The term 'Mountebank' refers to a charlatan, a con man who deceives another for money or fame. As long as there are people willing to ignore reality and pay for what they want to hear, there will be unscrupulous people to serve them. They are adept at figuring out what folks desire and then weaving a narrative (or selling a product) that seems can help them attain it. It doesn't require any effort, just money and admiration. The marks of such swindlers would be better served by avoiding the fortune-tellers and going to a 'present-teller' who can show them how the choices and habits they are engaging in now are creating their future. The Tuatara looks like a lizard but it is actually the only surviving species of its order which flourished around 240 million years ago. It often shares a burrow with the muttonbird. When this bird lays its first egg, it eats it, but Tuatara then declines eating the other eggs and becomes a protector of the burrow. Tuatara warns that nothing comes without personal sacrifice of some kind, and if it's easy (like handing over some money), it's not a sacrifice.
People sacrifice the present for the future. But life is available only in the present.
~Thich Nhat Hanh
Carpetbaggers. Beware the sales pitch.
ReplyDeleteThe pitch is always a red flag.
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