America: Land of the Con Men

Discussion in 'People' started by Toker, Jan 21, 2024.

  1. Toker

    Toker Lifetime Supporter

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    From it's very beginning, the USA has been a haven for those who make a living by conniving and convincing naive people into whatever scam they are currently running.

    Surely the first people to have been taken advantage of were native Americans by settlers. It's easy to imagine the many ways they were lied to and betrayed all the way past the Civil War.

    Then there's all those immigrants who couldn't even speak English getting conned before they could even settle in.

    Do we need to even mention the snake oil salesmen selling fake cures across the country.

    So is it any wonder today we would get politicians like Trump who lie all day long and people no longer raise an eyebrow.

    We get salesmen like Mike Lindell selling crappy pillows for huge amounts of cash. Then trying to sell us lies about the election.

    It's amazing to see the heights these con men rise to given how obvious the lies are, how often they're repeated.

    I can only blame it on the "I want to believe" delusional syndrome and endless repetitions of the lies. Just like people want to believe in imaginary things like virgin births, creation in 6 days, resurrection, heaven, hell, etc., they also want to believe any fiction that makes them feel good, especially if it makes them feel superior to others.

    So who are some of the greatest con men American Greed has produced?
     
  2. granite45

    granite45 Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    Koch brothers, Guv Huckabee, the entitled Ivy Leaguers, Milton Friedman, RR, venture capitalists, Big Banks, BP, Standard Oil, No rights at work states, Elon Musk, Cummins Diesel, faux news, Amazon, the assault weapons producers, NRA. Just to get started.
     
  3. wilsjane

    wilsjane Nutty Professor HipForums Supporter

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    Shame on you, for trying to steal steal this achievement from the UK.
    Our ATC commander when I was at school, insisted on being addressed as sergeant and being saluted.
    The fun started when we found out that one of my fellow students dads had served with him in the RAF. Sergeant Kraft had been an orderly in the catering corps.
    The climax came, when at his next drill night, one of the recruits asked. "If I was serving with you, how many potatoes would I need to shoot the skins off in a day.
     
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  4. Constantine666

    Constantine666 Members

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    Thomas Edison, a Fraud and Con Artist as well as attempting to silence those with real vision.
    He was the overseer of a collective of inventors and took credit for their work just as modern corporations do. (If you work for a major corp, you know you signed over the rights to your work to the head man)
    He exploited children and murdered animals in his pursuit to keep Direct Current (DC) the power standard and discredit Nikola Tesla's work with Alternating Current (AC).
    The Electric Chair was one example of is bid to crush Tesla. The chair was invented the the "Edison Works Company" it was used to execute a convicted murderer, but even at 1,000 volts AC it took three tries to kill the man, and left a rancid, burning flesh odor in the chamber.
     
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  5. wilsjane

    wilsjane Nutty Professor HipForums Supporter

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    In the last line, don't you mean 1,000 volts DC, for a good cook. LOL
    You can use the edit option to make changes to your own post.
     
  6. Constantine666

    Constantine666 Members

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    No, it was actually 1,000 volts AC. In 1890, Edison was trying to prove that Tesla's AC was dangerous and could never be used by the average citizen.
    At the time he knew practically nothing about it, other than what his spies had told him, or what Tesla himself told him.
    Edison had also engaged in a campaign in and around Menlo Park, where he would pay children to collect stray dogs and cats for him, then put on a show where he would place a dog or cat on a steel plate and pass AC current through the plate, electrocuting the animal

    In 1903, Edison killed an Elephant at Coney Island. Topsy the Elephant was led to a platform, with a noose around her neck. She had been fed carrots laced with cyanide to help ensure the display wold work. Edison Electricians laced wiring around the Elephant's feet, and then 6,600 volts AC was passed through her body. The poor animal, stiffened, fell over and the noose around her neck went taught as she fell, finishing the job.

    He obviously never succeeded in stopping the use of AC Current, but Tesla never got the credit for the versatile use of AC, because he signed all his rights away to George Westinghouse.
     
