To Fool the Fools: 10 Easy Lessons

Copyright © 2019 S. Preda

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Promise Them The Moon

The politicians

The walls that will keep the immigrants away

The rise of populism

How can we fight poverty?

The link between weakness/vice - stupidity

The advertising - big brands, other ads

The illusion of easy money - stock markets

Conclusions

Give Them What They Want

Bioproducts - another fetish and a way of fooling the customers

Shelter

Sex

Ideal monetary system

Immoral establishment vs amoral establishment

Direct democracy: A dream or a path to disaster?

Conclusions

Act As If You Care About Them

The politicians

Tyrants, authoritarian leaders

Pollution - big car manufacturers - protecting nature

Medical system - Big Pharma - curing illnesses, making a profit

Largest fashion retailers - caring about what you wear

Capitalism - liberalism - do it for you

State pensions - the State manages your money with love and wisdom

Too big to fail

Conclusions

Lie To Them Gently

Real value vs fool’s value

The politicians

The advertising

Clothing

The counterfeit industry

Why are lies believed?

Conclusions

Do Not Educate Them

How to destroy a country? Destroy its elite!

Instant education vs instant information

Financial education

Education vs Ignorance

Reward or punishment

Corruption - a huge obstacle

Conclusions

Buy Them With Trifles

How to rob a country

The restitution of properties seized by the Communist regimes

The technique of the median

Laws of Supply and Demand in politics

Selling your future

Migration from corrupt countries to a better place

Conclusions

Keep Them In Fear

Fear of terrorists

Fear of illness, fear of pain

To rule by fear

Fear and education

Fear of immigrants

Fear of God

How to control your fear

Conclusions

Keep Them Busy

Migration

The role of the media

Give them false hopes, create fake idols!

Celebrities-turned-politicians vs politicians-turned-celebrities

An authentic story of hard work that can lead you to success

Give them loans!

Make them an offer impossible to refuse!

Conclusions

Make Them Equal

Dress the same

Feel the same

Act the same

Socialist paradise or Socialist tyranny?

Brexit

Marxism

Conclusions

Make Them Believe That They Are In Control

Politicians as a trend - Social mediacracy - Videocracy

Prohibition - A way to resolve a problem or a total failure?

The loans

Populists vs Socialists

The good credit vs bad credit

The greater fool theory

Ponzi Schemes

Circular economy - The way to a bright future or a moral hazard?

Conclusions

Conclusions

Introduction

E

verybody wants a

fair chance to a better life, but this becomes increasingly difficult to achieve. Many try to reach their goals by fooling others, manipulation has become a common thing, and some want to control your life. I wrote this book to help those who want to overcome manipulation, who struggle to make their own path, and who want to be in control of their lives.

I didn’t write this book for those who want to fool everybody else, because they need no guidance, but for those who want to improve their lives.

This book is about lessons learned. We must pass on what we have experienced. If we understand the past, we can prepare for the future, and we can have a better present.

Education is the foundation of our lives. It shapes our future in so many ways. That is why everybody must receive the right education. What is the system teaching us? Has your education prepared you for life? What about our children?

This book is a reminder of the struggles of mankind, and I hope it will make you think. I hope it compels you to question yourself about your life, to challenge your politicians and your leaders, to ask your teachers hard questions.

It’s about the solutions that can improve your existence and the steps that you can take for achieving a better and fulfilling life.

There is no universal solution to all our problems. No easy fix. Regardless of what some politicians, leaders, or teachers say. They preach their way because they have the most to gain. They offer an easy fix to every problem. Often, they have no solutions but are only interested in their gain. They want us to follow them blindly. To follow without question is not a solution, it’s the way to disaster. And this is a certainty. Maybe not today or tomorrow but it will happen.

They are setting their own rules to win at their own game. What are the chances to win a rigged game? Can we change the rules?

Who will show us the way? Some will tell you that you should follow a certain path, that this is the only manner to succeed. Is this system right for you, or is it right only for them? Everybody must figure out their path.

