Lynn Dorman, Ph.D. // January 24 // 0 Comments

a message from the grifter cult

Image by Sergei Belozerov from Pixabay

A person I know and love, who is far smarter than I, and more politically astute — said:

Americans love diets that tell them they can eat whatever they want and still lose weight….that should explain everything…

These words came during a text conversation that started with a brief discussion of the latest doings of the Cyber Ninjas:

Cyber Ninjas firing all employees and shutting down after Arizona judge imposes $50,000-a-day fineCyber Ninjas, the Florida-based company hired to conduct a Republican-backed “audit” of the election results in…www.salon.com

My snarky point was that this person and I are basically in the wrong professions.

We need to go all out maga-cult-right-wing-evangelical-political-grifting where you get money for just loudly doing outlandish stunts and saying whatever you feel like and then when you get called out for it — you go to your base and say hey these people are trying to cancel me — send me money — send me money — send me money …

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

And guess what? People send money. Lots of money!

Here — take my money, take all my money — we can’t let people cancel you!

This kind of behavior is from people who wear hats and masks that say they’re censored or canceled when they speak where TV cameras capture them and they are also required to wear masks. Or they are on social media complaining about being canceled — posting this ad nauseam to their millions of followers.

Apparently the base does not get the irony.

As one with a degree in psychology I am often asked what can we do about these people — and I laugh [sadly] because I have spent most of my lifetime thinking about how do we deal with these kinds of people — and my answer is basically: you can’t — they and their grift are part of our culture — and always has been.

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Ladies and gentlemen: Step this way! Come inside my tent! See something astonishing you have never seen before! It only costs a few cents!!!

And people doled out money to see whatever it was that was inside the tent.

P.T. Barnum allegedly said: There is a fool born every minute… and unfortunately in this century it seems that there are more and more fools born every minute. And I said allegedly because the quote has been attributed to different people.

I always heard it as Barnum’s words but research has indicated it could be other people — and older than Barnum’s days.

But the point is there’s a lot of people that can get taken — and that point is valid. It was valid before I was born — and it will be valid well after I die.

The problem is — the grift has become part and parcel of our daily politics and daily life. It isn’t just a circus sideshow anymore or a tent at one of the amusement parks that I grew up going to. It is now deeply rooted into our culture.

You almost cannot avoid it — for example:

On second thought — I don’t wish to give these people any more ink than they already get so go check your daily political news in any paper or online source — you will find grifters asking for money.

Let’s get back to the diet and eat anything you want idea.

Unless you have some kind of illness there is almost no way that you can eat anything and everything you want and still lose weight. So why do people buy into that? Why do people buy diet plans that tell them they can eat anything they want?

And why after they do not lose weight do they still keep paying for the diet plan? 

That readers is the conundrum.

We live in a world where we want so much to believe these discrepancies that we just accept them and keep paying for them. I think back on the idea that trickle-down economics will help people get more money. “Give the rich a lot of money.” “Give the rich tax breaks.”

Give the rich everything they want and all of that money that you give to them will surely trickle down to you. 

That was/is a popular opinion among rich people. It’s a lie — but people bought it — still buy it. Congress kept giving — and still keeps giving — tax breaks to the richest.

Has it helped people make more money?

Yes — the rich people have made billions more. 

A huge study of 20 years of global wealth demolishes the myth of ‘trickle-down’ and shows the rich…It’s no secret there’s inequality across the economy, but a huge new report shows just how much. The 2022 World…www.businessinsider.com

The research about trickle down economics cited above states:

It’s a theory that persists today, even though most research has shown that 50 years of tax cuts benefits the wealthy and worsens inequality.

Trickle down is a lie. But if you ask people who have no money why they keep voting for people who give all the money to already rich people, they will tell you that someday that money is going to come back to them triple/quadruple/etcfold. Maybe not in their lifetime — maybe not in their kids lifetimes — maybe not in in their grandkids lifetimes…

but it will come!!

just like eating everything you want and losing weight

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Hope springs eternal — even when it shouldn’t. Then when the reality of one’s current life shows you that things are not as you believe — you don’t believe — because you were told not to believe what you see right in front of you. 

You must believe only what you are told by the grifters — your cult leaders. The ones who tell you they are being canceled as they take to the next microphone and TV talk show, the ones who tell you to give them all of your money so that at some point in time you will be rich, etc.

The ones who tell you eat everything you want and lose weight by buying what they are selling. 

This particular diet will lead you to lose weight and you can eat anything and everything you want [and it only cost you $100 a week]

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Ladies and gentlemen: Step this way! Come inside my tent!

About the Author Lynn Dorman, Ph.D.

Me? I have a Ph.D. in Psychology and a law degree [J.D.] but I am happier writing, creating courses, playing with images and words on tees and mugs, etc.

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