1984 Steve Lund Sandie Tillotson Blake Roney |
In reality, since (the ironically-Orwellian year) of 1984, 'NuSkin' has been the label hung over the entrance to a typical, totalitarian labyrinth of corporate structures, which first appeared in the USA, then Canada (1990) and Hong Kong (1991) as a series of legally-registered, privately-controlled, limited-liability, commercial-companies comprising 'NuSkin International.' In 1992, 'NuSkin' reached settlements with 5 American States (Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan) over allegations of misleading marketing practises; admitting no wrongdoing, but paying the States' costs, refunding numerous losing participants and changing the wording of its literature. The Connecticut Attorney General sued 'Nu Skin,' charging the company with misleading its participants and running a pyramid scheme. Following a 1994, low-level civil investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission, 'NuSkin' was allowed to continue in the USA after paying $1 million and signing a effectively-toothless consent decree prohibiting it from making 'deceptive or unsubstantiated claims about its products.'
In 1996, 'NuSkin Enterprises' was launched on the New York' Stock Exchange and the criminogenic organization's clandestine activities were exported around the globe. In 1997, the 'NuSkin' mob paid a derisory $1.5 million to the FTC to settle ongoing allegations of 'making unsubstantiated claims about its products.' At the same time, the Attorney general of Pennsylvania sued 'NuSkin,' again alleging that the company operated a pyramid scheme through a subsidiary corporate structure, 'QIQ Connections.' The Attorney General's office discovered that that 'QIQ' participants had paid for the right to market something which did not exist. 'NuSkin's' attorneys halted the suit by disolving the subsidiary, obliging victims who had paid money to 'QIQ' to transfer to 'Big Planet' (a newly-created blind alley in the mystifying 'NuSkin' labyrinth) offering 'Internet technology.' Classically, the head of 'Big Planet' then dismissed the pyramid-scheme charge as 'a few distributors who, in their enthusiasm, have been overzealous in some of their marketing activities.'
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| Blake Roney Sandie Tillotson Steve Lund |
By the summer of 2010, 63 millions 'NuSkin shares' had been sold and these were illegally-trading at $27 a piece, making the counterfeit 'Direct Selling' company theoretically worth approximately $1.7 billions. At this time, 4.46 millions effectively-valueless 'NuSkin shares' owned by Blake Roney, Sandie Tillotson, Steve Lund and the 'Mormon Church' were unloaded for $114.3 millions.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700039356/446-million-shares-of-Nu-Skin-sold-
for-114-million.html
The growing market-value of these bedazzling pieces of paper has been latterly based on the demonstrably-absurd, but strangely-familiar, capitalist/Utopian fairytale that the constantly-expanding, and increasingly-profitable, NuSkin/MLM enterprise is perfectly lawful, that $1.74 billions of 'NuSkin' products were sold during 2011 and that this will steadily grow to $2.5 billions over the next two years.
http://www.gcimagazine.com/marketstrends/segments/skincare/138588224.html
However, some very important questions have evidently never been put to the corporate officers of 'NuSkin Enterprises Inc.,' by anyone from the mainstream media, the SEC or the FBI; principally:
Where has the bulk of your alleged 'direct selling company's' alleged 'income opportunity's' alleged 'lawful sales revenue' actually come from:
the regular retailing of goods, and/or services, directly to the general public by your alleged 'distributors' for a profit?
or
from an endless-chain of recruits' regular, losing-investments laundered as
'sales?'
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| Reed Elliot Slatkin |
The above was essentially the same revealing question that was only put to Bernie Madoff, and to Reed Slatkin, after decades of increasingly-grandiose lies and mystifying distortions had been swallowed as the truth:
Has your company's alleged 'constantly-expanding, and increasingly-profitable, investment scheme,' had any significant source of revenue other than its own alleged 'investors?'
In the end, it was discovered that the answer to the question was 'no,' and Madoff got 150 years prison for peddling his wealthy victims infinite shares of their own finite money and for going to extraordinary lengths to hide the truth, whilst Slatkin got just 14 years for doing the same, but (as far as I am aware) neither Madoff nor Slatkin was accused of cheating millions of people or of obstructing justice via the covert bribing of a leading US Presidential candidate with millions of stolen dollars.
In 2011, it was revealed that two Utah-registered corporate structures controlled by the bosses of 'NuSkin' had each given $1 million to 'Restore Our Future,' a so-called 'Super PAC' (instigated by former aides to Mitt Romney), to 'support Mr. Romney's bid for the White House.'
Perhaps there is someone of a sufficiently high moral, and intellectual, calibre within the leadership of the Democratic party, or within the mainstream media, who might have the gumption to put a variation of the above, blindingly-obvious question directly to Mr. Romney in the lead up to 2012 US Presidential election?
If the USA was a rational country ruled by law (which manifestly it has long-since ceased to be), it would be FBI agents putting the above question to Mr. Romney, but then the ultimately-laughable, non-rational, criminogenic phenomenon of 'MLM Prosperity Gospel' cultism would never have been allowed to become established in the first place.
David Brear (copyright 2012)
In 2011, it was revealed that two Utah-registered corporate structures controlled by the bosses of 'NuSkin' had each given $1 million to 'Restore Our Future,' a so-called 'Super PAC' (instigated by former aides to Mitt Romney), to 'support Mr. Romney's bid for the White House.'
Perhaps there is someone of a sufficiently high moral, and intellectual, calibre within the leadership of the Democratic party, or within the mainstream media, who might have the gumption to put a variation of the above, blindingly-obvious question directly to Mr. Romney in the lead up to 2012 US Presidential election?
If the USA was a rational country ruled by law (which manifestly it has long-since ceased to be), it would be FBI agents putting the above question to Mr. Romney, but then the ultimately-laughable, non-rational, criminogenic phenomenon of 'MLM Prosperity Gospel' cultism would never have been allowed to become established in the first place.
David Brear (copyright 2012)
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