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  7. relaxxx

    relaxxx Senior Member

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    Human have been fucking over humans since there were humans. As much of a joke as our democracy is here in USA and Canada, most of the world is living in far worse conditions. Corruption and fascist authoritarianism on absolutely insane scales. America's greatest conmen are nothing compared to the likes of Xi Jinping, or Vladimir Putin, or Kim Jong Un, or Ali Khamenei... Any number of fascist evil conmen in total control of billions around the world, who can execute anyone who looks at them wrong. What crooked American has brainwashed enough people to get away with that? Aside from maybe David Miscavige?
     
  8. wilsjane

    wilsjane Nutty Professor HipForums Supporter

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    I have heard a few stories, but I never knew that they were at war.
    Do you know the rough date when current transformers were invented. I use them extensively, but know little about their history. I am always having to explain how the contradiction in terms came about and how they are applied.
     
  9. Constantine666

    Constantine666 Members

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    1895/1896 In partnership with George Westinghouse & Co. Nikola Tesla helped construct 3 AC Generators at Niagra Falls. They went online in 196 and in 1897 Tesla was granted 13 patents for his work. THat would be the start of teh Niagra Power Company.

    The American Corporate Monster basically killed Tesla. He never made money from his inventions. Edison stole 25 patents from him before he hooked up with Westinghouse, then he sold all of his AC Generator patents to Westinghouse for practically nothing, and ended up getting screwed over royalties.
     
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  10. ~Zen~

    ~Zen~ California Tripper Administrator

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    Tesla - a brilliant mind with a complete lack of business sense. Sad.
     
  11. Constantine666

    Constantine666 Members

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    Indeed. Too trusting of others. He died Penniless and alone in his room at the Hotel New Yorker. His body wasn't found for 2 days, when the maid ignored the do not disturb sign and went in anyway.
     
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  12. Julio Torres

    Julio Torres Members

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    Greed
    Scums
     
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  13. Piney

    Piney Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    Oh Yeah. I can remember the vilification of Michael Milken, Kenneth Lay of Enron and Frank Quattrone, for years, without even looking anything up.
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2024
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  14. Piney

    Piney Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    The most curious of all is Sam Bankman Fried who is on trial for financial crime at his Bahamas based, crypto exchange.

    The silence on the part of the mainstream media is odd. A Democrat donor darling.
     
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  15. Piney

    Piney Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    Has anybody memtioned Donald Trump?
     
  16. scratcho

    scratcho Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    There are con men in all countries, starting with many of the leaders. We have just perfected the art of persuasion here. We all need to spend a life time working in order to buy more. To buy more now.:sunglasses:
     
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  17. Echtwelniet

    Echtwelniet Visitor

    Learn US (mainstream)history from the start............Pay attention to industry/economic/finance(banks) vs Politics...........the battle and who actually won.



    Shame the rest of the world are just sheep and still follow to this day...........even russia/china ect ect..............whats important is the world of finance/economics/resources.............not bs geopolitics(proxywars/ect)

    Money/greed means consumerism/freedom/luxery...............worldwide...........sign of times/big problem/humannature:D

    Mzzls
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 11, 2024
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  18. NubbinsUp

    NubbinsUp Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    Con artists seek to sell nothing for something. In order to succeed, they need people who are seeking something for nothing. They end up meeting in the middle.

    Those offering a deal too good to be true cannot prosper without those seeking just such a deal.

    Considering that the US has 3-4% of the world's population, it may seem that this one country has a disproportionate share of the world's fraud. It has no monopoly on fraud, and when the world's wealth is factored-in, the US really has no more than its fair share of fraud. Many of the largest fraud schemes in history occurred in Britain and elsewhere in Europe. Fraud follows money, and the US simply has the largest economy, therefore the largest fraud schemes.
     
  19. Piney

    Piney Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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  20. newo

    newo Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    P.T. Barnum is famous for his cons in his museum and circus, but he balanced it by keeping people entertained.

    [​IMG]
     
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