Reflections on the pyramid
I remember lying in bed when I was 19 and wondering why Bill Gates continues to work. If he’s one of the richest men in the world, why does he keep working? He could have retired in luxury 10 times over at this point.
If all your worldly needs are met and then some (and then some more and more on top of the more and…) why do you need even more? Is Bill Gates as trapped as we are? I mean we’d all understand if he retired because he’s filthy fucking rich and doesn’t even have to move on his own volition if he doesn’t want to. However, perhaps we’d all quit working as well because it sucks and working for other people in jobs we don’t really care about sucks. And maybe Bill Gates keeps working (maintaining the illusion of working) because otherwise we would lose motivation. If he keeps going to work in any capacity, there must be some magical “this shit is actually my passion and I love it more than life” moment that kicks in that his continued employment makes us believe in.
The unicorn at the end of the rainbow I suppose.
Without getting into the whole capitalism is a plague on the earth and civilization is the hell vessel that encapsulates this hungry ghost of a philosophy, that brings me to the very real necessity of making money to fucking exist. Unlike Bill Gates, most people don’t have the choice to work or retire. They pretty much have to continue working regardless of their desire or passion or age or ability… So we all have to find ways to make money to eat and live with a roof over our heads and shower occasionally and get from point A to point B… We look at getting trained in skills that can help us make ends meet so we don’t have to struggle as much and can enjoy being alive.
And then sometimes someone comes along and says “if I told you, you could make six figures without even getting out of bed…” and you get the MLM pitch that inevitably comes. And you roll your eyes and think “why does anyone buy into these crazy pyramid schemes anyway?”
Now I ask, are they not all pyramid schemes? Your 9-5 job, your undervalued skills service work? Your sales job? It’s all a fucking pyramid friend. All of it. Maybe applying for a job sounds 100% less culty and gross than people trying to get you to join their MLM, but it’s the same damn thing really.
Bill Gates and everyone like him are just the presidential diamonds of their business, industry, whatever. They’re really just multi level marketing gurus who don’t have the bad PR of all other MLM companies.
“There’s no buy-in cost with purchasing products. A pyramid scheme makes you pay money to join to buy their products! What a scam!”
Ok I hear you and I raise you “required job certifications” that you have to pay for before you get hired. Like a food handlers card, CPR/First Aid, drivers license or special licenses, fingerprinting, drug test, a Bachelors Degree… Yeah hi you’re paying for membership into the elite pyramid scheme called the global capitalist society. If you think a pyramid scheme is bad, you have not done the necessary reflection.
(I had to pay $200 to work at one of my current jobs like… I might as well pay the $35 membership fee to a MLM and I’d get paid the fucking same tbh.)
What’s the going rate of a “required BA with 1-2 years experience” anyway? Best sources say anywhere from $9,600 to $49,000 a year. Most degrees are four years, that’s a net price of $38k – $196k. That’s your buy in cost for the job market. Bet that $35 doesn’t sound so fucking steep in comparison.
And maybe you’re thinking “well yeah sure I have certifications to work in my industry of choice but I don’t have to pay a membership fee to shop at Walmart…” (I won’t mention Costco… 😉). It’s true. Most stores only require that you have money. Most stores only require that you walk into their store and buy the thing. Some stores offer you a discount for being a member but most don’t care. All stores, however, mark up their products for a profit. That’s like selling you a membership fee with every product. If you worked for the store you’d get a discount, sure, because you’re building the brand.
Pyramid scheme.
“Ok you mention all these certifications but I got scholarships and my job didn’t make me pay for drug tests and stuff…”
I feel you. I have also had scholarships and jobs that pay for the ridiculous qualifications that they require. Still, to participate in the greater pyramid of capitalism, you must have money. And to get money, you must work. To work, you must have skills you paid for (or the fees were “waived”). That is essentially a membership fee to capitalism. Enjoy the spoils of capitalism by paying your membership fee of training for a capitalist job and then you can get products with your money. Not everyone has to pay the fees but the fees are still paid. There is still a structure that’s created and followed and has required fees and levels that no matter what must be accounted for.
I used to say that “if it’s not free, it’s not for me” until I realized there’s no such thing as free. Everything has a value and the value is accounted for every step of the way. If you get something for free, someone paid along the way. At the least your scholarship or free thing cost people time and energy which is a commodity but often it costs the environment, other people, or has another economic value.
Finally, we look at this from a point of view tied to where we live. When you start to factor in taxes on imports and business sales taxes and so on, you start to see a bigger picture of some collaborative and some competitive pyramids operating in one big system. Every business is a pyramid and the bigger the business the bigger the incentives and bonuses and the higher the pay scale is as you move up.
I’m not saying that a MLM is worth it. Pyramid schemes are schemes! They’re ridiculous and when you break down the profit margins for your hard work, it’s really not worth it. If I could find 50 people to passionately sell a product for me personally, I might as well be selling my own product! And I will make many times the amount of money i would make selling a multi level marketing company’s products!
The greater point is that pretending the problem is with MLM companies and not the entire paradigm itself is misguided. $200k average buy-in to an industry (the average cost of a 4-year college degree) is fucked up and it’s a scam– ESPECIALLY when the job options are limited or nonexistent and the pay is subpar. I get that you want qualified people who have proven themselves ready and willing to do what it takes to succeed and that’s what a degree represents. However, asking for employees to prove themselves and to work on meeting certain goals that always have catches and building a business model that incentivizes competition by making raises dependent on commitment to the company vision, increasing pay based on that and giving discounts and other bonuses based off of employment is all MLM.
You’re just sounding like someone taking out a Facebook ad asking for “committed team members looking to build their futures.” And at the end of the day, none of it is really better or worse- it’s all the fucking same.
Do what makes you happy and what you feel like you hate the least so you can do more or what you love. Honestly. Feel like a fool. Sell the things, go to school. Do whatever- just know it’s all the same at the end of the day. We’re all building pyramids. It’s all capitalistic and that’s the problem. Not a multi level marketing ploy. Not a 9-5– the whole damn system is wrong. 😜
sarahmascarah 
Posted on April 26, 2017
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