The Cult

I was recruited.  Not for a team, not for a political party, not to fulfill my dreams in a marketing position or a law school.  I was recruited to join a business cult...at least that's how I felt.  I had a meeting this Monday past with a potential client that I met at a networking event.  Let's call him VD (yes, read deep into the initials.)  Everything went well.  He was excited about the advertising plan I created for him, so I told him that he'd have a formal proposal in the next few days.  Wednesday, I called him to confirm that he received it.  He said he had, but wouldn't be able to discuss it till sometime early next week.  No problem.  Then the following conversation took place:

"Carson (that's me), I know you are busy at (my company), but would as we discussed on Monday, I have a few companies on the side and would like to offer you a position on the side."

Cool.  I thought to myself.  Someone is seeing some potential.  "What exactly is it? "

"It's a web portal company.  Basically, we offer a way for web goers to get to sites such as circuitcity.com.  The biz is really booming right now.  I can't get into all the details with you now because I'm about to meet someone."

"Where do I need to be me? Do I have to sell things because I'm--" he interrupted me.

"No, you don't have to sell (My ass).  8pm at the Courtyard."

I guess we just meet in the lobby.  This is a little strange.  "So you're picking like 3 or 5 people, how many of us will be there?"

"50."

50.  OK come back down to earth.  He's selling something.  It can't hurt though.  Never know what will happen.

"See you tomorrow.  Be in professional dress."
hang up the phone
No problem.  Sounds quirky, but I look damn good in a suit; so we'll see what shakes loose.

Thursday
After two hours of hanging at my pad in a suit waiting for 8 to stroll around, I left for the hotel. 

I get out of my vanilla Camry, slide into my pinned jacket and grab my contemporary folio.  As I roll through the auto doors of the Courtyard, I am greeted by a young man that looks like he just stepped off of Wall Street.  Black hair with loads of gel to spike it.  His suit looks like a Banana Republic (which is a good thing, I love that store) ad.  Big smile very classy with a silver metallic name tag.

"Are you here for the e-commerce meeting?"
"Um, I think so.  VD invited me."
"Yeah.  He's awesome.  Just go down to that table and register."

Lady at the table, "Are you a guest or a member?"
"VD invited me."
"Oh, he's not here yet, but he's our head speaker tonight.  Just sign on the left pad," she motioned.
She handed me a ticket.  It was made quickly known to the hosts that VD had invited me.

All the men were dressed the same...like they were on Wall Street.  All slicked out, very well-spoken and very hospitable.  A black guy about my height and age with a bald head named 'Tomas' guided me to the second seat in the first row.  There is no way I'm doing whatever the hell they're selling tonight.  This is bullshit, but maybe I can learn something.  I began making small talk with the black guy to my left.  Turns out his name was 'Perry', 20 years old working at Winn Dixie in Destrehan.  I asked if he knew why the hell was here and if he was approached somewhat strangely.  He said yes and was anxious to talk.  He said he was stacking eggs and a man just began talking to him.  He normally doesn't speak to customers, but this guy just kept talking.  We both agreed our being there was bizarre.  Someone interrupted me and said that it was great that I knew VD and to keep an open mind.  FLAGS GO OFF IN MY HEAD.  (If you saw Don't Be a Menace to South Central...it reminded of the times when the guys says message.')

A seemingly powerful man began to speak at the front...great speaker and quite forceful.  Same description tall, white, spiked hair, suit.  Claimed to be the Chief IT guy for a major corporation (no individuals named their companies).  He introed VD as a successful biz man.  Someone that has made six figures off the program.  Sure.

VD got up and spoke about money and the process of moving goods from manufactures to stores, etc.  It was 50 minutes of that crap.  The whole time I'm trying to figure out what exactly I'd be selling.  VD was funny and spoke well.  He got the audience involved with laughs and common interests such as making money and working for yourself, but focused most of his questions on the first row.   He used me a few times for participation, but focused on a guy named 'Hernandez.'  Hern was a young Spanish guy who looked a little shaky in public speaking.  His everyday job was something to do with taxes.  There was a new girl next to him.  She was young, attractive and white.  She was next to her sponsor (a woman as well).  VD asked Hern many questions about what he wanted to do and his dreams.  The main goal of the talk were dreams, freedom, teamwork and being your own boss.

Everything in the beginning was typical of ra-ra type stuff...nothing really suspicious.  Things that made me suspicious:
1) It was never really made clear what the hell we'd be selling to make money.
2) Money was made by referrals and people buying products.
3) At one point, the girl next to Hern started answering questions about his family for him.
How the hell does she know what his life is like?

