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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   36678 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 28, 2022

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but he believed maintaining an impossible physique was foundational to his business success.

Can you blame him?

If a large enough contingent of people are so fucking stupid that the fact Johnson is on roids needs to be "exposed"; Why wouldn't you, a shrewd businessman pocket the large amounts of stupidity tax that is sitting on the table there waiting for you there?

Is shrewd now just a synonym for full of shit? Because when I was growing up shrewd meant you were clever enough to make money through the system, and people who couldn't do that, who just lied constantly about their actual business were called con artists.

The first step to eliminating corruption is wanting to eliminate corruption.

Liver King is shrwed. There isn't exactly a crisis of people peddling a supplement and a lifestyle in this day and age, there are more fitness "influencers" than you can count.

If you read his emails from the MPMD video, its evident the man is smarter than he lets on and knows how to market his specific business in exactly the way it needs to be done.

I am not denying he is smart or that he made a lot of money. But I think shrewd should be reserved for people capable of making money without being dishonest, because there is no challenge to lying to people if you have any charisma at all. It is a cheap and lazy way to success.

Especially when you are jacked, and especially especially when you are talking to people who want to get jacked like you. Beyond that, every time you hand wave gifting as just business or caveat emptor you make grifting a little more socially acceptable. I love a Mamet play as much as anyone else, but I have no admiration for anyone doing it to real, ordinary people.

Can you blame him?

How can you not blame him when he lied under his own volition. I can understand his rationale for doing so though.

I don't respect him for it but getting mad at a fitness influencer for lying about being natural is like getting mad at a dog for barking. It's just what they do, learn the game and don't be fooled next time.

yup

Why wouldn't you, a shrewd businessman pocket the large amounts of stupidity tax that is sitting on the table there waiting for you there?

Because it's immoral to take advantage of people's stupidity. So yes, I can blame him.

Yeah sure but a guy selling supplements is really the bottom of the totem pole on that, I'd devote more headspace to guys selling highly leveraged penny stocks or ponzi schemes.

I mean, it's not going to keep me up at night or anything. If I were going on a crusade, you're right that he's not the one I would go for. But what he did is still wrong, even if he almost certainly will never face consequences because there are bigger fish to fry.

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