On this thought-provoking Blog, Englishman, David Brear, guides us to the dark heart of a modern-day, totalitarian labyrinth and shines a piercing light on its manipulative rulers and manipulated inhabitants. First, he provides a spool of unbreakable thread so that we can all find our way safely home. Blog readers may contact David Brear via: axiombooks@wanadoo.fr
Anyone with real hands-on experience of any form of trading, and a modicum of common-sense, should immediatey be able to deduce that 'IM Academy' must be a fraud. So what makes me say that with such certainty? Because, successful persons with the knowledge to make money from any legitimate form of trading, obviously have no reason to flaunt their wealth and peddle their valuable expertise to others.
Thus, there is no doubt that 'IM Academy' has been yet another corporate-front for a classic 'Amway' copy-cat blame-the-victim 'Multi-Level Marketing' cultic racket.
The instigator and boss of 'IM Academy,' Christopher Terry, is a psychologically-dominant performer, but completely-unoriginal conman reciting the familiar 'MLM' script. He apparently learnt how to instigate his very own 'MLM' cultic racket whilst he was previously involved with 'Amway.' Thus,Terry has been pretending to have access to a secret knowledge that enabled him to transform from an ordinary poor little human into a fabulously wealthy, happy and free superhuman - all from from successfully-trading in various markets (Forex, Crypto-Currency, etc.). He has been further pretending to be prepared to share this secret, life-transforming, knowledge with anyone - for a price (part of the price being the surrender of your critical and evaluative faculties). If all this BS sounds vaguely-familiar, then just consider what Bernie Madoff got away with pretending, and right under the noses of: regulators, law enforcement agents, economists, financial journalists, etc..
Alice Kantor
A young (evidently well-intentioned) Bloomberg journalist, Alice Kantor, has recently been interviewing survivor/victims of Terry's adaptation of the Big 'Multi-Level Marketing is legal' Lie. They included Ivy League university students, whom many people would automatically-assume to be far too intelligent to fall for a conman peddling a comic-book narrative that is far too good to be true. In reality, well-educated persons who are completely convinced that they could never be conned, are often the easiest persons to con and to keep conned. Unfortunately, Alice Kantor specialises in personal finance stories and, evidently, she has no hands-on experience of actual trading, or of investigating organized crime or long cons run by the bosses of pernicious cults. Hopefully, she has a modicum of common-sense and the capacity to admit to making a mistake? However, even though Alice Kantor also approached various widely-recognized independent authorities on the 'MLM' cult phenomenon (including Robert FitzPatrick), her Bloomberg article/video (whilst seeming to be a well-informed warning that 'IM Academy' is a front for a pyramid scheme targeting students), casually repeats the Federal Trade Commission's nonsensical version of the Big 'MLM is Legal' Lie.
Indeed, in her article/video, Alice Kantor actually made unqualified reference to both 'Amway' and 'Herbalife,' as examples of 'legal MLMs.'Thus, I am forced to conclude that she must have also approached the FTC, and/or its employee, the self-appointed 'MLM expert,' Bill Keep.
Like many others before her, what Alice Kantor has understandably failed to realize, is that the Big 'MLM is legal' Lie is potentially one of greatest scandals in recent history, in that, starting with the Republican administration of Gerald Ford, successive US governments (via the FTC) have been broadcasting the Big 'MLM is legal' Lie, as though it is the truth. Thus, successive US governments have enabled a vast and destructive blame-the-victim fraud not only to be extensively-duplicated and inflicted on many millions of vulnerable American citizens, but also to be exported all around the world. Indeed, I am a British collateral victim of this ongoing chronic, and catastrophic, failure of American law enforcement. This is the dark truth that Bill Keep and his federal government paymasters do not want to escape into the light of day, and possibly transform into a major international scandal.