The name of the company was Quixtar (If you've heard of the company, you know where this is going).  VD told a story about not reading everything you see in the paper because you have to consider the source.  If you want the facts, he said, go to Quixtar Facts.  I laughed at this in my head.  The website with the real facts is run by the company.  Yeah, real swift.  I'm sure it's completely unbiased.  Side note: If you're a company, how can you be that dumb in your marketing?

Afterwards, I asked Perry what he thought.  He said he wasn't sure.  I told him I wasn't sure what I was selling...he concurred.  Just as quick we were pulled aside by our sponsors (mine was VD).  At this point, I knew I wasn't going to do it, but I wanted to see where it led.  So I did one of the things I do best...acted.  He asked me if I was interested I said yes.  It was music to his ears, so he said he was going to get me a CD.  Meanwhile, he introed me to his wife.  I made small talk to her, but she had little to say especially when I asked about their marriage.  Then, I met some head people including the first powerful speaker.  I complemented him on his speaking skills.  He asked me what I thought.  I told him that I liked it a lot, but wasn't sure what I'd be selling.  He was immediately confused.  VD was quick to jump in to explain that this was my first meeting and that I hadn't yet gotten the full run down.  Apparently, VD did something he wasn't supposed to do.  The same conversation took place when he introed me to one of the top people.  An older well-dressed woman named 'Carly.'  She was ra-ra.  The next tipping point:
She pointed to an Indian family that had achieved 'diamond' status.  I didn't know what the hell that was at the time, but acted impressed.  Why is that curious?  Because VD had asked them early in his speech what the man did for a living as if he'd never met him.  The guy and his family were full fledged members.  I looked around and took a quick summary and suddenly realized that everyone except my side of the first row had been sitting in 3's.  Not sure if that meant anything, but find it interesting.

As VD was walking me out a video was being setup for the people still interested in joining, he was hesitant handing me the CD.  He asked if we could meet on Saturday to explain further.

"Can we meet at your house?
Hell no!  "How about Starbucks?  Can I bring someone with me?"  My dad would be a nice partner.  He won't get a damn thing past him.  My dad later laughed at me for even thinking he'd go.
"Sure on both accounts."

I made sure I was in front of his wife a good bit as she was leaving before him.  Earlier in his speech, he'd mentioned about he just bought 4 new Caddys for his fam.  This guy was very conservative in his speech with me, so I didn't believe it.  I arrived in my car and sat there with it off for a second.  After she'd passed me, I started it.  I wanted to see what she was driving.  I back up as she pulled around the corner of the lot.  She was driving a gold Saturn.  No offense to Saturn owners, but it's not an Escalade.  The same as my white Camry is not an H-2.  I listened to the CD on the way home.  It was a lot of ra-ra from some supposedly brilliant financial mind.  It sounded like the yearly Wal-Mart rallies you see when they end the quarter.

Went home and told my parents about it.  The gist of it was that it was an old company called Amway, but the online version.

I immediately went online and did some research.  Their marketing people are not too bright.  I went to the Quixtar Facts website where they have video that refutes an interview done by Dateline.  Why the hell would you bring attention to anything like this?  I did some 3rd party searches through Google.  I found a Quixtar Blog dedicated to talking about the company, but not neccessarily talking bad about it.  The guy who runs it is married to a former employee.  He also runs Quixtar Forums.  Based on my research, this company is truly bad.  People's lives and families have been ruined.  Yeah, you can sell only 4 hours a week, but you'll lose your ass on the deal.

Some things I thought about after I left:
1) That list I signed was only like 6 names long.  That member list was about 30 long.  Who cares?  Well, everyone in the room was acting as if they were brand new.  They all new what was going on.  It was a fucking youth rally.
2) The Caddys were BS.
3) I called VD yesterday to tell him that I didn't have enough time to pursue this opportunity.  He was disappointed and his tone quickly changed.  He said he'd email me is home address and asked if I could drop it in the mail.  I told him sure.  I'm copying it first though.  I may investigate this stuff further.  He was too pleasant getting off the phone.

It was a freaking cult.  However, they are an EEOE because there was a great diversity of people there, so I guess that's positive.

Developing...

