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It can be hard these days to separate the scammers from the legit people and things out there.
- Maybe I do need those essential oils…
- Perhaps I should just this particular church…
- What if I’m missing out by not investing in that company…?
People on AskReddit talked about what folks think are scams just because they don’t understand them.
Let’s take a look.
1. Going nuclear.
“Nuclear power.
People are generally concerned about the pollution it causes when in reality the radioactive waste from a nuclear power plant has a relatively low impact on the environment, especially when compared to the fallout of more resource heavy nuclear weapons.”
2. Dumb.
“My dad worked with a guy who started a business with the intention of using it to lower his taxes.
When he realized that it was actually making quite a bit of money he closed it in a panic fearing it would bump him to the next tax bracket.
Would be funny if the guy wasn’t a f**king school principal.
I was fourteen at the time and asked my dad if the guy was that dumb.
My dad confirmed the guy was indeed that dumb.”
3. A good idea.
“Travel insurance is absolutely worth it.
I always get world wide travel and add the USA – due to high medical costs USA is usually an added extra.
I couldn’t imagine the bill if anything were to happen while I was in the US.”
4. It’s a great thing!
“Therapy.
People just can’t fathom that just talking to someone who is not involved directly in your life can really help with processing and resolving a problem.
You only get out of it what you put in.”
5. Rewards.
“Airline / Hotel / Credit Card rewards.
They take a lot of time and a 100% commitment to never, ever carrying a balance, but you can definitely earn a lot of rewards even without playing the churning games.
The Flyertalk.com community is amazing for anyone wanting to get started.”
6. Yup.
“Vaccines and vaccination.
Not me, but those who are anti vaccination really have no understanding of virology, immunology, epidemiology or how to assess relative risk.
They probably fall into many of the other things that they “think is a scam but they don’t understand.””
7. They have a purpose.
“Mutual funds.
They are a good investment product for the right portfolio.
Certainly not for everyone, but they serve a valued purpose for some people.”
8. Unions.
“In America the sad answer is this is how people are stating to look at unions.
People saying “I don’t wanna pay union dues every month” even though my dues cost me less then 2 hours of work a month and my wage is more then double what I would be making non union and that doesn’t count the benefits that aren’t even supplied to non union guys in this trade.”
9. We need to talk about it.
“Socialized Healthcare, apparently.
“But I’m not sick and I don’t wanna pay for other people and never use it” blah blah blah. You could fall flat on your face and second and need 500 bucks worth of stitches and paink**lers. You can get run over at no fault of your own. You can have an aneurysm.
Getting regular checkups is even gonna bring your premiums down, the insurance would rather pay 50-100 for a yearly dental checkup than 15k in prosthetics because all your teeth rotted out because you didn’t see anyone in 10 years.
Why is the concept of socialism so scary to some Americans? What’s so bad about it? Being able to rely on the community? If I get sick, I don’t bankrupt myself. If I lose my job, I won’t lose my home and can still live a frugal, but dignified life.
I would rather live a life with a lot of security and all the same options than a life with zero security but “mah freedomz”. Medical debt bankruptcy is not freedom.”
10. Good Lord.
“The theory of evolution.
First, the definition of “theory” in science is very different from the colloquial term
Second, evolution and its mechanisms have been proven repeatedly and put into practice across genetics, medicine, paleontology, comparative anatomy, biogeography, embryology, and molecular biology
For the scientific community, it’s not even a question.
However some (primarily evangelical Americans) don’t understand it, and with a level of confidence that rivals Dunning-Kruger, dismiss it as a scam.”
11. Vino.
“Wine. I work as a sommelier.
Outside of the wine industry, on reddit, and other places, you constantly hear people talk about the study where the “experts” are fooled by cheap wine, etc. Most of these “studies” are done at universities, with inexpensive wines.. and people who are not really experts. In general, more expensive wines are a lot better.. but are also a lot rarer. There are of course exceptions ‘cheap wines’ which are fantastic.
These are rarer, because as a wine gets a reputation for being good, the demand increases. With the famous/rare wines, there is more competition for them. Chateau Lafite, for example, can only produce so much wine –the buyers at first were only the French (and the British and other Europeans), when the Americans started buying it and there was more demand the price had to climb, when the Chinese started buying it the price could only go up.
Lafite cannot just produce more Lafite. So the price for a wine like this has to climb exponentially with the increased demand, and the globalisation of wealth. In particular we have the conspicuous consumption of ‘European’ goods, Chanel can make more handbags, but Lafite cannot produce more Lafite.
Then we have the problem of wine in restaurants being a different price to what you see at the supermarket. Depending on the location, (or in America) the State, you might have very different taxes/laws between bottleshops and restaurants, and the wine may legally need to come from different suppliers. Restaurants tend to not be able to buy in as large of a bulk, etc.
Further with a restaurant the extra cost is that the wine is “guaranteed”, if it is corked/off.. the restaurant will provide a new bottle. The waiter/sommelier will be trained (to at least some degree) and know what wines they have and help you pick one that goes with what you are eating. With this you get glass service, decanting, etc.
All of this equals a higher cost at a restaurant than a bottle shop. It is not a “scam”, but it is a bit like eating a steak at a restaurant and going ‘oh, I can buy meat at the butcher for less’. Of course you can!”
Now it’s your turn!
What do you think is considered a scam just because people don’t understand it?
Talk to us in the comments!
