Just Sounding Off About Forbes And Work At Home Scheme Warnings

Does it seem to you that when a magazine has nothing better to say that they decide run an article about “home business scams” and “work at home schemes”?

They trot out the same tired examples… stuffing envelopes, chain letters, pyramid schemes etc. blah, blah, blah.

And of course they are wrong about some of the “scams” they mention. Is home medical billing automatically a scam? No. Does every one who studies it make real money? No. Then again does everyone who signs up for an internship and a stock brokerage earn the money that the firms dangle in front of the recruits’ eyes to lure them into the business? Heck no.

How many stock brokerage firms market their in house recommendations with fat margins to 10,000 unsuspecting investors who lose billions and they all stay in business?

In other words, have one home medical billing course sell to 10,000 people who spend $1000 who don’t make money and it’s a “work at home scam”.

But if you have a Wall Street Brokerage firm have 10,000 people invest $50,000 in some limited partnership, tax shelter, or other in house “recommended” investment that has a fat profit margin for them and then have these 10,000 people lose their money in the “markets” and that’s not a scam… that’s “just business”.

Now Forbes has joined the fray pretending to offer insight. I suppose there’s some brain dead soul somewhere who might benefit. But since these articles all seem to plagiarize the same tired aphorisms and the editors don’t seem to notice, I guess the message isn’t getting out that you can’t get something for nothing unless it’s by investing in Enron or something else Forbes considers “wise”.

These articles always trot out the same Federal Trade Commission warnings.

Fair enough, but when is the Federal Trade Commission going to put warning labels on the mouths of politicians?

Since the FTC is so worried about Ponzi schemes, when are they going to declare Social Security a Ponzi scheme for that matter?