How should I respond to my friend’s pyramid scheme “NBA” analogy?

Question by Darren Gardner: How should I respond to my friend’s pyramid scheme “NBA” analogy?
I have a friend getting into MLM, and, like all the deluded people who get into MLM’s, he thinks he’s going to get rich and common sense doesn’t seem to have an effect.

When I tried to explain the self-destructive nature of MLM’s, he responded that the NBA has very few people that succeed as well, but people shouldn’t stop trying.

Obviously a bad analogy, and I thought I responded pretty well (that people are well aware of the chances in the NBA and it’s based on hard work and not a pyramid income structure), but I thought there might be some other ways to shoot down that analogy.

(My friend’s company is ACN, which sells telephone and internet services)

Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by Frank
Tell your friend that you are going to quit your job and spend all your savings on lottery tickets. If your friend thinks he will be lucky enough to be at the top of the pyramid, why shouldn’t you be as lucky?

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