Talk (Con)Fusion

I was chatting recently with a representative of Talk Fusion, a pyramid scheme ... uh, excuse me, a multilevel marketing venture involving an internet/email platform that will change the lives of those who participate, making them, in a brief time, rich and successful.

"It's a pyramid scheme," I said.

"Oh, no, no, it's not!" the woman answered. 'Here, let me show you."

She proceeded to draw for me a picture of ... well, of a pyramid composed of little boxes.

"See, this is me (box #1). Now, this is my son (a box below her box and to the left) and this is my daughter (a box below and to the right). These are my cousins (boxes below to right and left). You see?"

"I do."

"Now, if you join under me ..." She gives me a box. "You see?"

"Yes. It's a pyramid."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"But here there is no top, no pyramid. Anyone can be at the top. That's because the government is not involved. If the government were involved, you could not rise. But here anyone can be at the top."

"What about those boxes already at the top?"

"Well, they go higher. We all go higher. I'm going higher, and you can, too."

"You know who makes the money?" I said.

"Who?"

I put my finger on the top of the page (the page that has no top).

"Look," she said, producing a glossy magazine. This is Talk Fusion. This is what we do." She turned the pages, showing a man standing beside a red sports car, a man standing beside a private jetliner. "See this man? Twenty-nine years old! You want a car like this, right?"

"No. I don't like cars."

"Huh?"

I shrugged. "Overall, I prefer my bike."

So she changed her tact.

"You know the reason I do this? I want to help people. It's not enough to just be comfortable for my own good. There are people in need, there are people I can help. People all over the world that I can help. But I need money to help them, right? How can I go to them and help them without any money? How can I do any good in the world without money?"

"Oh, I don't know. I'm not sure that money is the key. Take Jesus, for instance."

"Jesus?"

"Well, sure. He had no money."

"Exactly! He couldn't fly. He couldn't just go anywhere in the world to help."

Well, she got me there. I can't think of any story wherein Jesus flew. Although he did walk through walls. And walk on water, And, of course, rise from the dead.

"But how can this man's red sports car help?" I wondered.

"Because it shows people that they can do this!" she said. "They don't have to be stuck, and poor, and hungry, and slaves to the system."

"Well, I suppose he could give someone a ride."

"Yes! Yes! And so could you!"

"Yes, well ... I'm gonna think about it. Seriously (not). I'm going to study the business."

"Don't think too long," she warned. "Time is money."

I did study up a bit when I got home. Typing Talk Fusion into Google generates several results on the very first page. The results concern victims of Talk Fusion!

Korban, is the Indonesian word. Not good.

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