Pyramid schemes causing social harm in China – crackdowns may not be working

Re:Pyramid schemes causing social harm in China – crackdowns... by bane on Monday February 05, 2018 @08:12AM (#16308525)

Even here in the U.S., I've known several people, with good stable money making careers to give it all up and start selling vitamins or beauty care products or whatever. It's truly bizarre and the desperate sell-to-everyone-all-the-time behavior that seems to appear afterwards drives all their friends away. I'm not sure what these schemes seem to be exploiting but man if it doesn't smell like religious radicalization.

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Re:Pyramid schemes causing social harm in China – crackdowns... by vog on Monday February 05, 2018 @08:27AM (#16308590)

I wonder if there is any way to redirect all that dedication to something that is constructive and good for society.

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Re:Pyramid schemes causing social harm in China – crackdowns... by yorwba on Monday February 05, 2018 @11:47AM (#16309975)

Maybe an education pyramid scheme? You receive training in useful skills, but only if you keep teaching your newly acquired knowledge to multiple other people.

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Re:Pyramid schemes causing social harm in China – crackdowns... by uoaei on Tuesday February 06, 2018 @04:27AM (#16315207)

This sounds like an interesting way to disseminate a lot of incorrect "facts" very quickly with almost no traceability.

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Re:Pyramid schemes causing social harm in China – crackdowns... by yorwba on Tuesday February 06, 2018 @10:24AM (#16316782)

You mean like a chain letter? Usually, incorrect "facts" aren't incentivizing enough on their own to keep sharing them, which is why most of those viral memes spread quickly and die out quickly.

I was thinking more in terms of a long-term commitment that provides enough benefits on its own to offset the time and effort spent by each participant on spreading it to others.

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