Alice Kantor has so far been yet another casual observer of part of the criminogenic 'MLM' phenomenon, but who has never seen, or even thought to look for, quantifiable evidence proving that any contractor of any so-called 'MLM'company has ever generated an overall net-income lawfully (after the deduction of all allied start up, and operational, expenses) by regularly retailing products/services to members of the general public (i.e. persons who are not fellow'MLM' contractors) based on value and demand. In other words, Alice Kantor is yet another in an ever-lengthening line of journalists who have all reported the pernicious comic-book 'MLM' fiction as though it is fact. Yet the sinsister reality behind the bedazzling 'MLM' façade was clearly explained to Alice Kantor.
i.e. That due to all the built-in anti-commercial factors, the hidden overall net-loss/churn rate for 'MLM' participation has always been effectively 100%, by design. In reality, 'MLM'has been the made-up technical-sounding label for a fake business - a self-perpetuating cultic racket based on luring vulnerable persons into believing in a crack-pot economic/commercial pseudo-science. The so called 'MLM business model' has been maliciously-designed to produce universal financial losses for its never-ending chains of ill-informed de facto-slave proselytizers. Indeed, the longer anyone persists in trying to succeed in an 'MLM' cultic racket: the more time and money he/she will waste. Thus, anyone claiming or implying that it is possible to make money from the operation of a so-called 'legal MLM business,' let alone gain life-transforming wealth, cannot be telling the truth and will not produce any quantifiable evidence to verify their vague anecdotal statements.
In truth, any journalist reporting on the activies of an 'MLM' front-company, but who doesn't clearly understand the above, is merely demonstrating his/her pitifully low-level of understanding the wider'MLM' cult phenomenon,
What does it tell us about the Big 'MLM is legal' Lie?'
For years, there have been inflexible 'Multi-Level Marketing' propagandists active on the Net - some of them posing as independent fair-minded observers. These people have all recited the Big 'MLM is legal' Lie. Tellingly, none of them has ever tried to refute my published analysis - that decades of evidence proves, beyond all reasonable doubt, that what has been falsely-described as the 'MLM Direct Selling Industry,' is an (as yet) officially-unrecognised criminogenic phenomenon of historic significance. Conversely, no quantifiable evidence exists (in the form of income-tax payment receipts) proving that any contractor of any so-called 'MLM'company has ever generated an overall net-income lawfully (after the deduction of all allied start up, and operational, expenses) by regularly retailing products/services to members of the general public (i.e. persons who are not fellow'MLM' contractors) based on value and demand. Due to all the bulit-in anti-commercial factors, the hidden overall net-loss/churn rate for 'MLM' participation has always been effectively 100% by design. To put it bluntly, this is a fake business based on a crack-pot economic pseudo-science which is guaranteed to produce universal failure. Indeed, the longer anyone persists in trying to succeed, the more time and money they will waste. Thus, anyone claiming or implying that it is possible to make money from the operation of a so-called 'MLM business,' let alone gain life-changing amounts of money, cannot be telling the truth and will not produce any quantifiable evidence to verify their vague anecdotal statements. On odd occasions, 'MLM' propagandists have attempted to trivialize and misrepresent my work, but all of them run a mile when asked the most-basic questions. Meanwhile, it's painfully obvious what has really been happening.
More and more courageous survivors of the Big 'MLM is legal' Lie have been coming forward to tell the truth that they were lured into a trap at times of vulnerability, and not only robbed, but also tricked into wasting their time and money as de facto slaves, acting the role of bait to lure others into the same trap. These survivors are further explaining how they were subjected (without their fully-informed consent) to coordinated devious techniques of persuasion and, thus, made to feel that they were entirely responsible for their 'MLM'-related losses. The increase in the number of witnesses who have the correct words to describe what was inflicted on them, is because the full history, and accurate explanation, of 'Amway'copy-cat 'MLM' cultic racketeering has become widely-available in recent years. Thus, the current generation of reality-denying US Federal Trade Commission officials, and their flock of blinkered academic advisers, cannot completely ignore what has become known as the 'anti-MLM' movement, or the accelerating melt-down of the 'MLM' racketeers' monopoly of information. However, they still cannot openly-accept the embarrassing truth and take the matter to the FBI. This is because politically-appointed senior FTC officials made a serious mistake when, back in the 1970s, they broke with established legal precedent, and chose not to nail the bosses of 'Amway'for running what was obviously an endless-chain pyramid scheme, albeit disguised behind effectively-unsaleable products.
