Wednesday, June 5, 2019

The grifters way to riches

    Several pundits have zeroed in on the right wing grifter problem thanks to a piece in the National Review which laments the hundreds of millions of dollars willingly donated mostly by older Americans to scammers.  This con artists appeal mostly to the social issues held dear by these citizens.
     As Kevin Drum points out, the right wing is susceptible to these grifters because the entire project of the republican party is to attract working class voters to support an organization inimical to their own interests.  The GOP is single minded in representing the top 10% of the country, but the voting math doesn't work out unless they can convince a fairly large portion of the working class that they are really working in their interest.
     Tax cuts for the wealthy trickle down.  Regulations of dangerous chemicals hurt employment.  Social Security is a scam which will be gone when you retire.  Oil drilling and coal mining  provide good employment.   The IRS targets right wing groups.  The list goes on, but you get the idea.
     This sort of dishonesty leads inevitably to the kind of scams which target anyone who buys into the ideas listed.   It creates people like the televangelist Kenneth Copeland, who is said to be worth $750,000,000.  He has a fleet of 5 private jets thanks to his audience of right wing believers.  There are dozens of Copelands out there.   An entire movement based on blatant dishonesty inevitably creates the conditions for these kinds of grifts.   Unfortunately, the typical mark for these scams is a Faux News listener, so even if they hear the truth, they are inoculated against it.

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