In the tragi-comic era of Donald Trump, Alex Jones and 'QAnon,' the reality-inverting 'totalitarian' information/mind control technique known as, the 'Big Lie,' has suddenly attracted the attention of a new generation of critical commentators. That is to say, the spreading of a falsehood which is so colossal and outrageous that the average person cannot even begin to conceive that anyone would have the audacity to invent it. Yet, it has been known for a long time that, when even the most-crazy of 'Big Lies' gets repeated enough times, eventually many people will come to accept it as the truth. The actual truth then becomes a threat to the self-esteem of those who have fallen for the 'Big Lie,' and in this way, the actual truth itself can become mistaken for a lie. Consequently, the 'Big Lie' can be described as a form of sustainable criminal deception, because it can also prevent victims from facing reality and complaining.
Amway Japan ordered to halt transactions for six months over illegal soliciting | The Japan Times
Bearing the 'Big Lie' in mind, Japanese trade regulators have suddenly shut down 'Amway.' The issuing of all new recruitment contracts, and all transactions, have been banned for 6 months (to start with), but only on the limited grounds that 'Amway' has been behind 'illegal soliciting.' In simple terms, Japanese regulators have taken this action because they have received complaints from a significant number of people who realise that they were deceived into signing up for 'Amway.'
'Amway' was first registered in Japan as long ago as the late 1970s (some sources say 1977 whilst others say 1979) and the hidden criminal function of this reality-inverting corporate front has evidently not yet been officially recognised. That said, more than 20 years ago, I encountered a group of Japanese lawyers attending a conference on cults in Paris. They were very interested to speak with me about the cultic aspect of 'Amway,' but I never heard a word from them after the event. At that time, I was informed that around 1% of the entire Japanese population* were claimed as current contractors of 'Amway.' This was a significantly higher % than anywhere else in the world.
(*The entire population of Japan has been approximately 125 millions during the last several decades).
JAPANESE DISTRIBUTORS BOOST AMWAY – Chicago Tribune
Thus, in the mid-1990s, 'Amway' was claiming more than 1.2 millions Japanese 'Distributors.' This means that, even at an annual churn rate of only 50%, 'Amway' was eating and spitting out around 0.5% of the entire Japanese population annually. That is significantly more than 1% of the adult population and over 10% per decade. Indeed, the Japanese chapter of the Big 'Amway' Lie has been particularly colossal and outrageous. Imagine if there were more than a million McDonalds restaurant franchises in Japan, but these were all secretly operating at a net-loss and being quietly closed (and replaced) annually at a rate in excess of 50%. Imagine also if not one of the human links in a never-ending chain of would-be business owners had been told that the overall net-loss churn rate for participation was effectively 100% (by design). Yet this demonstrably-fake 'Business/income opportunity' is the 'Big Lie' that the 'Amway' bosses have been peddling, and getting away with peddling, in Japan for decades - and right under the noses of Japanese journalists, regulators, law enforcement agents, legislators, etc.
In the UK, with a population of around 68 millions (just over half that of Japan), 'Amway' has never had more than around 100 000 claimed contractors. Interestingly, in 2007 British 'Amway' recruitment was also suspended when the UK company faced limited civil investigation (and possible closure) as the front for a pyramid scheme. The investigation discovered that at least one million contracts had been issued in the UK 1973-2006. As a result of the suspension of all new recruitment, the number of claimed 'Amway' contractors quickly collapsed to under 20 000 in Britain at that time.
Subsequently, the 'Amway UK Ltd.' mysteriously survived the regulators' somewhat timid attempts to close it definitively.
It is to be hoped that the same mistakes will not be made in Japan.
David Brear (copyright 2022)
What questions should Japanese regulators ask?
ReplyDeleteReality could be established here if a well-informed criminal investigation gets launched in Japan. There is no doubt that the 'Amway' bosses have been allowed to recruit, and churn, an endless-chain - comprising millions of ill-informed Japanese citizens - through their cultic racket 1977-2022.
DeleteThus, if Japanese investigators/prosecutors actually understood how all 'MLM' rackets have functioned by peddling essentially the same Big Lie as the 'truth,' they would merely have to establish how many contracts in total have been signed with 'Amway' in Japan, and then prosecute the front company for fraud on the grounds that this key-data has been maliciously withheld from the public for decades, not only to commit mass-theft in Japan, but also to prevent victims from facing reality and complaining.
Japanese Investigators/prosecutors would also need to establish how the 'Amway' racketeers have operated a parallel fraud via apparently 'independent' corporate structures. This Mafia-like hermetic system has been used to prevent/divert investigation and insulate its bosses from liability.
If they knew what to look for, Japanese investigators would quickly discover that, over the years, millions of Japanese 'Amway' victims have been peddled effectively-valueless materials (publications, recordings, tickets to meetings, etc.) on the fraudulent pretext that 'these tools are part of a proven step-by-step plan to achieve total financial freedom in MLM.'
The total amount stolen by the 'Amway' racketeers from Japan, will be truly staggering. The amount of social and psychological damage that has been, and continues to be, caused by the MLM phenomenon on a global scale, remains far more difficult to evaluate.
https://www.globalcosmeticsnews.com/amway-ordered-to-suspend-trade-in-japan-over-illegal-soliciting/
DeleteTHE WHAT? Amway has been ordered to suspend recruitment of new members in Japan for six months for violating the country’s commercial transaction law which prohibits direct sales firms from soliciting shoppers to buy products or join without telling them about the nature of the business, according to a report published by the Japan Times.
THE DETAILS The MLM has prompted some 953 shoppers to seek help from Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency. The case that prompted the sales ban was the subject of a criminal investigation and a harassment charge.
THE WHY? The regulatory body charged the direct sales firm with targeting social media users and coercing them to buy cosmetics and sign up for membership without disclosing the name of the firm and its intent.
Ironically, this specific Japanese consumer protection legislation prohibits 'direct sales' companies from signing up members of the public without informing them what they are signing up for. However, so-called 'MLM' companies, like 'Amway,' have been getting away with fraud in Japan for decades, simply pretending 'to be direct sales companies offering a legal and viable income opportunity.'
DeleteWhat has always been required here, is the enforcement of criminal laws identifying and prohibiting fraud.
'Amway' has been present in Japan for 45 years and has been issuing more than half a million contracts annually to Japanese citizens for many of these years. There is no doubt that there have been at least 20 millions Japanese 'Amway' contracts issued in total. Effectively every single one of these contractors cannot have understood what they were signing up for, and will have wasted his/her time and money. A significant number will have had their lives wrecked. Suddenly, this endless recruitment-chain of losing 'Amway' adherents has been halted by Japanese regulators. They have apparently finally twigged that 'Amway' is an enormous American-based control fraud dependent on the withholding of key-information, but they still can't say this openly.
The top Amway lady earns $30 million a year in Japan
ReplyDeleteWhat is your source for this information, and if this is a true figure, where do you think all this money comes from exactly?
Delete