In reality, far from finding that 'MLM is legal,'under the adminstration of president Gerald Ford (a Republican politican whose main financial backers just happened to be the bosses of 'Amway'), the amoral chiefs of an important agency of the US government simply buried their heads in the sand and, thus, effectively-authorized fraud. The resulting, politically-motivated, eyes-wide-shut American regulatory policy, allowed'MLM' racketeering to be extensively-cloned and exported all around the world. We have long-since reached the point where truth has become almost unthinkable.
Subsequent generations of politically-appointed senior FTC officials have consistently refused to admit to their their predecessors' catastrophic failure. This is partly because a significant number of senior FTC officials have been in receipt of piles of stolen money offered to them by the 'MLM' racketeers whose profitable criminal enterprise they refused to identify. Certain FTC officials' corrupt role in these matters should also be identified as criminal, because, even though they pretend ignorance, they must know damn-well what they have done. They also know of the extensive damage that their mistake has caused, and still causes, but they continue to obstruct a full criminal investigation, to protect their own interests. The damage caused by the Big'MLM' Lie obviously hasn't only been confined to those lured into believing it, because it has also destroyed the lives and happiness of friends and relatives of its chronic victims. Indeed, I'm a firsthand witness to this, being a collateral victim of an 'MLM' cultic racket.
In reality, the FTC has itself been broadcasting the Big 'MLM is legal' Lie, for decades. We had a word-perfect performance of this dangerous nonsense during the recent 'MLM' conference stage-managed by FTC employee, Bill Keep.
This shameful, ongoing American cover-up has remarkable parallels with what has happened in Britain with the Post Office scandal, albeit on a much smaller scale. More than 900 innocent Post Office contractors are known to have been wrongfully sacked, prosecuted, extorted, bankrupted and their lives and happiness destroyed, due to a faulty computer system which they were assured was 'robust,' and which they were obliged to use. More than 230 innocent people were sent to prison. Furthermore, 3500 other innocent sub-postmasters were coerced, by the threat of sacking (which also meant the loss of their initial investment) and criminal prosecution, into paying the Post Office significant sums of money (in some cases over £100 000) which they were falsely-accused of stealing. The effectively-valueless software - known as 'Horizon' and which cost UK tax-payers one billion £ - made it appear that all these thousands of honest people were liars and thieves. The true scale of the damage caused by the Big 'Horizon is robust' Lie, is incalculable, because, obviously, it wasn't just the innocent sub-postmasters whose lives and happiness were destroyed by it. Yet, no independent quantifiable evidence existed to prove that any money had been stolen.
The politically-appointed senior management of the UK Post Office, and of the government-backed Japanese commercial company, Fujitsu, that supplied the faulty software, knew the truth, but maliciously hid it to protect their own reputations and financial interests - causing a massive miscarriage of justice to occur and, in some cases, lives to be lost. Perhaps the most- damning evidence proving that the abuse was centrally-directed by the Post Office senior management, lies in the fact that the victims were all fed exactly the same scripted-lies - initially when they contacted the Post Office's 'help-line,' and subsequently, when they faced the Post Office's bullying investigators.They were told individually that the Horizon system was proven to be without fault, in that they alone were the only sub-postmaster in the UK with large sums of money missing. Just like in a totalitarian state, the all-powerful Post Office managers maintained an absolute monopoly of information over their powerless workers, whilst the ruling-regime's closed-logic controlling-narrative, could never be wrong. Thus, any sub-postmaster challenging the Big 'Horizon is robust' Lie, was sytematically branded as 'a liar and a thief.' According to their contracts, sub-postmasters were personally responsible for any losses and the Post Office had the right to prosecute them to recover losses. However, it was later ruled by the UK High Court, that since the Post Office had withheld key-information from, and lied to, the Sub-postmasters, their contracts were unenforceable and, therefore, none of them should have been prosecuted in the first place.
