Selling the Dream
The Billion-dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans
New York : Atria Books, 2024, ©2024.
Format: Book
Edition: First Atria books hardcover edition.
Description: 308 pages ; 22 cm
"Peabody and Emmy Award-winning journalist Jane Marie expands on her popular podcast The Dream to expose the scourge of multilevel marketing schemes and how they have profited off the evisceration of the American working class. We've all heard of Amway, Mary Kay, Tupperware, and LuLaRoe, but few know the nefarious way they and countless other multilevel marketing (MLM) companies prey on desperate Americans struggling to make ends meet. When factories close, stalwart industries shutter, and blue-collar opportunities evaporate, MLMs are there, ready to pounce on the crumbling American Dream. MLMs thrive in rural areas and on military bases, targeting women with promises of being their own boss and millions of dollars in easy income-even at the risk of their entire life savings. But the vast majority--99.7%--of those who join an MLM make no money or lose money, and wind up stuck with inventory they can't sell to recoup their losses. Featuring in-depth reporting and intimate research, Selling the Dream reveals how these companies--often owned by political and corporate elites, such as the Devos and the Van Andels families--have made a windfall in profit off of the desperation of the American working class"-- Provided by publisher.
Contents:
Introduction -- Anatomy of a scheme -- Women's work -- Original hucksters -- The American way -- Mind games -- The watchmen -- From prophets to profiteers -- Women's work redux -- Fool me twice -- Why isn't anyone doing anything? -- Epilogue.
Subjects:
Multilevel marketing -- United States.
Swindlers and swindling -- United States.
Working class -- United States -- Economic conditions.
Multilevel marketing -- United States.
Swindlers and swindling -- United States.
Working class -- United States -- Economic conditions.
ISBN:
9781982155773
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
SOCIAL SCI Gender Women Mar | Main (Downtown) | Nonfiction | Coming Soon |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-291) and index.