Animal Farm indeed!

George Orwell, himself a socialist, wrote the allegory Animal Farm to criticize the communist movement in the Soviet Union, which he believed was too oppresive. Incredibly, the story of Animal Farm mirrors the rise (and impending) fall of Quixtar/Amway.

In the novel, the animals, led by the pigs (Van Andel and DeVos), overthrow the humans (the leaders of Nutrilite) who run Manor farm. The pigs convince the rest of the animals (their distributors) to follow their lead in creating a community with greater equity. The animals, frustrated at having the fruits of their labor taken by the humans, are easily swayed to follow the pigs.

In the beginning, everything is wonderful for the animals. They change the name of the farm to Animal Farm (Amway). They establish a basic system of rules. The cornerstone rule is "Four legs good; two legs bad!" If there is a big decision to be made concerning the farm, the animals are informed of the options, and then they vote. The animals work hard, and they are proud of their new farm (Amway).

Soon, however, the pigs begin to separate themselves from the other animals. While the other animals work harder and harder, the pigs sit back, watch, and give more orders. Plus, while the pigs get fatter and fatter from all the food they eat, food that the other animals produced, the rest of the animals are forced to eat increasingly meager rations.

In order to keep the rest of the animals working hard without complaint, the pigs employ two strategies. First of all, the pigs send out a representative, a pig named Squealor (the PR department), to convince the other animals that productivity and quality of life on the farm are actually improving when in fact they are not. He appeals to the other animals' innate goodness, cites mesmerizing statistics, and offers simplistic yet catchy slogans. And if the propaganda doesn't work, the pigs send out large, menacing dogs (Amway legal) to intimidate, attack, and even kill any animal who protests.

Worse, over the years, the pigs change the rules to benefit them. For example, one rule states that "No animal shall drink alcohol." However, after the pigs discover the effects of alcohol, they change the rule to "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess." Of course, the pigs DO drink to excess while the other animals continue their dreary lives. (Gee, has Amway changed any rules to suit them lately?) Previously, the pigs presented arguments at barn meetings (IBOA), but soon they disbanded the meetings and made all decisions themselves.

By the end of the story, the pigs are not only immensely fat off the labor of the other animals, they actually walk on two feet, wear human clothes, and sleep in human beds. They have become exactly what they hated in the beginning--human. (Van Andel and DeVos have become what they sought to escape.)

As for the other animals (IBO's), they live miserable lives, lives without hope. Worse, they have no voice and no hope. They have been conditioned NOT to think and NOT to question authority.

Unfortunately for the animals, they do not have a leader strong enough to challenge the pigs...the true oppressors.

Fortunately for TEAM, we do.