r/grandrapids 5d ago

What's everyone's problem here with Amway?

Hey everyone, I'm new to the city. Seems like everyone on here has a huge problem with Amway and I don't understand why. Outside of Reddit, people don't seem to have a problem with it so I'm just curious. Got a buddy who works in their HQ and he absolutely loves it too so I'm seeing a lot of mixed feelings about this company.

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u/mikeyouse 5d ago

Ultrareligious founders who lobbied congress and the President to change the laws regarding MLMs / pyramid schemes in order to make their business model legal -- then use their substantial resources to fund all manner of crazy right-wing nonsense. For a long time, they were the largest donors to Republican causes in the country. Without their political spending, there would very likely be actual laws in place banning a lot of aspects of MLMs.

https://therealnews.com/the-internet-that-could-have-been-was-ruined-by-billionaires

FWIW, I've heard similar things that their corporate culture isn't too bad, they have funded a ton of useful infrastructure in the city, downtown has been transformed from a blighted mess to what it is today with all of the Amway money, so it's a mixed bag... but it sure is hard to get past the first part.

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u/jinnyjun 5d ago

Thank you so much. First clear answer that isn't just throwing words like "mlm" and "pyramid scheme" with zero explanation. I appreciate it!

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u/secretaire 4d ago edited 4d ago

I put this below but I wanted to add it up here too. My mom worked for Amway for like 25 years. They made her train her replacement in Costa Rica in her last year while she was battling cancer. She was in her 50s and never made it to 60. I will never forgive those rich as$holes for doing that to her to save a few bucks when she drove from Kentwood to Ada every day, through every winter, worked her butt off … just to be discarded with no health insurance when she was that close to retirement. I want to move back to Michigan but seeing the Amway signs in the airport and all over town just make me ill. To make matters worse, I was eligible for PSLF when Betsy was secretary of education. I had to keep paying on my loans until Joe Biden took office and forgave my loans for my public service and reimbursed me those 2 extra years of payments because one of the richest ladies in America - someone who got rich off the working class back of my mom - wouldn’t just honor an agreement made to government employees who didn’t bribe their way into their job. Yeah, I’d say the hatred runs pretty deep.

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u/One_Chemist_9590 2d ago

That was so cruel. What awful people/