The whole thing was a scam • Hacker News Board

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#101

Post by juleiie » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:18 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #95

juleiie wrote: post #75

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. This HST quote seems severely outdated by now. They have already been caught, committed all the sins of stupidity and some more. All of it to the clapping mob of people who yearn for some kind of social revenge. And it’s happening everywhere these last years. Who could possibly know…

I've said it a million times, but I'll repeat it. There are a lot of conspiracy nuts like Alex Jones, and the amusing thing to me is that there is a conspiracy of elites who are exerting large amounts of unelected control of the government, and who are actively working to keep you down to enrich themselves, and it's not even a secret. We call these people "billionaires", and at this point they don't even bother hidin…

Some people just don’t want to hear it no matter what. Not because they are unusually stupid or inherently evil but because they feel severely hurt by the societal changes and left out. Anything that gives a hint of hope of reverting things to be the way they were is justified and no price is too high.

They can steal as long as they are our thieves.

To get through to these people you have to validate their deep fears. Not just say - shut up, you are stupid, vote for me.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#102

Post by roughly » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:22 PM UTC

specialist wrote: post #45

jfengel wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's bizarre seeing the outright bribery. A lot of things that people call "bribery" is really just ensuring that your preferred candidate gets in office. You couldn't give money directly to the candidate for personal use. Donations went to the campaign of the guy who already agreed with you. The FEC used to take a dim view of outright pay-for-service, even dressed up. This is new. And now people need to decide how t…

IANAL, IIRC: SCOTUS has very narrowly defined bribery as explicit quid pro quo. And sometimes not even then.

Trevor Noah pretty much nailed this in the first Trump admin:

https://x.com/thedailyshow/status/1177221786720559105

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#103

Post by zuminator » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:30 PM UTC

seydor wrote: post #53

Such high levels of corruption are not usually called "scam"

The scam part is the fiction perpetrated on the American public that there was a bona fide dispute with Anthropic.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#104

Post by sph » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:32 PM UTC

knollimar wrote: post #100

atmosx wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap or not doesn’t matter. Sir Winston Churchill supposedly asked Lady Astor whether she would sleep with him for five million pounds. She said she supposed she would. Then he asked whether she would sleep with him for only five pounds. She answered,"What do you think I am?" His response was, "We've already established that; we're merely haggling over price."- Marcus Felson, Crime and Everyday Life, Second Edition,…

I think it does matter and this quote is always flaunted like it's some deep insight but it intentionally ignored nuance. An amount you can comfortably retire on is way different than $5. We love to pretend humans have unflinching morals but they don't

On the other hand, immoral people would try to convince you that anybody would kill their own mother for the right price.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#105

Post by timacles » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:32 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #89

Ifkaluva wrote: post #20

25M isn’t even that much money. Not only are they whores, they’re cheap whores.

That's something that has bothered me about this entire administration, particularly the bizarre and disturbing involvement of the Diablo-cheating billionaire. Everyone knew that a lot of politicians have been for sale, but I didn't realize how cheaply they were for sale. Musk able to buy his way into being in charge of an idiotic department with basically no regulation while still being allowed to CEO like five comp…

the US is like a new born deer against battalion of ninjas when it comes to corruption.

Decades of believing we are blessed with some sort of perpetual exceptionalism has made the American people not only susceptible to corruption but actively unknowingly promote it. Propaganda has convinced them to invite it into their house and let it know where all your money is and your bank account information.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#106

Post by ivan_gammel » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:35 PM UTC

Kim_Bruning wrote: post #96

This is one of the few interpretations that make sense of this timeline at this time. I'd be cautious since it's still speculation. But discovery is going to be interesting.

This interpretation is kinda obvious to anyone who has seen similar schemes in other countries. It‘s done almost by the book, except there‘s no criminal case against Anthropic management or shareholders, because USA is not yet there.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#107

Post by DANmode » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:36 PM UTC

knollimar wrote: post #100

atmosx wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap or not doesn’t matter. Sir Winston Churchill supposedly asked Lady Astor whether she would sleep with him for five million pounds. She said she supposed she would. Then he asked whether she would sleep with him for only five pounds. She answered,"What do you think I am?" His response was, "We've already established that; we're merely haggling over price."- Marcus Felson, Crime and Everyday Life, Second Edition,…

I think it does matter and this quote is always flaunted like it's some deep insight but it intentionally ignored nuance. An amount you can comfortably retire on is way different than $5. We love to pretend humans have unflinching morals but they don't

“We” also love to pretend that every, (or even most), humans who could break laws, or common moral boundaries in order to cash out actually do that.

I think that’s a fallacy, too.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#108

Post by ml-anon » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:36 PM UTC

addandsubtract wrote: post #94

This is only a surprise to HN, because all the other threads about the corrupt US regime have been flagged before. I guess now is a good time as any to start paying attention. Who would've thought that attention is all you need?

[flagged]

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#109

Post by ml-anon » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:37 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #95

juleiie wrote: post #75

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. This HST quote seems severely outdated by now. They have already been caught, committed all the sins of stupidity and some more. All of it to the clapping mob of people who yearn for some kind of social revenge. And it’s happening everywhere these last years. Who could possibly know…

I've said it a million times, but I'll repeat it. There are a lot of conspiracy nuts like Alex Jones, and the amusing thing to me is that there is a conspiracy of elites who are exerting large amounts of unelected control of the government, and who are actively working to keep you down to enrich themselves, and it's not even a secret. We call these people "billionaires", and at this point they don't even bother hidin…

Not to mention trafficking and raping children

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#110

Post by ml-anon » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 9:39 PM UTC

bloomingeek wrote: post #70

nickdothutton wrote: post #58

I'll try not to be too flippant but... he thought the US ever _wasn't_ an oligarchy?

Flippant be hanged! IMO, it all started with W Bush, who put the icing on that cake by invading Iraq based on a televised lie. He was "sneaky" but the current administration doesn't even try to sneak. The mid-terms may be our final chance to save our nation.

Colin Powell must be shaking vials of yellow powder in his grave right now.