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Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

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Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#91

Post by netizen-936824 »

EricMausler wrote: post #63
monkeybutton wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any kind of sales where you are buying leads or paying for the right sell someone else's product. If it was as good as they say, they'd be doing it themselves not pitching it to you.

That's simply not true, even though these types of sales do harbor a lot of scams. 1 person has limited time. They can be doing it themselves and still sell you the rights to do it too. It would be pure coincidence if the market demand fit exactly into 1 persons ability to supply it. I say 1, but this is not limited to 1 person. Selling information is a valid transaction. It requires much less time, and the price is…

Because people don't hire other people to handle sales? It has to be an MLM? Something smells off here

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#92

Post by ARandumGuy »

I think a lot of this stems from the complete removal of social safety nets, which means that employers can demand just about anything from potential employees.

Low wage jobs have shitty wages and conditions, because "at least you're not living on the street". Professional jobs (and the academic institutions that support them) can demand insane requirements for their candidates, because "at least you're not flipping burgers."

This leads to young people flocking to different degrees in a desperate attempt for some level of security. There pushed by the promise that if they bust their ass with a degree, maybe they'll get a decent job that allows them to eventually retire.

Ultimately, this isn't a college problem, or an "MLM" problem. Conditions won't improve unless people have the ability to say no to unreasonable demands.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#93

Post by moneywoes »

mandevil wrote: post #30

My wife is a pharmacist. Over the past two decades the number of pharmacy schools has increased and some schools have gotten bigger classes, such that now every year there are about 25% more Pharm.D's made than in 2005. The result has been a predictable decrease in pharmacist quality of life- the pay is basically the same number of dollars today that you would get in 2005 so inflation has made them poorer, the hours…

I hate to say it but it’s happening with software and companies like Deel that make outsourcing very easy

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#94

Post by moneywoes »

kelseyfrog wrote: post #90
mandevil wrote: post #30

My wife is a pharmacist. Over the past two decades the number of pharmacy schools has increased and some schools have gotten bigger classes, such that now every year there are about 25% more Pharm.D's made than in 2005. The result has been a predictable decrease in pharmacist quality of life- the pay is basically the same number of dollars today that you would get in 2005 so inflation has made them poorer, the hours…

Software is eating the world, sure, but consider a parallel: the typist. In 2000 there were 282,000 employed typists in the US[1]. Today it has fallen to 23,000. A 90% decline over 20 years. Why? Everyone knows how to type now. Typing is an assumed skill in other jobs. Twenty two years ago I took a typing class in middle school on clacky old Selectrics[2]. While typing classes aren't taught in school today, I cannot…

For a backend focused dev today what would you suggest to do to be future proof as they say?

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#95

Post by cuteboy19 »

jacquesc wrote: post #78
mbesto wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> See: Uber, Subway franchises, academia, Amazon truck drivers, or any of your classic MLMs These are weird comparisons. In some cases, the individual is the sales function, in some cases its the supply function, in other cases its a full blown SBU. I don't think you can bucket all of these into MLM, because, well, some of them have nothing to do with marketing (ya know, the M part of MLM).

Agreed. I don't know how one could classify any of those as "Multi Level" either. If it were MLM, your local neighborhood Subway would by trying to sell you a franchise (instead of a sandwich)

Yes, an uber driver does not typically go around recruiting other drivers. That's not how he makes money

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#96

Post by kelseyfrog »

moneywoes wrote: post #94
kelseyfrog wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software is eating the world, sure, but consider a parallel: the typist. In 2000 there were 282,000 employed typists in the US[1]. Today it has fallen to 23,000. A 90% decline over 20 years. Why? Everyone knows how to type now. Typing is an assumed skill in other jobs. Twenty two years ago I took a typing class in middle school on clacky old Selectrics[2]. While typing classes aren't taught in school today, I cannot…

For a backend focused dev today what would you suggest to do to be future proof as they say?

Consider poor advice for the would-be typist: learn to type faster, become familiar with different typewriters, increasing finger strength[1]. Whatever the coding equivalent is, avoid that. Furthermore, what advice would have gotten a typist into coding? Extrapolate that to coding today.

1. hilariously this result was found when searching "advice for typists" https://www.typinglounge.com/finger-exercises

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#97

Post by popcalc »

moneywoes wrote: post #94
kelseyfrog wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software is eating the world, sure, but consider a parallel: the typist. In 2000 there were 282,000 employed typists in the US[1]. Today it has fallen to 23,000. A 90% decline over 20 years. Why? Everyone knows how to type now. Typing is an assumed skill in other jobs. Twenty two years ago I took a typing class in middle school on clacky old Selectrics[2]. While typing classes aren't taught in school today, I cannot…

For a backend focused dev today what would you suggest to do to be future proof as they say?

Master an obscure, esoteric language that has a stronghold on legacy infrastructure.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#98

Post by seneca »

antisthenes wrote: post #53
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it was as good as they say, they'd be doing it themselves not pitching it to you Counterfactual: franchises.

Franchises offload the risk on the franchisee and collect their percentage fee regardless of the performance. There was a segment on John Oliver's program about Subway being particularly predatory about this, as well as deliberately maintaining information asymmetry to mislead franchisees. In which sense do you think franchises are counterfactual here?

John Oliver is a comedian. Referring to him as a source isn't something that gives merit to an argument.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#99

Post by antisthenes »

seneca wrote: post #98
antisthenes wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Franchises offload the risk on the franchisee and collect their percentage fee regardless of the performance. There was a segment on John Oliver's program about Subway being particularly predatory about this, as well as deliberately maintaining information asymmetry to mislead franchisees. In which sense do you think franchises are counterfactual here?

John Oliver is a comedian. Referring to him as a source isn't something that gives merit to an argument.

What gives merit to an argument is whether something has been researched and the accuracy of information behind it, not the occupation of the person presenting it.

If your research into the Subway franchise indicates otherwise, I'm all eager to hear the counterfactuals.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#100

Post by superb-owl »

mbesto wrote: post #65
superb-owl wrote: post #7

There's definitely a trend where large corporations/institutions push risk and liability down onto individuals, who have a hard time quantifying it properly. They make promises about "independence" and "entrepreneurship" and "building wealth", but they're really just taking advantage of an information asymmetry, tricking uninformed individuals into accepting a deal that is much worse than they think. See: Uber, Subwa…

> See: Uber, Subway franchises, academia, Amazon truck drivers, or any of your classic MLMs These are weird comparisons. In some cases, the individual is the sales function, in some cases its the supply function, in other cases its a full blown SBU. I don't think you can bucket all of these into MLM, because, well, some of them have nothing to do with marketing (ya know, the M part of MLM).

Agreed, calling these things "MLMs" doesn't make sense. But they prey on the same instincts, and I think should be called out for doing so.

Maybe we need a new term for these types of businesses. "Contract Predators" sounds about right. Maybe "Risk Pushers."

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