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The Art of the Con [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-06
Why do people fall for cons and scams? Because they’re believable and most people don’t usually consider that others might want to take them to the cleaners. Cathy Scott in Psychology Today explains:
“By definition, a con artist is a manipulator who cheats, or tricks, others through persuading them to believe something that is not true. Through deception, they fool people into believing they can make easy money when, in fact, it is the con artist who ends up taking the victim’s money.”
I’m fairly sure that most of the MAGA folks still believe that Trump still has their best interests in mind, enough that it will be hard to convince them otherwise. Elon Musk grifts money for Starlink? Fine. Trump tells tham that tariffs are good for America? Sure, that’s believable. The firehose of distractions coming out of the Whitehouse seems to be an elaborate version of a shell game and Trump’s record seems to bear that hypothesis out.
However, exchanging taxpayer money, whether Treasury Bills or gold in Fort Knox for crypto coins seems to be the biggest con of all. Paul Krugman’s latest Substack lays it out in more detail and since he’s an economist, his words should carry weight. For one thing, cryptocurrencies are vulnerable to hacks:
“Here’s the story: last month hackers looted Ethereum coins worth $1.5 billion from Bybit, a Dubai-based crypto exchange — apparently the most money anyone has ever stolen in a single caper. The FBI believes that the North Korean regime was behind the hack. Most of the coins have already been laundered into Bitcoin, and will eventually be turned into real money that will be used to sustain Kim Jong Un’s brutal dictatorship.”
They are also used in pump and dump schemes as has happened in Argentina, and with Trump’s own crypto coin:
“...the $Trump coin, introduced with great fanfare by Trump in January, attracted billions in dollars from MAGA fans, then quickly lost more than 80 percent of its value. The great bulk of $Trump coins were initially bought by a handful of “whales,” large investors, although it’s not clear whether their intent was to scam small buyers or simply to bribe the president.”
And yes, crypto coins are volatile:
“If the crypto strategic reserve does happen, the price of crypto will skyrocket. Then, if history is any guide, insiders will sell out. Apparently, at least one speculator, perhaps betting that Trump will have a hard time actually raising the money to buy all that crypto, has already made huge profits by shorting Ethereum. Why should we put our taxpayer dollars into such an extremely volatile entity? Why are we funding a mega-casino where small investors are sure to lose? “
Good question Mr. Krugman. I can’t answer it for sure but considering Trump, it’s easy to suspect the worst. If you don’t want this to happen, perhaps it would be provident to let your elected representitives know you’re not happy. I know there are so many things going on that it’s difficult to keep your eye on the ball, but that’s how con artists succeed.
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