Posted on 12/05/2012 6:36:35 AM PST by Slings and Arrows
Indeed - it was a Buddhist monk who actually introduced me to the idea that unthinking “charity” can be useless, or actually harmful for the giver and receiver both, by creating or enabling bad karma.
One’s intent is only a first step. True compassion is thinking, and understanding causes and effects.
I congratulate the policeman for his kindness, but what did that man on the street need? I’m not sure, but expensive boots were not it.
A Con Game, or Confidence Game, is where a person attempts to steal from another person through deception. The thief shows the victim that he, the thief, has confidence in him, the victim. The thief than acts as if the victim should then reciprocate and have confidence in the thief. The strategy used to steal from the victim is known as The Con or The Sting or The Kansas City Shuffle.
Here are the players in a Con Game:
THE GRIFTER - This is the boss. He/she is the brains of the operation. This is the person who runs The Con.
SHILLS - These are assistants to The Grifter. The Shill is used to distract the victim or encourage the victim. Shills can be young or old, male or female, attractive or plain. A shill can look like anyone.
THE MARK - This is the victim. The person The Grifter and Shills are trying to steal from. Also known as THE SUCKER.
*chuckle* Once again, no good deed goes unpunished.
A Confidence Game relies on human emotions, senses and behaviors to work. A Grifter attempts to take advantage of a person’s greed, fear, naïveté, arrogance and compassion. A mugger will come up and stick a gun in your face and demand your money. A Con Game is much more subtle. They have the same goal, though, they want to steal something. Since a Con Game is a game, oftentimes The Grifter is caught up in the competition. The goal is to make easy money, but The Grifter may also run the con to try to humiliate someone, or to see how much he can steal, or to take from another thief.
One of the oldest Con Games is THE PIG IN THE POKE. The Grifter needs a young pig, a cat, a couple of heavy bags. The Con can be run by just The Grifter or with a Shill. The Grifter appears to be selling young pigs. The Grifter assumes the disguise of a country bumpkin. As The Mark comes near, The Shill will ask The Grifter the price of a young pig. The Grifter will quote an extremely low price. The Shill readily agrees to the sale. The Grifter will hand the Shill a bag with a small pig in it. The Shill makes sure to show the pig to the mark and perhaps tell him that The Grifter is a real easy touch. Now, an honest farmer would know that the price for the pig is too low and that is suspicious. The Grifter is counting on The Mark’s greed to overcome his caution. The Mark agrees to buy a pig from The Grifter, and the Grifter makes the sale. There will usually be some kind of a reason for The Grifter to leave (”Oh, there’s my Dad!”) and The Grifter is off. The Mark gets home and opens the bag to find a cat inside. The Grifter and The Shill meet where the money is divided and the next con is planned.
The police officer was not made a fool of.
Amen.
I remember the moment very well when I realized what compassion really was.
It was summer in downtown Indianapolis... it must have been 105 degrees and we were experiencing a long heat streak, everyone was getting sick of it. I was on my lunch break and had already eaten and walked to the 2nd floor of the parking garage to retrieve something from my car before returning. I happened to look down (outside on the street below) and saw 2 homeless guys. One had fallen over and was unconscious, the other was shaking him around, doing his best to revive him. Now, the first thing that mad an impression on me was the other people... everyday people like me who were walking on the sidewalk and very literally stepping over this man who lay on the ground... and they kept right on walking like he was a piece of trash.
Now, regardless if this man was drunk or drugged out, he was a human being... most likely stroking out and quite possible on deaths door. I called for an ambulance and continued to observe from the second floor above.
The police showed along with fire/rescue about 2-3 minutes later and what happened next made me realize what made a man.
The police, whom I routinely look at with disdain and near hatred, treated this grimy, smelly and tattered homeless guy as if it were his own brother. He carried him into the ambulance himself and was talking to the now partially coherent guy and trying to give him any comfort he could. He treated him and his property with dignity and respect.
I don't know the outcome, I have to assume the guy was Ok in the long run. But, I got the message... when the almighty sends you a postcard, you read it... and you don't forget it. I don't see people the same way anymore and I do my damnedest to make sure that I am NOT one of those people stepping over those in need. I don't spend time trying to figure out how they got there or if I feel they deserve help or not... they will be judged on their own merit, as will I.
Con Games have been around for quite some time. Bernie Madoff was running a con. He made billions of dollars off it. George Soros has made his money off of something he calls “Reflexivity”. This is essentially a con. He takes advantage of people’s greed. Soros is really a One Trick Pony, but he’s an extremely good One Trick Pony.
I don’t like the ones that seem to come out every winter, all dressed in red, laughing, calling everybody a ho and asking for money. Some even have the nerve to ring bells at people!
