Circus of Hell

Words travel. From confidence to con. Confidence comes to us from the Latin, fidere meaning trust or good will and con as in joining together. We confide in each other. How far we have devolved can be measured by the term confidence man or con man. The word has been flipped.

First there was Phineas. The autobiography of P.T. Barnum was the bestselling book in the second half of the 19^th century after the Bible. Apparently, we love the con. We can’t get enough of the schemer, his ingenuity and audacity. It’s O.K. if it involves deceit, cheating and greed. After all, capitalism is all about scrambling to the top of the heap. Whatever it takes. It says nothing about how you get there, or the victims of the fraud. Call them losers.

Herman Melville’s last novel published in his lifetime (Billy Budd came posthumously) was titled The Confidence Man.  It is set on a riverboat making its way down the Mississippi. We are presented with an array of stock-scammers, charity hustles and panacea-peddlers. They feed on the trust of the sucker born every minute.

Try a bottle of this pain-dissuader or raw milk. What have you got to lose, says the man with a worm in his brain? Only a bout of listeria, e. coli or salmonella.

We think we have the nose to know what can’t pass the smell test. But consider the trouble in River City, cure-alls, the flimflam man or the hidden persuaders who have us buy $800 running shoes.

When institutions are deemed to be corrupt and inefficient, a vacuum is created which allows the demagogue to rush in with a compelling narrative, however false, with appeal to the aggrieved. Everyone wants to be part of a new movement even if it creates a circus of hell.

The con man is so named because he first gains our confidence which translates into a massive suspension of disbelief. Swallow the hoax and all the rest follows.

The enemy is out there surrounding us in the jungle, said Jim Jones. The Deep State is destroying America, folks. Those immigrants are taking away your jobs and raping our wives in their spare time. Big Pharma is vaccinating us to death.

The riverboat chugs along with half of America on it. Who wants to buy the Brooklyn Bridge?