Where is the evidence that any so-called 'MLM' has been an authentic income opportunity?

Shyam

As you know, I have recently been corresponding with a freelance British journalist who (after interviewing the smiling director of the so-called 'UK Direct Selling Association' and some smiling, high-level, non-salaried commission agents of so-called  'MLM' companies), wrote an article entitled 'direct selling offers a financial lifeline to the over-fifties,' in which she repeated the Utopian fairy tale that in recent years, increasing numbers of middle-aged Britons have supplemented their incomes by becoming distributors for direct selling companies and that it is possible (depending on the amount of time and effort invested) to earn up to £2000 (around $3000) per week as a distributor of 'Herbalife' products. 

For obvious reasons, this journalist (who specialises in personal finance and who has written a book on how to 'boost your income') has (so far) refused to accept the ego-destroying reality that she has been deceived by the de facto agents of racketeers and that, in turn, she has become the de facto agent of the same racketeers. To this evidently-proud young woman, it remains unthinkable that she could have been so comprehensively deceived, or that all so-called 'MLM/direct selling income opportunities' have been variations of essentially the same contagious lie which has been allowed to infect the minds of countless millions of people around the world for more than 50 years.

This journalist has, however, confirmed that, during the course of her research, she did not examine any quantifiable evidence in the form of audited accounts (particularly, income tax receipts) proving that any British non-salaried commission agent of any so-called 'MLM' company has ever received an overall financial benefit from regularly selling goods, and/or services, to the public for a profit. The journalist has rationalised her remarkable confession by stating that no one would disclose their audited accounts to a stranger. In reality, any UK citizen selling a traditional business is obliged by law to disclose the audited accounts of that business, because to withhold information in order to make money, is fraud which is a form of theft. 

Interestingly, the US Federal Trade Commission's Dept of Consumer Protection now advises US citizens who might be considering signing up for an 'income opportunity' to demand to see the income-tax receipts of any recruiter(s) claiming to have been making money from that 'income opportunity.' 

David Brear (copyright 2011)