 

Comments

[Anthony]

Hi my name is Anthony Smith i live in Kent Ohio and I just met with someone representing Quixtar today. He stated he got my resume from a Job Fair I had gone to. He really wanted to met me. He first set up a time to come to my house and after thinking about that and speaking with my wife, I changed the meeting to a local Starbucks. We spoke for about 15 minutes. He never explained what I would be doing or selling. The way things were going i knew it had to do something with selling products. He really talked about the prouducts that Quixtar produced but only talked little about the whole office max deal and other compines that they were in relations with. then it hit me. so i listened more. for some reason i was still into all of this....it sounded so good. then he spoke about of how much money I could possibly make. He never talked about how much it would cost. i knew there had to be a price on this deal. I asked him and he quickly said that it would cost about 250.00. He said he didn't make that money back until 6 weeks after he started. He stated within 10-12 months I would profit 2k to 3k a month. He said that there are people that are multi millionaires, but not all. Started talking about people he knew. Referencing one specific gentleman around the same age as me at the time who was going to school. He was falling behind on his bills and now he is 30 and planning his retirement. It sounded really nice, who wouldn't want to retire at 30. It was just too good to be true. After our conversation he asked if he could come to my house to explain more to me and he was going to bring his wife. I set up a meeting with him for this Sunday at my home. Right before we parted, he told me he was rounding up people to go to this seminar January 24th. He said that the presale was 90.00 and at the door it would be 100.00. If you would like I can get more information on that. I went to work thinking this could be a good opportunity. I came home and spoke with my wife about the conversation. I decided to check out his website and I couldn't find very much information. There were success stories on his website and there was never any information about what type of buisness they owned or what they were selling. I'm assuming that they are selling something. i just didn't seem right to me. after reading the stories i needed to know more about this company. My wife quickly pointed out that it sounded like they are making their money by recruiting people to do the same thing, so we decided to try and find more information about this. My wife got onto Quixtar's website and was reading the buisness information and trying to figure out their pay structure. She did a search for Quixtar and found this website. I had found another website that bashed Quixtar and that really struck me as weird. i finally said to myself that this is a bunch of bull$#)t and quickly made my mind up after reading yours and a few others websites.....no i am not going to persue this anymore. HOW ABOUT THAT ALL THAT TALK ABOUT MY DREAMS COMING TRUE and 10 hours later after getting info on this company watching my dream of a great lifestyle come crashing down....all within one day. i do not blame this on you I blame this on the people who don't care about how much they can really hurt someone. It goes to show what people will do for $$$$$$$. i am so glad that i found your website and thank you for saving me alot of money. i guess the internet can come in handy after all. You really have answered a lot of our questions and filled in a lot of blanks. thank you,
Anthony Smith

[vincent]

very interesting

[Arun]

Well, my 2 cents. Take any internet venture and you are bound to have people who dont like it and dont succeed. That doesnt change the success stories nor the dynamics. I have worked hard to earn my money and I am glad I was introduced into the business. It gives me a way to make money doing things I already do. And Hey, the tapes and stuff are not compulsory. I make money and my account is like never before. You keep posting and wasting your time. I wont read your reply so dont post it. This is a chance to do something with your life using the Internet. Criticizing is easy, succeeding was never.
Good luck in your endeavors.
A

[spork]

Grin. I *LOVE* the way the Amway folk get so defensive =)

[angie]

my husband has been talking to some people about this "opportunity", any advice?

[Quickboy]

I want to join quixtar, all my profit will goto charity. One caveat, all the profits under me will goto charity. Just to spite the money grubbing, ambots who care nothing about people. Satan has abetter chance of getting through heavens gates than Quixtar sales people.
But I'm serious, I want to see how much money I could make and then give it all to charity. I dont give a #$*(* about money. All you quickbuck scamartists think you will be happy when "your rich". You will never be rich EVER. And if you do its because you scammed innocent hardworking poeple out of their hard earned money. If I ever meet one of you guys you will be sorry, because I will give you a toungue lashing you've never had.
Expensive suits, cars, money, and things do not make a good person, or even a happy person but you will never understand that because you've replaced your eyes with DIAMONDS and your hearts with coal.

[grandpa stole bets]

Program on the emergence of civilization.

"14 species of large animals capable of domesitcation in the history of mankind.
13 from Europe, Asia and northern Africa.
None from the sub-Saharan African continent. "
Favor.
And disfavor.

They point out Africans’ failed attempts to domesticate the elephant and zebra, the latter being an animal they illustrate that had utmost importance for it's applicability in transformation from a hunting/gathering to agrarian-based civilization.

The roots of racism are not of this earth.

Austrailia, aboriginals:::No domesticable animals.

The North American continent had none. Now 99% of that population is gone.

AIDS in Africa.

