Multi-Level Marketers are Modern-Day Plague Doctors

Art by Michelle Browne

Today, I saw a video that sparkled across my neurons and absolutely demanded I share some weird facts with the world, so here ya go.

MLM huns: "let's take this failed attempted remedy for the Black Plague and use it as a disinfectant! That'll work" 

*Plague Doctor intensifies*

Now, you may or may not know what Multi-Level Marketing is, but if you don't, let me throw some names at you: Doterra. Amway. It Works. Mary Kay. Silpada. LuLaRoe. Young Living Essential Oils. NXVM.
One of my many weird interests is studying Multi-Level Marketing (and watching Reddit dramatic readings that discuss it), and I have always been interested in cults, so the overlap in these is natural. But since I've grown up in a medical family, with parents who are actively aware of and concerned about fake treatments and bad science (since it harmed patients), I also like to learn about fraudulent cures and quackery masquerading as alternative treatments. Now, alternative treatments can have value, but sometimes, they pray on the scientifically ignorant and vulnerable. 
And there's a long, long history of this...some people will take any opportunity to make money, even if it means monetizing a crisis or shaking down sick, scared people. 

Plague Doctors? 

Fun fact, but the "thieves' oil"? Yeah, it comes from the Plague Doctors who'd come in and pillage areas of Vienna and Florence when the Black Plague was running rampant.

Thieves would also smear on the oil in hopes of looting homes of the dead without getting their Plague. Another superstition of the era holds that opal rings would crack and turn black when someone caught the Plague. Unfortunately, the killing of cats believed to be associated with witches only worsened the Plague, since it traveled on and infected the fleas on rats that came on ships from the east, and from trade caravans. But cats killed rats - and taking away cats made things worse. Sadly, Jewish people were also blamed for the plague - even though kosher and hygiene laws were keeping their enclaves safe, many Christians thought the Jews had started the plague (which is obviously not true). This probably made things worse - hence the emergency situation of the worsening plague, especially in Italy. The reason for those weird bird masks is that people in that era believed that "miasmas," or "bad air" would cause infections - a primitive attempt at germ theory. (Their Islamic Colleagues to the east were much better informed about "invisible contagion," as we can see in the works of Avicenna, a famous physician of the era, but I digress.) Anyway, those long beaks were stuffed with dried flowers, potpourri, and other stuff that smelled nice, essential oils included, in hopes of warding off the "bad air". Unfortunately, the doctors were often unethical, unlicensed, and sometimes experimented on Plague victims. Yikes! Although the Plague Doctors' heavy coats and masks often kept them safe, unfortunately, they still carried the bacteria on their cloaks and coats...infecting more patients. 

So in a way, MLM huns are carrying on a "proud" tradition of fraudulent medicine, quackery, and fake cure-alls that sabotaged real medical research and science for centuries. They're even using the same tools.

You can learn more about this by checking out the phenomenal and funny podcast "Sawbones" or watching Frederick Knudsen's "Down the Rabbithole" episode on Plague Doctors. There is also a Vice documentary on the Black Plague that may be of interest. Although cases of Bubonic Plague still crop up here and there, we now have treatments for it.

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Michelle Browne is a sci fi/fantasy writer and editor. She lives in Lethbridge, AB with her partner-in-crime and Max the cat. Her days revolve around freelance editing, knitting, jewelry, and learning too much. She is currently working on other people's manuscripts, the next books in her series, and drinking as much tea as humanly possible.

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