I don’t remember the chapter and verse but Jesus said something to the effect of “I send you out as lambs among the wolves.” He also ran the money hangers, who were con men, out of the Temple. I think that it’s suspicious that somebody just happens to record this whole scene. There is a term known as “Opportunity Costs”. Basically, it asks you to see if you are getting the best use of your resources. Could this policeman have better used that $100? I encourage people to be compassionate and generous...just not to con men.
I give to the Church, or, the Salvation Army...THAT’s IT. Otherwise - in today’s world - I assume it’s a scam.
Besides, I already “give” to the “poor” via proxy...the obama administration’s ideology of redistribution.
You...you...anti-elfist!
I don’t see where your reply has anything to do with this situation as Hillman clearly has mental problems, so he’s not a wolf. As far as the officer’s act being “Opportunity Costs”, show me the evidence that would prove your claim? And if you are basing your claim on just your ‘suspicions’ are you not reinforcing the point of my post? And when did we become a nation wherein one person’s ‘suspicions’ where enough to condemn a man’s act? Isn’t condemning people without proof a tactic of the ‘Leftist’?
Sherlock Holmes, Man with the Twisted Lip.
Guy wasn’t crazy though, just successful.
,,, says you .....
How do you know he has mental problems? Have you examined and diagnosed him? You want me to prove Opportunity Costs to you? That’s like asking someone to prove the sun is shining. It makes no sense. Would the policeman have done more good by giving his $100 to the Salvation Army? Yes. The stories say this fellow lives in an apartment, so he’s not homeless. It’s hard for people when they realize they have been victims of a Con Game. The Grifters count on that guilt. Many Con Games are never reported because people are ashamed of being taken.
I’ll have to read that one.
1. San Francisco 9th street off ramp from the Central freeway. A fellow would stand by the traffic light with a cardboard sign “Hungry will work for food. Please help. Bless you.” etc. The message varied but basically the same. One day I saw him getting ready for work. He had the trunk of a Pinto open and was changing into “work” clothes ie: Goodwill instant beggar outfit,ruffling his hair and applying some sort of lotion( Coppertone?) to give him that ruddy outdoor look. I did see him make money from drivers.
2. Anecdotal from ex co-worker, I will call him “Lars”, when he was in the Merchant Marine prior to working with the IT firm I was working at. Lars was on shore leave in San Pedro and walking around with his shipmate when they were aggressively panhandled for money by a street person ostensibly for food.
Lars and his shipmate refused and got the “bum” to admit he just wanted money to drink. They then had the bum wait as they went to a liquor store and bought 4 gallons of the cheapest strongest wine they could find. The “homeless guy” was ecstatic and walked off to a park with his new treasure.
Later that day they were stopped by San Pedro PD and questioned about buying wine for a “homeless” guy. The cop went ballistic and threatened Lars and his shipmate with arrest for the duration of their shore leave if they ever did that again.
It turns out the beggar had several friends show up to help him enjoy his new bounty. End result a small crowd of very intoxicated “homeless” had mini riot in the park fighting and arguing. The local PD had to use several dozen officers to break it up using night sticks, mace and cuffs plus haul them all off for booking.
So last weekend, with a personal vow not to discuss the results of the recent election during a family reunion, I was driving several relatives who had supported the expansion of the welfare state to a regional shopping mall, when I hear one of my more liberal democrat sisters scream, “Stop....roll down your window!”
With amazement, I saw she was pointing to a group of four people standing at the intersection (listening to their I-pods of course) who had their hands out waiting for foolish drivers to hand over their hard-earned money.
I had not said anything political all weekend until that moment, when I blurted out, “You have to be kidding...your guy won vowing to give these scammers more and more free crap, so why would you even think about giving them money?”
I never got a reply and needless to say, the next words she spoke to me was at the end of the weekend when she said “goodbye” at my departure.
I’m afraid there are just too many like my relative who really just don’t have a clue.
BTW - Just in case there was any doubt, I had refused to lower my window!
You’re right. He lives in Sniffen Court. Sorry, I’ve known him (at a distance!) for almost 20 years and he’s always been nuts.
You ignore my points and questions and say that I’m doing things that I’m not doing. Arguing with you is pointless. Have a Merry Christmas.
I’ll give a beggar food, but not money.
When I was young and naive, I decided to buy handkerchiefs for the homeless on the streets of downtown New Orleans where I worked. I thought they would appreciate that someone thought of them at Christmas. Boy was a dummy I was. They most probably said nasty things when I walked off. You can’t spend or drink a handkerchief:-). I have learned.
It’s been said many times that there are homeless people who prefer it that way.
If you think about it, they have no mortgage and insurance premiums to pay, no home to upkeep, car to upkeep no nothing - no responsibility. They eat at soup kitchens and sleep at Salvation Army when it gets cold. Sometimes, it sounds tempting.
Unfortunately, some are mentally ill. When I was young, we used to hospitalize these people now they let them just wander the streets.
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