Con Artists

Con Artists are fascinating. How could these farfetched schemes ever work? Who could possibly fall for them? Often, people who get conned are really smart, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) was conned into believing that“fairies” existed and could be seen only by believers. Charles Ponzi promised investors outlandish financial returns, but they were paid from later investors. It collapsed upon itself in a year, much faster than Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. 

Apparently, David Frum said something about warning a friend who is being conned, “he will forgive the conman, but he will not forgive the people who warned him. The conman just took his money, but you made him feel stupid.”

And that’s where we are. We can objectively see lies. But ignore them. We can intellectually understand that the promises are impossible: both to happen and to keep. But rationalize them away. We can recognize the absurdity of the longing for a past where only rich, white, men had power. But we think that it might not be so bad after all. We could point that out to those who are duped by the foolishness of “dear leader’s” fantastical claims that they are blind, wrong, or in a cult, but I think David Frum is probably right.

The best way to change hearts and minds is to see their perspective, articulate it and try to get them to articulate your perspective. And then look for common ground and maybe some good can come out of that. .