Admit it Kemist, if you hadn’t spun that wheel and been given the, “You are a highly sought after programmer” card you’d just be making minimum wage slinging fries. 🙂

Seriously though. I know a couple who program. They live in $200k Class A Motor Coach and travel North America’s beauty spots while working remotely.
Horrible slavery indeed!

I’m a programmer.

Companies throw everything at us to hire us, including on-the-job gymnasium / entertainment, free food and drink, ergonomic adjustable desks on which you can work standing or sitting, the possibility of working from home, or from every damn place in the world you might wish – I know some guys who have no home, they just go from country to country, stay a little bit and enjoy as they work.

When we have motivation team meeting, employers offer us a day of fun paintballing, or kart racing, instead of making us pay to hear somebody who is so motivated about motivation because since they lack any discernible skills, the only way they have found to get money is to be life coaches.

If that’s being a slave, then I’m a happy slave.

Sure John. Just tell the IAS reges that the dead bodies have gold fillings in all their teeth. They’ll get those bodies exhumed (in the middle of the night).

Yes Gus, that entire diatribe is ridiculous. One of my kids after HS searched for a 6 figure/year career and found it in the electrical generation industry. He inquired as to the training and experience needed to make 6 figures there. He was told where to get trained and apprenticed WITH pay, housing, food and full benefits for a few years. He did that and was immediately afterwards was hired (he was woo’ed by multiple companies) at 6 figures with full benefits, vacation, etc,. No lottery needed. Just a willingness to get paid while training for a high paying career that is needed in every 1st and 2nd world country on the planet.

Ain’t America great?

How surprising.

They make people believe that :

1) they’ll be rich

2) they’ll be “their own boss”

3) they’re business owners

None of these things are true. I’m more free with my time than these people. I’m not forced to attend ridiculous, boring, useful content-free, pep meetings for which I have to pay from my own pocket. If there are meetings or courses, they are paid by my employer, plus time taken to attend them and meals/staying/transportation if necessary. I can work from home whenever I desire. I have insurance which will pay my salary if I get sick. More importantly, I don’t have to constantly sell stuff to/recruit everybody I meet, I just have to do my job (which is rewarding and interesting and does not involve selling stuff or recruiting) for the time I’m paid to. They don’t tell me I’ll be rich, they give me a contract with numbers on it, contract which I am free to refuse if said numbers are not pleasing to me. No ifs, buts, maybes, once upon a time in unicornland somebody won a pink cadillac.

You don’t own anything in an MLM, except the merchandise you (sometimes are coerced to) buy. No, those business cards don’t make you a “business owner” – you own no assets in this so-called business, the rich parasites at the top do. You’re not “your own boss” either – at least not if, as they say it, want to be “successful” – they want you to think and act a certain way for that. They want you to change your life for that, which is way more invasive than any normal job. I’m sorry, the only impact I want my job to make in my life is an increase in the numbers in my bank account. I’ll take care of my health, personal philosophy and happiness on my own, thank you very much – increasing those numbers, AND not destroying my social network by constantly selling stuff and recruiting people, is of some help with that.

thanks Ed for the info.

I GUARANTEE that the average “slave” (term used by a herbalife fanatic) working for the evil corp HP makes MORE money that the average sucker (my term for a MLM contractor) working for Herb-a-lie.

Yeah, it’s the old, “Why don’t Hawaiians get cancer????!!!! They drink Noni Juice!!!!!!!!!! Buy Noni Juice from (fill in MLM here) and STOP CANCER IN ITS TRACKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Or, sharks don’t get cancer (actually they do, just a different kind because, well, sharks aren’t human) so buy powdered shark cartilage from (fill in MLM here) and STOP CANCER IN ITS TRACKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s bullshit. All bullshit. MLM is bullshit, Scientology is bullshit, and (fill in new age woo here) is bullshit.

Find good friends and enjoy life. Spend less than you make. Be happy. That’s not bullshit.

I’ve got it on my calendar! That’s one Friday night I’m staying home! I even bought popcorn (Pop Secret Extra Butter – yummy!) just for the occasion!

For one, I do believe Lisa is taller than He Who Shall Not Be Named. And regardless of her physical advantage, she’s just more badass than He is anyway!

All very interesting. But the fact is, face-to-face, smile-to-frown selling is extraordinarily inefficient. The MLM sales structure may have made a little bit of sense in the 1950s – when it was invented by DeVos and Van Andel of Amway (like LRH admin “tech” was) – but the vast, and I mean *vast* majority of MLMers don’t make dick money for themselves. It’s worse than minimum wage. Factor in the “Go Diamond” and “Leadership” weekends, and it actually *costs* money to be involved in MLM.

Contrast that with modern 21st Century companies such as, say, Costco. The average Costco employee makes something in the range of $18/hour, plus benefits (paid vacation and yes, HEALTHCARE! unlike any fucking MLM), and the Costco CEO calculates his pay at 30X that. I would damned well rather work for Costco than Amway or Herbalife. Or effing Wal*Mart. Any Goddamned Day.

Oh, and Amway, because of how toxic that name became, changed it to Nutrilite or whatever the hell it is now. Scientology should do the same. Scientology the name is even more toxic that Amway ever was. If Miscavige weren’t such an ignorant asshole, the Golden Age of Tech (barf) Phase III would be scrapping word Scientology altogether and coming up with something else. Like Amway did.

But the Pope of Scientology, Oracle of L. Ron Hubbard, He Who Must Not Be Named, Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center, Mr. David Miscavige (the superannuated 8th-Grader), is just too damned ig-nant to figger it out.

Keep on with Your bad self, Davey Boy. You’re too stupid to even see how stupid You are. I can tell You exactly what You are doing wrong, but You’re so goddamned full of Yourself that You will just keep fucking up. Very Well Done, Sir! Continue!

Now, I know that Mr. Rinder (and I use Mr. respectfully, as Mike is one of those guys who was in Int Mgt. who was damned smart) does insist that Miscavige isn’t stupid. And I defer to Mr. Rinder’s closer understanding of Miscavige than I have. Mr. Rinder’s understanding of Him came at quite a price, for which I do not envy Mr. Rinder one goddamned bit!

So I accept that Miscavige is not unintelligent, as Mike has stated before in response to me and others. But I knew that little Shit even before Mike did, and I have to say, He really is a stupid bastard. Intelligent, yes. Stupid? Yes, big time.

Wow, I just kinda rolled away with myself… sorry for the long rant.