Organizational Heirarchy/Levels of positioning.
Heirarchical order, from top to bottom:

1. MUCK - perhaps have experienced multiple universal contractions (have seen multiple big bangs), creator of the artificial intelligence humans ignorantly refer to as "god"
2. Perhaps some mid-level alien management
3. Evil/disfavored aliens - runs day-to-day operations here and perhaps elsewhere

Terrestrial management/positioning:

4. Chinese/egyptians - this may be separated into the eastern and western worlds
5. Romans -
6. Mafia - the real-world 20th century interface that constantly turns over generationally so as to reinforce the widely-held notion of mortality
7. Jews, corporation, women, politician - Evidence exisits to suggest mafia management over all these groups.

Movies foreshadowing catastrophy
1985 James Bond View to a Kill 1989 San Francisco Loma Prieta earthquake.

Our society gives clues to the system in place. We all have heard the saying "He has more money than god." There is also an episode of the Simpsons where god meets Homer and says "I'm too old and rich for this."

This is the system on earth because this is the system everywhere.

I don't want to suggest the upper eschelons are evil and good is the fringe.

But they have made it abundantly clear that doing business with evil (disfavored) won't help people. They say only good would have the ear, since evil is struggling for survival, and therefore only the favored could help.

The clues are there which companies are favored and which are disfavored, but they conceal it very hard because it is so crucial.

I offer an example of historical proportions:::

People point to Walmart and cry "anti-union".
Unions enable disfavored people to live satisfactorly without addressing their disfavor. This way their family's problems are never resolved. Without the union they would have to accept the heirarchy, their own inferiority.
Unions serve to empower.
Walmart is anti-union because they are good. They try to help people address and resolve their problems by creating an enviornment where there are fewer hurdles.

Media ridicule and lawsuits are creations to reinforce people's belief that Walmart is evil in a subsegment of the indistry dominated by the middle and lower classes.
Low-cost disfavored Chinese labor is utilized by corporate america to maximize margins. They all do it. Only WalMart gets fingered because they are the ones who help, and those who seek to create confusion in the marketplace want to eliminate the vast middle class who have a real chance and instead stick with lower classes who may not work otherwise. So they dirty him up while allowing the others to appear clean.

The middle class is being deceived. They are being misled into the unfavored, and subsequently will have no assistance from their purchases with corporate america.

I believe the coining of the term "Uncle Sam" was a clue alluding to just this::Sam Walton and WalMart is one of few saviors of the peasant class.

Amercia is a country of castoffs, rejects. Italy sent its criminals. Malcontents.
Between the thrones, the klans and kindred, they "decided" who they didn't want and acted, creating discontent and/or starvation.
The u.s. is full of disfavored rejects. It is the reason for the myriad of problems not found in European countries. As far as the Rockafellers and other industrialists of the 19th century go, I suspect these aren't their real names. I suspect they were chosen to go and head this new empire.

Royalty is the right way to organize a society. Dictatorships and monarchies are a reflection of the antient's hierarchical organization.
Positions go to those who have favor with the rulers, as opposed to being elected.
Elections bring a false sense of how the world is. Democracy misleads people.
Which is why the disfavored rejects were sent to the shores of America::To keep them on the wrong path.

Jesus Christ is a religious figure of evil. These seperatist churches formed so they could still capture the rest of the white people, keeping them worshipping the wrong god.
And now they do it to people of color, Latinos and Asians, after centuries of preying upon them.

Simpson's foreshadowing::Helloween IV special, Flanders is Satan. "Last one you ever suspect."
"You'll see lots of nuns where you're going:::hell!!!" St. Wigham, Helloween VI, missionary work, destroying cultures.
Over and over, the Simpsons was a source of education and enlightenment, a target of ridicule by the system which wishes to conceal its secrets.

Since Buddism doesn't recongnize a god, the calls are never heard, and Chinese representation is instead selected by the thrones.
Budda was the Asian's Jesus Christ::: bad for the people. "They came up at the same time for a reason."

Jews maim the body formed in the image of "god", and inflicted circumsision upon all other white people, as well as the evil that is Jesus Christ.
I think about how Jews (were used to) created homosexuality among Slavics, retribution for the Holocaust.
Then I think of the Catholic Church and its troubles.
What connection is here between Jews and the Catholic church???
If it is their sinister motives that’s behind the evil that is Jesus Christ are they being used at all?
Perhaps it is them who are pulling strings.
Their centuries of slavery in Egypt proves their disfavor. The Jew leaders decided to prey on the up-and-coming Europeans to try to fix their problems with the ruling elite, a recurring aspect of their methodology.

I believe Islam is the one true religion, and those misled christians who attack "god"'s most favored people will pay dearly one day.