Analysis + an open letter to the survivors who spoke the truth at the recent 'MLM' conference.

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• A brief analysis of the recent 'Multi-Level Marketing' conference organized (or rather stage-managed) by Bill Keep and his FTC associates. 

• An open letter to the courageous survivors who spoke the truth at the recent 'MLM' conference.

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Bill Keep

2024 Session Schedule — Multilevel Marketing MLM Conference

Despite the familiar platitudes Bill Keep again trotted out in his brief closing-address, the 2024 'MLM' conference was actually two different events. 

We had various, courageous, mostly-women 'MLM' survivors turned anti-'MLM' activists; including Julie Anderson, Kalika Kanitkar and Brandie Hadfield, + activist, Marco Moukhaiber and ex-'Scientologist' turned psychologist, Chris Shelton. These presenters were speaking the truth by identifying (in accurate deconstructed terms) that 'MLM' has actually been the made up technical-sounding label for an unoriginal Utopian fiction constantly-repeated, and acted out, as fact, and written in a reality-controlling jargon (Doublespeak). Marco Moukhaiber concluded that 'MLM' adherence has been a form of slavery by deception, but where the slaves are not only working without payment, they are actually having to pay their masters for this dubious privilege. I first made the same, sobering observation more than 25 years ago, but I was far from being the first person to do so.

Julie Anderson and  Kalika Kanitkar openly identified 'MLM' as the cover for a highly-organized cultic fraud. They further explained that the FTC has covered-up this gruesome reality for decades. Julie named just a few of the key FTC officials who, over the years, have been easily co-opted by 'MLM' racketeers with what is obviously money that has been stolen from the very people whom these same (conveniently deaf, dumb and blind) officials failed to protect.

MLMs Continue to Recruit with Deceptive Earnings Claims - (truthinadvertising.org)

The survivors' presentations were supported by a mountain of research that has lately been compiled, and published, by 'Truth In Advertising.' This was presented by Bonnie Patten. Essentially, this unchallenged material confirms what has already been established by all previous independent investigations of so-called 'MLM income opportunities.' i.e. That any claim, or implication, that any extra (net) income, let alone life-changing sums of money, can be generated lawfully by the operation of a so-called 'MLM business,' is comic-book nonsense designed to deceive.

There were other representatives of American consumer protection/pro-democracy associations presenting at the conference, but they clearly had little idea of the true criminogenic cultic nature, or scale of the Big 'MLM' Lie.

Dariusz Lomowski

Perhaps the most-clueless, and pointless, presenter was a Polish 'competition/consumer protection regulator,' Dariusz Lomowski. In a whining mono-tone voice reminiscent of a machine, this guy made the feeble admission that no 'MLM' company has ever been prosecuted in Poland. To be perfectly honest, I got the distinct impression that Dariusz wouldn't recognise a fraud, if one fell on his head, and in this case, one has.

Thus, with a few exceptions, the obvious evidence-based truth about the Big 'MLM' Lie, was mostly-preceded at this conference by a flock of persons with diverse academic/legal qualifications, and who were apparently attending in their professional capacity. Despite their general pretence of intellectual authority, almost without exception, these people were still thoughtlessly-reciting the 'MLM' controlling-jargon. It was abundantly clear that, in essence, the lengthy-pronouncements of these people were based on their meek acceptance of the US Federal Trade Commission's long-held, ambiguous, public assumption that 'Multi-Level Marketing is a legal industry,' but an industry which has been allowed to cause significant harm to ill-informed consumers (lately mainly women) and which should be reformed even though this will be a protracted and very difficult process first requiring legislative reform.

Although originally invited, my friend and associate, Robert FitzPatrick, was arbitrarily excluded from presenting at this conference by Bill Keep. This was for merely suggesting that the survivors should be the first to speak and made the focus of the event. However, there is no way that I would ever be invited to present at one of these conferences, but then there is no way that I would ever allow myself to be publicly-associated with Bill Keep or the FTC. Indeed, Robert and I have long-since concluded that, contrary to how he presents these annual conferences, Bill Keep's prime objective has always been to protect the FTC (which has previously employed him as a consultant) from any accusation of complicity, blame or risk of facing legal accountability for the agency's chronic failure to recognize, let alone protect the public from, the Big 'MLM' Lie. Indeed, Bill Keep ultimately claimed that there is absolutely nothing that agents of FTC can do in the short-term to change the current situation and protect the public from (what he, and they, openly accept to be) the many abuses that continue to be present everywhere within _'the MLM industry.' That is, until a specific law addressing the problem is enacted by Congress.

In reality, the two things that FTC agents seem to have been more than capable of doing, have been sitting on their arses and drawing their salaries. Certain of their number have also been capable of accepting well-paid employment with 'MLM' front companies, and allowing themselves to be head-hunted by amoral law firms (paid with piles of stolen money) to hide the ugly truth and recite the bedazzling Big 'MLM' Lie.

Again, contrary to what Bill Keep imagined in his final comments, the only real out-come of this latest conference is that he has annoyed, and in some cases provoked into anger, the courageous 'MLM' survivors whom he allowed to participate in it, but whom he easily side-lined, because he ultimately controlled the focus and non-democratic format of the event. The survivors will probably all now realize their mistake in allowing themselves to be publicly associated with Bill Keep and the FTC. Evidently, they were only there to give the appearance that all perspectives were included.