Perhaps the most damning-evidence proving that the abuse was also centrally-directed by the senior management of Fujitsu, lies in the fact that the company is now known to have employed a team of 12 specialists to gain constant remote access to thousands of the sub-postmasters' 'Horizon' accounts. This was a secret attempt to maintain Fujitsu's management's monopoly of information by identifying and correcting the many accounting mistakes, and thus, remove the evidence that the system was fatally-flawed. At the same time, Fujitsu propaganda kept telling the sub-postmasters that remote access to their Horizon accounts was completely impossible.
Adam Crozier
Paula Vennels
As it gradually became clear that something must be radically-wrong with 'Horizon,' because hundreds of sub-postmasters were being accused of theft, an all-party group of Members of Parliament was formed to investigate. The Post Office CEO, Adam Crozier, was replaced.
In 2012, a sinister game then began to be played when the new CEO of the Post Office, Paula Vennels (an ordained Minister in the Church of England), began pretending that she too was in search of the truth about Horizon. However, the ensuing independent investigation she organized, but which she and her colleagues tried to limit and stage manage, reveals that just like her predecessors, Paula Vennels was probably only interested in hiding the full-truth, and/or playing for time.
Eventually, when it looked like the Post Office's monopoly of information could no longer be maintained, Paula Vennels instigated an internal system of dispute resolution, supposedly to compensate the innocent sub-postmasters, but this turned out to be just another cruel charade.
Most of those criminally-responsible for creating, and maintaining, the Big 'Horizon is robust' Lie have finally been hauled before a public enquiry and grilled by lawyers acting for the surviving victims. Some of the most-arrogant guilty parties had to be forced to appear. All of a sudden, their memories of their own abusive criminal roles in these matters have become lost. They have kept reciting the classic phrase, 'I don't recall.' Various current, and previous, UK government Ministers are also implicated for failing to take appropriate action, until public opinion suddenly-shifted and they began to fear for their future electoral chances.
After several years with, little or no, well-informed media interest, Fujitsu and the Post Office's monopoly of information began its slow public melt-down. This was the result of an article by Rebecca Thompson published in 2009 by a specialist magazine, 'Computer Weekly.' That was followed a few years later, by an investigation conducted by journalists from the popular satirical magazine, 'Private Eye.'
In 2015, the BBC took an interest and from then on news reports of developments in the Post Office scandal continued to appear.
However, the award-winning television dramatization, 'Mr. Bates vs the Post Office' (broadcast as recently as January 2024), was the major factor that finally changed everything. This four part ITV series shone a light on the truth, revealing the courage and determination of ordinary decent British people, who refused to surrender in the face of an immoral, reality-inverting corporate regime that was Hell bent on destroying them. The quality of this programme and the strength of the public outcry it triggered, forced the sitting Conservative government to take swift appropriate action.
Alan Bates is a financially-savvy, dignified and tenacious former sub-postmaster who, when in 2000, he spotted substantial short-falls in his weekly 'Horizon'-generated accounts, went through all his Post Office transactions with a fine tooth-comb. Alan Bates immediately realized exactly what was going on. 'Horizon' was glitching and duplicating certain transactions making it appear that money had gone missing. He contacted the Post Office with his urgent concerns and, realizing the serious implications, refused to sign any Post Office document which would make him look responsible for 'Horizon's' obvious mistakes. At the same time, he did his best to confront the Post Office bosses with the reality that they had bought a fragile system which could not be trusted, but he met with an inpenetrable wall of organized lying and obstruction. Eventually, Alan Bates was arbitrarily sacked simply for continuing to report the truth, and refusing to be framed. The Post Office counter was removed from his shop, and his initial investment of £60 000 was lost. That didn't stop Alan Bates, because he gradually managed to gather together an alliance of other, equally-determined, and well-informed, innocent victims.
The 'Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance' eventually managed to take the Post Office to court and ultimately win against all the odds. The Post Office spent £100 millions on defence attorneys, and attempted to prolong the proceedings knowing that the sub-postmasters funds were limited. Essentially, the Post Office’s echelon of intellectual prostitutes were paid to deny reality and keep reciting the Big 'Horizon is robust' Lie. Although 550 sub-postmasters were vindicated and awarded £58 millions, £47 millions of this went on their own legal fees, leaving just £20 000 each. The initial triumph of the truth in the High Court, opened the flood gates, because the justice system itself then had to confront the shameful catalogue of cruel abuse it had presided over.
