I learned long ago that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. So did a lot of other smart people. Not included in that list is The Guardian’s Polly Toynbee, who recounts falling for the Nigerian Email Scam in this Guardian article. Polly note’s an NCIS study that shows that “1% of people initially contacted do respond positively” — so, in other words, one could conclude that 99% of the world is smarter than Polly. I wonder if there’s more evidence to support THAT claim…
The line between honest and dishonest business is easily blurred. We point fingers at Nigeria, this richest and best-educated country in Africa that should be a mighty power had it not been so catastrophically misgoverned, with legendary corruption. Yet what kind of global honesty is promoted, what model of good capitalism and good government? The US is about to hold another election that will be largely bought and sold by business and oil interests. Think of the corruption that US and UK conservatives carelessly unleashed upon the former Soviet Union in the name of extreme free market ideology.
Hmm… it sounds as though she’s blaming conservatives for her stupidity. Her claims are interesting, especially considering the the fact that the big money backing comes not for George Bush but for the democrats from George Soros. But nevertheless, SURELY she’s not trying to blame Bush for something that started, by her own report, in the 60’s, right?
The image of capitalism now being spread about the world is cowboy stuff: little gleaned from America extols the virtue of regulation, restraint and control. We reap from the third world what we sow: if some Nigerians learned lessons in capitalism from global oil companies that helped corrupt and despoil that land, it is hardly surprising they absorbed some of the Texan oil values that now rule the White House.
The “virtue” of regulation, eh? That’s an interesting word for it. So, in the end, Ms. Toynbee’s lost Ł200 is not, in fact, her own fault for being a gullible fool, rather, it’s George W. Bush’s fault… because he… umm… is a proponent of capitalism and democracy?
Congratulations, Polly, you’ve managed to blame your own stupidity on someone else. I’m sure you’re very proud of yourself. It was probably worth every pound, wasn’t it?
