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another_bug t1_j8niqzi wrote

Reply to comment by PlayedUOonBaja in Arizona man from Nigeria romance scammed $3M from 'preyed upon' women, feds say by Breab1

>"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back."

>-Carl Sagan

Pretty sure he was talking more about superstition and pseudoscience, but the concept applies to a lot more than that. It it sure is accurate.

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SnakeDoctur t1_j8omgb3 wrote

Like the entirety of the modern Republican party?

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another_bug t1_j8oo4oz wrote

Hey, that's nothing like scam, it's called trickle down economics. We just need to give the rich a little more money, and then they'll give money back to us. It's totally gonna happen this time for sure!

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kottabaz t1_j8p1kvx wrote

No, the GOP is an exercise in authoritarianism rather than a bamboozle.

Rank-and-file Republicans know that, in exchange for being tread upon by the owner class etc., they will be receiving underclasses that they're allowed to tread on with impunity. They consider this not only fair but the rightful way of the universe.

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