The FTC flies the Stars and Stripes at its Washington HQ, but in truth, it should have raised a white flag of surrender back in the 1970s. The perfect indication of just how inflexible, sinister and farcical Bill Keep's FTC fence-sitting position has been, was the fact that my question (to the 'regulators' and academic conference presenters) was never acknowledged, let alone answered. I actually took the considerable trouble of sending it (individually by e-mail) to various academic conference presenters last week. Furthermore, I am reliably-informed that it was selected to be posed at the end of the conference, and therefore, Bill Keep must have read it, but he evidently ignored it.

Thus, I simply asked:

Have you personally ever examined, or indeed ever tried to find, any quantifiable evidence (e.g. income-tax payment receipts) proving that any non-salaried contractor of any so-called 'MLM' company has actually generated an overall commission-based net-income (after the deduction of all start up, and operational, expenses) from regularly-retailing products/services for a profit directly to members of the general public (i.e. persons who are not fellow 'MLM' contractors), based entirely on value and demand?

Laughably, no academic or 'regulator' anywhere in the world has ever seen hard evidence proving that what the FTC has insisted is 'the legal MLM industry' actually exists. When I have posed this most-basic question designed to shine a light on the dark reality lurking behind the bedazzling 'MLM' game of make-believe (and in the most specific of terms), to date, and for obvious reasons, no one to whom it was addressed has been prepared to tell the truth.

In conclusion, I have many further common-sense questions to put to Bill Keep and his FTC associates, but again, there is no way they will answer any of these publicly, directly and truthfully, unless they become forced to. Let's face it, although I'm clearly a free-agent, these people are far from being free-agents. They know that they have absolutely no obligation even to acknowledge publicly my existence. Indeed, I will be utterly amazed if any of them submits an identifiable-comment here in an attempt to refute one word of my analysis of their disgraceful behaviour.

David Brear (copyright 2024)

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Open letter to the courageous survivors who spoke the truth at the recent 'MLM' conference.

Friends

You have now seen first-hand how these so-called 'regulators,' and their 'advisers,' behave when confronted with the truth coming directly out of the mouths of increasing-numbers of 'MLM' survivors who, like all of you, have recovered enough to face reality in public.

At the recent 'MLM' conference, you were all constantly lectured like foolish children by Bill Keep and certain of his associates, that you 'must not expect change to happen quickly.'

Far from 'expecting change to happen quickly,' for many years I've known damn-well (and have predicted) that absolutely nothing is going to alter at the FTC, unless outside events force a radical change.

This Orwellian eyes-wide-shut FTC situation perfectly mirrors the situation that persisted for several years at the 'US Securities and Exchange Commission,' with regards to Bernie Madoff's Big 'Hedge Fund' Lie. That is, until Madoff became unable to maintain his absolute monopoly of information and he was forced to confess everything to his sons, who approached the FBI. Only then did law enforcement agents suddenly arrive on his doorstep with an arrest warrant. 

The SEC was worse than useless in the case of Madoff, because the agency's chronic failure to conduct the most-basic investigation of whether Madoff was actually making the trades he claimed to be making, face the reality that he wasn't and pass the matter to the FBI, actually made it appear to Madoff's victims that he couldn't possibly be a crook. Indeed, after he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 150 years in prison, senior SEC officials still refused to accept any blame. This was even though they were savaged, and publicly ridiculed, for their costly incompetence during Congressional Hearings. The FTC's costly incompetence in the case of the Big 'MLM' Lie, has been, and remains, remarkably similar, but the scale of the crime is far greater. 

Essentially, courageous people like yourselves are telling the world that you were lured into an insidious Long Con (maliciously designed to enslave, exploit, rob, blame and silence vulnerable individuals) with a bedazzling offer of acquiring your very own viable 'business' in a branch of the 'multi-billion dollar Multi-Level Marketing/ Direct Selling industry' - an industry that has been 'recognized and approved as legal by the Federal Trade Commission and by other government regulatory agencies, internationally.' 

The reaction of Bill Keep's little bleating flock of human sheep, when faced with your undeniable truth, has not only been denial, but also scripted-obfuscation and even ridicule. Considering what you have all survived, their behaviour is, at the same time, laughable, pathetic, cowardly, shameful and abusive. 

Instead of bleating and doing fuck all, these people should have all been beating loudly on the door of criminal law enforcement agencies like the FBI, as well as briefing investigative journalists and honest legislators. Today, they should be calling for victims to come forward and supporting the filing of criminal complaints, but all they do is continue to wring their hands and claim to be impotent, whilst performing their parental-act of moral and intellectual authority. Having said all that, there is no way that any of that is going to happen.

Fortunately, you are all strong enough to face the reality that US government 'regulatory' agencies like the FTC, have not been there to protect the public. On the contrary, their role has been to maintain the illusion that the American republic is an exemplary democracy ruled by law. Yet, in respect of the Big 'MLM' Lie, nothing could be further from the truth! Indeed in the USA, government of the people, by the people, for the people, has evidently perished to be replaced by government of 'MLM' racketeers, by 'MLM' racketeers, for 'MLM' racketeers

Having said all that, the obstructive behaviour of Bill Keep and his associates, should be seen as further motivation for you all to continue broadcasting the truth.

David Brear (copyright 2024).