Who are they? They are those who influence people. The politicians who made politics a profession. The leaders who think their way is the only one. The teachers who stopped teaching and don’t want to be bothered with any questions. Those business owners who don’t care about their customers but for their profit. Those who work with double standards: one for those who know the truth and one for the other fools. And everybody who thinks that others are just fools ready to be fooled.

What future are they shaping for us? Can we make our own future?

Often, we tell ourselves that we cannot change the world. Maybe we cannot change the entire world, but we can change the world around us. It’s up to us. There are ways to do it.

Lately, many politicians, leaders, and even companies play us for fools. Does that make you angry? Because there are a lot of angry people out there.

This book is about changing mentalities. We must break the mindset that says you must fool others so you can be successful. We must challenge those who treat us as fools.

Are you in control of your life? Or are you living the life others set up for you?

Many think they deserve fair chances and a better life because it’s their right. Unfortunately, you are not entitled, and you must struggle for a better life. Do you think you will get a fair chance for free or are you going to do something about it? We must act to get a better present and a great future. The first step to achieving a better life is to decide that you don’t want to be played for a fool.

I hope this book will answer some of these questions and help you change your life for the better.

Lesson 1

Promise Them The Moon

I

t’s a direct

proportionality between how big the lies are and the credulity of the masses.

A large mass of poor, uneducated people will believe unrealistic promises much more easily than a mass of educated and thriving people. The same applies to one person. A poor and uneducated individual can be fooled more easily than an educated and successful man.

The politicians

The politicians will promise the moon just to be elected and will promise even more to be reelected. But if they couldn’t respect the promises the first time, maybe they could the second time. The hope never dies, and so does the stupidity.

In emerging countries where democracy is struggling, politicians are very simple: they will promise everything you want to hear. If you are old and you fear for your future, they will tell you that the pensions will increase or even double and the state will guarantee the payment. But they cannot increase that much, because the State has no money and the economy cannot sustain this increase. This is obvious to everybody with common sense, but not to the voters that will believe anything that will help them sleep better at night. Even if they find the money, by loans or by cutting other investments, they will compromise the future and will increase the risk of state default and the poverty for their citizens. But who cares, even when the promised increase will be 20% instead of 40%, the voters will be satisfied.

So promise the moon but try to give them something instead and keep promising the rest. You can find a lot of fools that will believe over and over again.

Who cares that we can destroy our future if right now we can eat more? To hell with the future if my belly is full. So, if somebody can promise the moon and ease up your fears, he/she will get the vote of many. Of course, they will not fulfill their promises and will find somebody to blame every time, then humbly apologize and continue to lie. Because this is the game. But you can break this pattern. See the bigger picture, try to use your mind!

The same politicians will say: we will build thousands of miles of highways, even if we could not build a hundred miles in 20 years. Maybe for an American or a Western European, this promise could be so farfetched but for an inhabitant of Latin America or Eastern Europe, this will sound familiar. When nothing has changed: the budget is the same, the legislation is the same, everything is the same, how could you expect this extraordinary result? There is no logic in their statement: with the same ingredients using the same recipe in the same conditions, you cannot obtain a different result. And we don’t mean a slightly different, but totally different result. This is not wishful thinking or positive thinking; it is just an attempt to fool people.

How often have you heard from politicians promises that defy logic?

The walls that will keep the immigrants away

We will build a wall thousands of miles long that will keep the immigrants out of our beloved country. Does it sound familiar?

This type of promise is not new. The reality is that they do not have the money or the labor force to do it. Ironically, the solution is to borrow more money and to use as a workforce, the same people they want to keep away. And they will continue to push this bad idea even if their solution is wrong because a wall always can be climbed or passed under it through tunnels. Any wall can be flown over or avoided. Throughout history, a wall could never keep the enemies away. Even if this Utopian Wall could be built and guarded with the latest technologies that nobody could surpass, would you like to live in a fortress? With enemies at the gates? Because eventually, every stronghold breaks down.

The solution is to transform the enemies into friends, so we need not have walls like these. The immigrants are not the enemy; they are only people in search of a better life.