Prior to the broadcast of 'Mr. Bates vs The Post Office,' although they were fully-aware that a massive miscarriage of justice had happened, the government Ministers with responsibilty for these matters had claimedto be concerned, but they had done as little as possible to compensate fully the surviving victims and their families. Folowing the widespread public outrage sparked by the broadcast, the government suddenly changed its tune.
As the public enquiry advances, it looks increasingly likely that a number of current, and former, Post Office and Fujitsu employees are soon going to be charged (at the very least) with the crime of 'conspiracy to pervert the course of justice,' and they will probably be jailed themselves. That said, there seems to be a very strong case that, by the malicious withholding of key information and lying, senior Post Office managers, investigators and prosecutors engaged in a blatant conspiracy to commit extortion and fraud. In this way, they knowingly-destroyed the lives and happiness of thousands of innocent sub-postmasters and their families, as well as causing the deaths of several of the victims of their criminal conspiracy, whom they deliberately framed. Alan Bates says he is quite prepared to raise the cash via public appeal in order to launch private criminal prosecutions; that is, if the authorities fail to hold the guilty parties fully to account. The succession of impotent politicians who presided over this tragedy for more than 20 years, of course, will never be held fully to account.
In the meantime, UK tax payers will have to foot the bill for the Big 'Horizon is robust' Lie, although Fujitsu is ultimately responsible financially. The innocent survivors' criminal convictions are still in the process of being quashed. They are all still waiting for full compensation. Sadly, more than 30 victims have already died.
Sub-postmasters, are contractors who have bought a form of frachise from the UK Post Office to operate a local post office business. However, contrary to the vocabulary employed, these take-it-or-leave-it contracts have placed sub-postmasters in the position of dependent employees, rather than independent business owners. Indeed, the Post Office has retained the one-sided right to terminate these contracts, if it is ruled that any of the many terms set out in them, is not being respected by a sub-postmaster.
'Horizon' is the name of a computer software system which the UK Post Office originally purchased at a cost of one billion pounds sterling from the Japanese information technology company, 'Fujitsu.' At the time of 'Horizon's purchase, the government of Prime Minister, Tony Blair, held power in the UK and it was ultimately a government decision.
'Horizon' was supposed to have been acquired for the benefit of sub-postmasters, in order for them to accomplish electronically the laborious day-to-day tasks of running a sub-Post Office (accounting, stock-taking, etc.). These activities previously required hours of paperwork and calculations.
'Horizon' was installed by the Post Office in 1999. Serious problems immediately began to be reported to the Post Office's own 'helpline.' Postmasters were assured that their concerns were being addressed. However, Post Office management not only disregarded these concerns, they also began reciting the Big Lie that'Horizon is robust,' and they began blaming, and isolating, the sub-postmasters for the accounting mistakes that the faulty system kept producing.
In this way, the faulty Horizon system made it appear thatmoney was being stolen by hundreds of previously honest sub-postmasters, when in reality, this obviously could not be the case. It is interesting to note that 'Horizon' never seems to have made it appear that money was appearing: only that money was disappearing, a fact which seems suspicious to me. That said, the faults in Horizon are evidently only assumed to have been the result of genuine mistakes in the system's development, rather than any criminal activity.
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.
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 whatBill 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.
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.
For any Blog readers who might not know, there is a conference due to take place commencing this coming Thursday May 2nd. However, the academic organizers of this event, and some, but not all, of the presenters, have, so far, completely failed to identify accurately what it is that they are actually going to be discussing. Namely, a classic example of the 'totalitarian' information/mind control technique known as, the 'Big Lie.' 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, even when 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.
David Brear (copyright 2024)
'The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor, is the mind of the oppressed.'
Reports of mice losing lives or limbs in what are called “mouse trays” containing delicious food had increased to alarming levels. It became the subject of intense controversy, leading to a conference of concerned mice.
