#1540 The Grift of Life (Scam Culture™ and the Economy it has built)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 1 February 2023
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 1/31/2023
Today, we take a look at just some of the nearly infinite ways in which our society, culture, and economy are infused from top to bottom with Scam Culture™ that is bleeding us dry both financially and mentally.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: The Grift Economy: Everything is a scam, always. - Thought Slime - Air Date 11-5-21
For those that need to read this: you aren’t a capitalist. You’re capital.
Ch. 2: Power and Corruption: The Devos Family - iilluminaughtii - Air Date 1-20-23
Betsy DeVos and her family have been important figures in the business world for decades. They’re involved in a massive MLM, invest in shady businesses, and have put their money toward politics for as long as anyone can remember.
Ch. 3: Bill Black: The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One - theAnalysis.news - Air Date 5-31-21
How does a corrupt mortgage scam by brokers in California become a massive national fraud that puts the whole economy into a deep crisis? Bill Black on theAnalysis.news with Paul Jay.
“Whatever fun name you wanna put on it, it’s the same damn thing we’ve seen over and over again.” David Dayen, Executive Editor of The American Prospect, joins us to talk through the spectacular rise and fall of crypto exchange FTX
Ch. 5: The Gig Economy Was Always A Scam - Wisecrack - Air Date 8-8-22
The gig economy has revolutionized how we think about work, but not necessarily for the better. How have a bunch of multi-billion-dollar companies like Uber or Instacart so fundamentally changed our economy?
Ch. 6: Why Spotify Will Ultimately Fail - Benn Jordan - Air Date 1-9-23
An investor's guide to breaking the thing you're trying to sell.
Ch. 7: James O'Brien caller wrote his dissertation on 'incel' culture - LBC - Air Date 1-27-23
Explaining the appeal of Andrew Tate and his acolytes to young, insecure men
Ch. 8: TikToker Exposes New A.I. Scam That Is Absolutely TERRIFYING - Rebel HQ - Air Date 1-13-23
TikToker @benno56 shares his family's experience with a terrifying new A.I. voice-mimicking scam. Max Burns breaks it down.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 9: Mark Rober's Prank And The Truth About Scammers And Capitalism - Second Thought - Air Date 6-17-22
Scam call centers are just one cancerous offshoot of bureaucracy under capitalism, and while pranking these places may be cathartic, it's not enough to tackle the root cause.
Ch. 10: Is all money just a ponzi scheme? | Vicki Robin - Big Think - Air Date 7-22-18
"Money, it's a gas," wrote Pink Floyd's Roger Waters for their hit 'Money'. Author, speaker, and social innovator Vicki Robin would probably agree: she posits that most people don't understand the true, human, working value of money.
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 11: Response to the Stolen Children episode
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on radical criticism of the true sources of Scam Culture and other ails of our society
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Activism Music: This Fickle World by Theo Bard (https://theobard.bandcamp.com/track/this-fickle-world)
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of Left Podcast, in which we shall |
| 0:07.6 | take a look at some of the nearly infinite ways in which our society, culture and economy |
| 0:14.1 | are infused from top to bottom with scam culture that's bleeding as dry, both financially |
| 0:21.2 | and mentally. |
| 0:22.8 | Members today are from Thoughtslime, Illuminati, the analysis.news, the problem with John |
| 0:30.2 | Stewart podcast, Wisecrack, Ben Jordan, James O'Brien on LBC and Rebel HQ, with additional |
| 0:38.6 | members only clips from Second Thought and Big Think. |
| 0:43.4 | Stay tuned to the end where I'll suggest what the real core of the problem is. |
| 0:54.8 | Everything in the world is a scam. |
| 0:57.4 | Subscription services make no sense. |
| 0:59.2 | They only exist to ring more money out of the consumer by offering upfront savings offset |
| 1:04.3 | by far greater costs over time. |
| 1:06.7 | $11 a month, for example, feels like less money than $120. |
| 1:12.2 | But if you use the service for 11 months, you've already spent more money. |
| 1:16.7 | It's not that the monthly subscription service is a business model I'm necessarily against. |
| 1:22.0 | There are plenty of services where it makes perfect sense. |
| 1:25.0 | A movie streaming service would charge a monthly fee. |
| 1:27.7 | Of course it would, right? |
| 1:28.8 | Every time I use that, I cost the company money in the form of server costs and licensing |
| 1:33.9 | agreements. |
| 1:34.9 | Plus, these services also tend to make it worth my while, by constantly updating their |
| 1:39.2 | library of content. |
... |
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