3 ms·
Well worth the read, but it left me with so many questions. How much is self-deception? The conclusion of the article makes me think he believes some of his ow
by arpinum 4y ago
Well worth the read, but it left me with so many questions.
How much is self-deception? The conclusion of the article makes me think he believes some of his own lies, as if he starting lying so much he doesn't remember what is reality.
The other characters in the story are equally fascinating. Did the retired general know Clark was a grifter, but was happy to collect a pay check sitting on the board? Can you succeed as a defence contractor without buying influence via board seats?
Did Clark purposely team up with unqualified people as a 'shared complicity'? This makes me think he didn't believe his own stories, as he didn't want people in his inner circle who could call out his lies.
When the female cyclist said she would believe Clark if he said the sky was green, what could Clark possibly have done to have so much control over a person? What percent of the population is vulnerable to being sucked into obvious lies?
MLM scams, politics of the Big Lie, investment scams, prophets, miracle cures, etc. The world seems full of these horrible people. How can we help our friends and family avoid being victims if these scammers have such strong powers of persuasion?
- ehvatum 4y ago> How can we help our friends and family avoid being victims if these scammers have such strong powers of persuasion? Take your credulous friends to an AA meeting, now and then. It’s basically a workshop against every kind of deception.
- eli 4y agoRubbernecking an AA meeting feels wrong
- wl 4y agoAA meetings are often designated as "open" or "closed." The "open" ones are open to the public.
- pessimizer 4y agoMagnificent Obsession, the late Jim Nayder's WBEZ show, is basically an extended AA/NA style share. This may be an archive of some sort, but I can't see it because I'm not an Apple customer. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/magnificent-obsession/id976827362 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/magnificent-obsession/... edit: https://soundcloud.com/magnificent-obsession https://soundcloud.com/magnificent-obsession
- arpinum 4y agoFor some reason I thought AA would be a great MLM recruitment area. Do they discourage recruitment for jobs and religion?
- DiggyJohnson 4y agoThey are an de facto faith-based group, so they probably don’t want evangelizing on their doorstep. If someone showed up trying to peddle their MLM scheme, I expect that they would be asked not to bring their work to the meeting or please don’t come back.
- wheres_my_exit2 4y agoDid he choose to coach amateur women because they seemed any easy mark? They wouldn’t know any better? What about the mechanic working in the proBikeFC shop all those years and now he takes over as owner? What about Nick’s 3 kids? What happened with his wife? Why didn’t Alexium shareholders sue him? Where was he before he appeared out of apparent obscurity? I almost want to order his book. Weird that no one thought it was odd he didn’t have a single professional race or military picture from those days! He is still the second largest shareholder of the company he ripped off? So much more to explore here. Maybe it really could be a Netflix series or podcast?