The mice have been told by other trusted mice that the trays offer a unique opportunity to obtain nutritious food – the daily challenge of all mice – without need of night-time searches or having to gnaw through packaging or shells and without the risk of cats, owls, foxes, and the discomforts of cold weather. The trays, they said, were a path to a long and healthy mouse life.
Escaping that drudgery and struggle is the dream of every mouse. They heard that the “smart” mice were taking advantage of the trays. Their plump size and beautiful teeth showing no signs of gnawing were proof of the trays’ benefits.
Regarding those that reportedly died or were injured, the mice are informed they are only the greedy mice who misuse the trays, grabbing the food carelessly. Others don’t take time to learn the tray “system.” They didn’t follow the simple rules. They mistreated the trays as get-food-quick.
Others were said to make little or no effort. Also, the mice are told, the reports of death and injury are not verified. They were reassured that any mouse that truly tries and follows the tray rules properly can succeed
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Big Lie, Say Critics; Call for Agenda Change
A small group of mice said they had done independent research. They called the whole story of mouse “trays” a Big Lie. They said it’s common sense that humans don’t offer free food to mice. They said it was pointless to speak about types of trays. All the trays were identical, just with different colors or shapes, and using varieties of foods.
The critics made the incredible charge that the trays were not food trays at all but carefully engineered traps intended to harm mice. They said the word “mouse tray” was part of the Lie. The correct term was “mouse trap.” The food is not for mouse nutrition. It is just bait! Those who say they are “trays” are either in denial or delusional or are just lying like rats.
They asked that the mouse conference agenda be changed to focus only on one question: Are the trays mouse trays or mouse traps?
The critics made one other incredible claim. They said that those plump and happy looking mice who promote the trays are actually getting their food, not on the trays, but served on human plates as a reward for getting other mice to use the deadly trays. They are selling out their own family and friends.
Mickey Mouse as Proof
Many mice find these claims impossible to believe. They personally know some mice who promote the trays. They are trusted friends, even cousins. They also believe the humans who set out the trays must be kind and generous because they love Mickey Mouse! They wear Mickey Mouse images on tee-shirts. They watch Mickey in movies.
Mickey Mouse is the ultimate role model of mice. He is wholesome, healthy, and happy. He and Minnie have a great marriage. They seem to have it all.
Most mice also believe that if the trays are intended to harm mice, human authorities would classify them illegal as “animal cruelty.” But there is no such declaration and the trays have been around for a long time, so the trays must be legitimate, they reason. One other thing leads the mice to trust the trays. There is real food on them, the types consumed by humans, dogs and even cats!
This all made the story of “traps” seem unimaginable. And, finally, it was pointed out that the vast majority of mice did not complain about the trays.
The exasperated critics cried out that the reason there was little complaint was that the mice who had never encountered a tray couldn’t know, and most of those who had encountered them were dead! Many others who know the truth are understandably silent because they want to be seen as “good” mice and not get criticized or shunned.
The critics asked that the conference take one of the traps apart. They said an examination clearly reveals a trigger right there where the food is placed that sets off a powerful spring connected to a bar that slams down on the mouse’s neck. It’s not a mouse’s fault if they get injured or killed. The traps are elegantly designed killing machines.
Conference planners rejected the requests. The agenda remained unchanged:
Studies of mice psychology: why some mice are attracted by the trays and others not.
Why the trays are especially attractive to female mice.
A report on new places the trays are being placed to attract more and more mice.
A study on whether the trays could be a partial food source, supplementing traditional foraging?
New types of foods being offered on the trays
Exaggerated claims about the quality of the food on the trays
Misleading claims that it is easy to locate the trays and get free food
The complexity of animal cruelty rules, and why the mice are not currently protected.
Critics Banned
Just before the conference was to begin, several of the critics were banned from participating. Organizers said they had gone too far! The final straw was when they published the extraordinary and dangerous claim that Mickey Mouse, the model of all good mice, was not real!
These radical critics claimed Mickey was invented, a fiction, a myth, and he was being used to fool mice into thinking humans cared about mouse welfare and happiness. Mickey Mouse was part of the Big Lie!