Starting from the Great Wall of China or the Roman Walls, these were only temporary solutions that worked just partially for a limited time. In the end, portions of the wall just fell due to poor construction methods or due to attacks. At the moment that forces used to guard the wall decreased, the wall became useless.

Populism has always been a handy tool for politicians to gain the support of the masses. When valid, coherent arguments no longer take effect, outrageous promises emerge.

Using the real issues of the population or some topics of public interest, the populists have done nothing but promised the moon to the voters. There are no limits to their promises. Sometimes they defy elementary logic, so their claims can be easily dismantled. But everyone wants to believe. Even a tiny chance those pledges are true makes those who promise to be supported. It is much easier to think that someone will solve your problems than to ask yourself how you can solve them yourself. Populism means lying more, telling people what they want to hear, even if that’s not true.

The rise of populism

People feel cheated by those who promised prosperity, peace, a secure job, and could not honor these promises.

People are poorer, with more problems, more indebted, and worst of all, they do not see how they can get out of this vicious circle. Poverty leads to more poverty. Lack of education and violence generate more poverty and violence. Violence follows poverty almost always. The rising inequality between the rich and the poor, with the drastic decrease of the middle class, with few wealthy individuals and an increasing number of impoverished people or more precisely of those perceiving themselves as poor, leads to increased social tension that can only generate violence.

The definition of poverty uses the concept of the poverty line. The poverty line is the minimum amount for a person to subsist on, and it is different from country to country. Who is living below the poverty line is considered poor. In October 2015, the World Bank set the international poverty line to $1.90 a day.¹

For instance, in 2015, 19.5 percent of the population in Israel was living below the poverty line. The average poverty rate of OECD countries² in 2015 was 11.59 percent. The poverty rate in the United States among all people from 1990 to 2017 was between 11.3% and 15.1%.

One of the most affected categories, but also the most numerous is that of children under the age of 15. Children living in poverty are almost irremediably changed by these difficulties, they have no access to quality education, and it’s very hard to get out of this vicious circle.

But apart from these statistics, the fact remains that many more consider themselves poor than those who really are. It’s about what they expect from life, not an arbitrary inclusion below $1.90 a day. The percentage of the people who consider themselves penniless is much higher than the official statistics are stating. People whose incomes are much higher than $1.90 a day consider themselves poor.

Is $10 a day enough to survive? Maybe in some countries, but in the USA or Western Europe? Do you feel impoverished at $ 20 a day? In the USA, a family of two is considered poor when their annual income is below $15930 (2015 Poverty Guidelines).³

People who live their lives from paycheck to paycheck, and if they lose their job, then they cannot sustain their lives, are poor. They require the help of the State or their peers. How long can you live without working? How big are your savings?

Of course, life is not only about money. Can you be happy with no money? Can you be happy outside our civilization?

For tribes in the Amazon or other parts of the world far from civilization, living under the same conditions as thousands of years ago, perhaps there is no notion of poverty because they work together and share the fruits of their work, so nobody is rich or poor. That’s how they were born, that’s how they are going to die. They do not even know that beyond their world is another world that can offer them much more. At the same time, it can destroy the happiness that comes from the appreciation of simple things: listening to birds or a stream, working with your own hands, spending time with those you love. Maybe they are the happy ones. Could you be happy in these conditions of sharing with others with no money and no modern amenities?

Going back to modern societies, where poverty is higher, there is more populism. Where education is poor, there appears populism.

Frequently, populists place themselves as fighters against the system, a system that has led to poverty and increased inequality among people. Poverty, corruption, and the feeling of dislike lead to the rise of populism. Anti-establishment is not equal with populism, but often populists pose as anti-establishment militants. They promise they will change the corrupt system; they will bring prosperity, and they will forge a new world without poverty and inequity, but in fact, it’s just a lie to convince the people to follow them blindly.

What is frightening is that today’s politicians are talking almost exclusively to fools. In the politicians’ speeches are now more and more present wild promises based on statements without logic or with a thin argumentation, and